Why digital painting?

Here I am going to try to give an overview of the pros and cons of being an digital artist.  Having been a full time artist on and off since 1990 I have explored and enjoyed success in several mediums.  Each have their special place in my heart.  Over the past few months I have worked hard at building my skills at painting portraits on the computer with the aide of my handy wacom tablet.  For years I viewed this tool as just something I used for graphic design and ignored that possibility that fine art can be produced with it.  But with the incredible advances in professional giclee printing (high end pigment ink printers) and archival materials my mind has been slowly changed.  

As an artist I enjoy the challenge.  Creating a digital painting from scratch is not easy.

 

Artist pros…

my paints do not dry too quickly

my pencil never needs sharpening (though occasional my pen nip needs replaced)

clean up is pressing the off button

mistakes can often be handled with an “undo” button

a clean canvas is a click away

Artist cons…

there is no “original” to hang on the wall

there are a lot of misconceptions about the legitimacy of digital art as being “art”

it is not portable – the wacom tablet I use is 22lbs so I am chained to my desk

 

For the Customer pros…

reproductions of the art are more easily available for family and friends – given our agreement

delivery of the “portrait file” turn around time is often quicker than my earlier work

I work in layers and often offer the option of changing background colors around

when needed – editing and fixing things is a lot easier to deal with

as I have gone digital with art I have also gone digital with payment options (paypal)

portraits can be printed on paper or on canvas – there are dozens of vendors available

I sometimes can work with customers to get their portrait available to purchase on specialty items such as totebags, coffee mugs, etc.  Please note that I sell the portrait not the copyright (as is typical with all art) so customers are not allowed to use the file to set items for sale themselves.

Customer cons…

there is no “original” per se – although most portraits are printed only one time so there is still the “one of a kind” option

at the time of this blogging I am not printing the portraits myself but using subcontractors and will have to set the portrait up to Fine Art America or send the file to the customer so they can handle the printing themselves – so please keep in mind your printing cost when deciding on your budget for the portrait

 

So there are the highlights – I will address some of these issues in more detail in future blogs.