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Ask a Pro
Ask a Pro is a collection of illustration related questions answered by top art directors, designers, editors, artist representatives and other professionals in the commercial illustration industry.
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In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
This is an interesting question if only because I have never considered it. For
me, working with an eclectic array of mediums is always fun and I don't find some
“easier” or “tougher” than others. They each have their
distinct challenges and require an artist to employ slightly different skills
and methodologies to work effectively within any given medium’s technical
parameters, but I welcome that because it forces me as an artist to view them
as poetic restraints that force me to visually express myself in (hopefully) unique
ways. For example, painting with creamy gouache on a sheet of gessoed luan board
encourages me to slather brush strokes that reveal the “bite” and
grain of the wood. In contrast, creating a piece in real 3D makes me consider
not ONE “heroic” angle, but accept the fact that the item will be
viewed from a limitless number of perspectives, so I try and almost evoke a sense
of “object animation” within the piece. Of course, most of my work
is created digitally. In 1995 I started creating my work on a Mac using Photoshop
3.0 -- and it was extremely hard learning how to do that. Today, I STILL work
in Photoshop 3.0, but have mastered the program to such a degree that I have found
ways to work with the program in ways it was never designed to be used. At the
end of the day, I honestly believe working in different mediums is a leap of confidence.
I'm a pretty quick study, so once I get into the materials and see how they work,
I can pretty much lasso the specific tools, implements or materials and make them
work for ME.
Bob Staake (more answers by this person)
Freelance Illustrator
Bob Staake
http://www.bobstaake.com