 |
|
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.
If you have a suggestion for a question or know someone who might be a good candidate to answer a couple questions
Contributors
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 a very good question! All of the different mediums are always fun and
enjoyable. These depend on their art styles, feelings, experiences, methods and
thoughts what mediums they consider.
In my opinion, the toughest medium is oil paint. To be completely honest, I
am a painter who loves doing oil paintings. In my past experiences, sometimes
I felt very dizzy when I cleaned my bristle brushes with turpentine and dirty
cloth. It was totally messy and smelly. But this medium is very good and is
of high quality. The oil painting lasts longer and stronger. However, it's expensive.
The easiest mediums are pencil and acrylics, of course. About the pencil medium,
it's enjoyable to draw sketches, doodles, caricatures, characters, illustrations,
etc. You can bring your pencil (or pens) and sketchpad (or notebook) when you
travel and go anywhere. It's like an art diary. Regarding the acrylics, it's
very versatile. It doesn't smell bad and it dries very fast. Acrylics are easy
to clean up with soap and water. The colors look very bright. It's great to
use acrylics on papers, canvas, boards, woods and other surfaces.
May Ann Licudine (more answers by this person)
Freelance Illustrator and Artist
May Ann Licudine
http://www.mayannlicudine.com
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
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
I think they are all fairly difficult to get proficient at. Each has its own advantages
and disadvantages, and each artist must dedicate him/herself to their chosen medium
in order to become proficient. I will say that certain media are easy to learn
at first, but they are all difficult to master.
2D digital media (Photoshop, Illustrator, etc... my own medium of choice) are
somewhat easy to begin with. It only takes two seconds to draw a simple shape.
So you can throw a few shapes together, add some gradients, and now you have a
cute little character that you can license to someone. But to actually do something
that impresses people takes a lot longer. You are constantly fighting the cold,
cheap, mechanical look of the medium itself.
3D digital media seem to be much harder both to learn and become proficient at.
Oils are semi easy at first. You have so long to manipulate the paint because
of their slow drying time. You can stare at a piece for hours and come back to
it when you are ready... sometimes days later, depending on the paints and the
humidity. But, regardless of that freedom, to actually become proficient and make
art that is sellable
takes much more time.
Acrylics are somewhere in the middle for me. Their fast drying time allows much
spontaneity, but this also means you can’t screw up as much as you can with
oils. I’ve done several oil paintings that I've been very happy with, but
very few acrylics.
Watercolors are impossible. One mistake and it’s over... or at least it
seems that way to me.
So, there you have it: 3D and Watercolors are very difficult. Everything else
is just difficult, but might be easy to get into.
Kristian Olson (more answers by this person)
Freelance Art and Design
Kristian Olson Art and Design
http://www.kristianolson.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
I think as long as you know your medium and what it can do then there are no ‘easy’
or ‘difficult’ mediums. I really think it depends on your experience
with the method. As with everything there is a learning curve but once you are
experienced with your tools then certain things become second nature. Particular
methods, such as working digitally offer you a kind of freedom for experimentation
that you wouldn’t necessarily get with traditional media but I don't know
if that makes them ‘easier’. On the surface of things it looks like
taking a photograph is easy because all you have to do is press a button. The
reality of course is that it takes a lot more than that to take a really good
photograph. I think the medium which you chose is just one part of being creative.
What you do with that medium is the really important bit.
Allan Sanders (more answers by this person)
Freelance Illustrator
Allan Sanders
http://loopland.net
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 a good question but a difficult one for me to answer since I am not an illustrator and do not work in any one medium. From my perspective, as long as we can email it to the client that is what is important to me. From what I have heard, watercolor is a fairly tough medium to work in. if you make a mistake on your final, you have to start the piece all over again. Digital illustration seems like it would be the easiest to work in and make corrections on.
Anna Goodson (more answers by this person)
owner
ANNA GOODSON MANAGEMENT, INC.
http://www.agoodson.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
I think it’s different for each artist and it depends on their technique.
For me I love to blend and get soft edges so oils are "easiest" for
that method of painting. If you want a dry brush and get a textured look or you
want the paint to dry fast then acrylics would be a better choice.
Bob Dob (more answers by this person)
freelance commercial artist
Bob Dob
http://www.bobdob.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
The hardest medium to work in has to be oil painting. You need a whole room dedicated
to it. It takes forever to dry. There is the smell, the turpentine and the mess.
You need a sink that you can destroy to clean up afterwards. It is such a demanding
medium. Not for the faint of heart. It aint cheap, either. Then when you are finished
you have to photograph it perfectly in order to have a digital file. The easiest
to work in is ball point pen and a piece of paper. You don't need any skills or
training to do it. Even a 5 year old can participate in that medium. Plus it’s
cheap.
Tommy Kane (more answers by this person)
Art Director
Samsung
http://www.tommykane.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
I wouldn't necessarily call it the easiest but rather more efficient in regards
to meeting deadlines and flexibility from art direction is the digital medium.
Toughest from my point of view being a digital illustrator is 3D applications.
They have a very difficult learning curve and even after learning the tools it
takes years to finesse your work flow to achieve a unique professional look that
doesn't look and feel like anyone else that knows the tools. Too many tool driven
illustrators in my opinion.
I really think traditional methods are awesome. I love to paint but I never use
my own personal painting for commercial work. I wouldn't be able to turn around
on timelines I am giving. Just not doable and it limits my stylistic approach
as well. I pick an appropriate style for the given project so working in a tactile
medium such as literal paints will limit that potential and thus limit my range
of work.
Von R. Glitschka (more answers by this person)
illustrative Designer
Glitschka Studios™
http://www.glitschka.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
Well photography’s pretty difficult but that’s because I don't know
how to do it..... Of the mediums I use, screen printing is the easiest as it means
that you have to have an image planned out already, then you can just switch off
and print away.....The only thing you can really change once you start is the
colours, and even then if something’s not working its not going to make
an awful difference if its blue or red. I think the most difficult medium to work
in is to work totally digitally, (something I never do!) because then it’s
possible to do anything and you have no real constraints to work against, and
I think that takes away the fun.
Andy Smith (more answers by this person)
Freelance illustrator and animator
Andy Smith
http://www.asmithillustration.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
All digital techniques and technical programs aside... I find pencil and ink to be the easiest way to get an idea out. I find watercolor painting to be very difficult, but very satisfying! While working digitally, doing vector illustrations comes very naturally to me because I can work with a similar process to my pencil and ink sketches. 3D programs are the watercolors of computer art!
Matt Moore (more answers by this person)
Paint, Pixel, Ink, Aerosol
MWM Graphics
http://mwmgraphics.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
Easiest - pen and paper - ease of use and total immediacy.
Hardest - digital - complete opposite of pen and paper.
Jon Burgerman (more answers by this person)
Professional Doodler
Jon Burgerman
http://www.jonburgerman.com
In your opinion which medium do you consider is the easiest and which is the toughest to work in and why?
(more questions)
In my own experience I find digital illustration to be the easiest, I love both
bitmap illustration and vectors, they have their individual pros and cons as well
as specific challenges, but the amazing advantage of digital illustration is its
time travel feature. You can easily go back as many steps as you want and go in
a different direction, try out colours and compositions and change your mind as
many times as you like. I must confess that I always find myself starting a digital
illustration on paper and then take over with the computer, it just makes the
pre-planning so much easier.
For some odd reason to name the toughest medium feels harder than naming the easiest.
I don’t tend to think in terms of toughness because as an illustrator I
know what the different mediums can offer and sometimes what you are looking for
can only be achieved with one of them, so you just do it.
However if I was to measure toughness by how time consuming a technique is, it
would have to be something between traditional and mixed media. Unless you have
years of experience and already master a personal style you will have to spend
some time sketching layouts and compositions, and once you have worked out what
you are going to illustrate, the experimentation follows mixing colours and paints,
trying out textures and effects, sometimes this tests are just as elaborate as
the final one and only when you find the right combination you can start with
the final piece.
Having said that I’d like to clarify that it feels wrong to accuse traditional
techniques of tough, basically because for me they are so much fun. Each technique
has it’s on visual realm and you are allowed to visit when you need.
Alex Amelines (more answers by this person)
Senior Animator
Now Wash Your Hands
http://www.amelines.com