All art is a form of creative expression. There are numerous styles and media you can use as an artist. In this post, we aim to answer the question how digital art is different from traditional art. We are going to discuss whether digital art is easier than traditional and in what aspects digital art is ‘better’ than traditional. Altogether, we are going to look at 10 differences between these two artistic methods!
The term ‘art’ encompasses many different creative styles and media. Digital and traditional are two forms of art that we are going to talk about in this post.
Digital art itself includes many sub-forms. There’s digital painting, drawing, photo manipulation and compositing, manga and anime art, and even photo retouching. But apart from digitally created images, there are also films, videos, and sound that fall into the field of digital art.
Generally speaking, digital art refers to all art that has been created with the help of computer hardware and a software program.
Digital art has been becoming increasingly popular in recent years. More and more artists are choosing to create art digitally – whether they are new artists or coming from traditional work.
Along with this development, there has been a ‘digital art vs. traditional art debate’ going on that we are going to address here shortly.
Digital art vs traditional art debate:
Is digital art less valuable than traditional art?
The ‘digital art vs. traditional art debate’ has mainly been wrangling over the question whether digital art is as valuable as traditional art.
Especially at the beginnings of digital art, traditional artists used to argue that digital art is less valuable than traditional art, or even that ‘digital art is cheating’.
However, by now the vast majority of artists agree that digital art is as valuable and requires as much skill as traditional art.
As more and more artists have been taking the path of digital art, it has become clear that digital art is as time-consuming and complex to learn and produce as traditional forms of art.
Why is digital art better than traditional art?
Recent studies found that using digital tools in art education helps foster artistic development and creativity.
This begged the question why digital art is better than traditional art. Digital art requires no less skill than traditional artwork, but it involves a different way of thinking.
It is a form of art that integrates well with the technology we are using today and a great way to introduce learners to the digital world and creative activity.
However, the benefit of using digital media in art education and school curriculums doesn’t suggest that digital art is generally better than traditional art.
Similarly, it is highly unlikely that digital art will replace traditional art any time soon.
Is digital art easier than traditional art?
As we already said above, digital art requires as much skill and practice as traditional art. It’s not necessarily less complex and faster to create than traditional artwork.
However, digital art is easier than traditional art in terms of affordability, accessibility, sharability, and convenience.
We will see in just a minute what exactly that means when we come to the 10 differences between digital and traditional art listed below.
How is digital art different from traditional art?
While digital art and traditional art have naturally lots of things in common in terms of creativity and artistic expression, there are also some major differences between these two forms of art.
The following list sums up 10 differences between digital art and traditional art. So let’s see in what the two contrast!
10 Differences between Digital Art and Traditional Art
1. Less expensive
Generally speaking, it is cheaper to create digital art than traditional art.
Almost everyone has a computer or a tablet nowadays, so you don’t need to make any extra investment to get started with digital art. I started out editing with a mouse and trackpad myself, even though I don’t recommend it.
So one thing that you should get when you are serious about digital art is a drawing tablet. Drawing tablets are pretty affordable these days. The One by Wacom and the Wacom Intuos are good tablets for beginners and available for around $50 to $70.
→ Wacom For Beginners: Which Wacom Tablet Is Best For Beginners?
The second thing that you need is digital art software. Photoshop is the most popular editing program among digital artists, but it’s a bit costly. (You can try Photoshop free for 30 days here.) However, there a couple of completely free alternatives that you can start with to test the waters!
And even if you later on get a more professional drawing tablet, other computer hardware and a more performing graphics program, you only buy those once and then you can use them for a very, very long time.
→ TOP 10 Tools Digital Artists Use In Creating Their Artworks
As for traditional art, on the other hand, materials need to be bought again and again. You need canvases, paintbrushes, palettes, paint and other supplies that all cost money. Over time, all these costs add up and can burn a pretty big hole into your pocket!
2. Easy to access
For many newbies, it’s easier to access digital art tools than media used for traditional art.
As I already mentioned above, almost everyone has some computer device at home these days.
If you have an iPad or an iPhone, you can get the Apple Pencil and then start drawing right away on your tablet or smartphone. Procreate is a great software app for iOS devices that many professionals use and that costs less than $10.
Wacom’s latest screen tablet, the Wacom One, even works with a number of select smartphones, so you don’t even need a computer or desktop to make digital art!
Software for digital art is a just as easy to access: once you’ve chosen your favorite digital art program, you can simply download it at the click of a button.
→ How To Teach Yourself Digital Art – 5 Tips For Beginners To Get Started
3. Not location-bound
As a digital artist, you can basically create anywhere in the world.
All you need is your laptop and drawing tablet. I used to travel a lot myself. And every time the creative muse struck me, I would just connect my Wacom and start editing on my laptop!
As opposed to traditional art, you don’t need to carry around a lot of things. You most likely have your laptop with you anyways, and a drawing tablet can be easily tucked in your laptop case. This is all you need to make digital art.
As a traditional artist, you would usually work in a studio where you keep all the art supplies that you need. If you tend to work with large canvases, the space required may be pretty huge…
In any case, it’s impossible to travel with all your traditional art tools and even shipping everything to another place is not exactly hassle-free.
4. No cleaning needed
Traditional art methods usually come with a whole lot of cleaning and tidying up once you are done creating art.
You need to clean the brushes, wipe off the paint, and put away your canvas. Not to forget your clothes and your studio! There will be stains of paint on your clothes and on the floor that you need to remove. You’ll need to change your clothes, wash your hands, and so on.
Digital art doesn’t need any cleaning. Once you’re done with your digital artwork for the day, all you need to do is save the file, shut down your computer, and put away your drawing tablet.
That’s all! Your room and your clothes are just as tidy as they were before you got started.
5. Quick to share
Digital art is instantly ready to share and publish online.
Since your digital creations are already stored on your computer, you can upload them straight away to your social media channels and other art sharing platforms.
Once you finish a traditional piece, you need to let it dry first and then take a photo of it, making sure it is placed in good lighting conditions so it looks its best.
Your digital artwork will always look as good as on your computer, so you don’t need to worry about the quality when you publish it.
→ Best File Type To Save Digital Art
However, because digital art is so easily sharable, it is easier for people to steal your work and claim it as their own. To prevent that from happening, check out 7 PRO TIPS How To Protect Your Art Online.
6. Easy 'Undo' button
Digital art is more forgiving than traditional art. If you make a mistake, you can just hit the ‘Undo’ button.
It’s very easy to make changes to a digital artwork. Apart from the option to undo your mistakes, you have layers, layer styles, filters, masks and the history tool that allow you to modify things quickly and easily.
Traditional art, on the contrary, doesn’t leave much room for mistakes. Once you’ve put something down on your paper, canvas or wood, it’s difficult to change.
If you still want to correct a mistake on a physical medium, it’s very time-consuming.
7. Editing comfort
Because a digital artwork is composed of layers, styles, blending modes, masks, etc., it is easy to make changes and use the same element more than once.
In fact, you can erase unwanted things without a trace, change colors, re-position and re-size objects as you like. Also, you can use the same thing over and over again as long as it inspires you.
→ How To Copy Effects From One Layer To Another In Photoshop
Once you’ve created some digital element, you can basically re-use it as many times as you wish. All you need to do is paste it into a new file and you are able to express an unlimited number of new ideas.
For example, I created a transparent glass ball jar that I have used in three of my creations (Glasshouse I, Glasshouse II and Glasshouse III) and made available for other artists who made lots of other beautiful creations with it!
This easy replicability and changeability was also part of the ‘digital art vs. traditional art debate’. Some people used it as an argument to proclaim that digital art was not as genuine and authentic as traditional media.
8. No original pieces
The reason why traditional art was initially considered more valuable is because every work is an original.
Once you create a traditional piece of art, it is absolutely unique. Even if you try to reproduce the same piece, it will be slightly different from the original. It’s not possible to duplicate or mass-produce handmade traditional art.
Digital art, on the other hand, may be replicated as many times as you wish, without any divergence from the original creation.
This can be a good or a bad thing. Good because all your fans and customers have the opportunity to purchase the exact piece that they saw on your social media platform or artist website.
→ How To Make A Website For Digital Art – Best Website Builder For Artists
Bad because replicable prints of digital art usually sell for less than original pieces.
Nevertheless, even as a digital artist, you have the chance of adding more value to the prints you sell. Here are some things you can do to raise the price of art prints (from lowest to highest price):
- Prints that are signed and not numbered.
- Prints that are signed and numbered.
- Original art prints less than 20 copies, signed and numbered.
- Large prints with even fewer copies, signed and numbered.
- Hand-embellished prints.
- Unique prints, one copy only.
When offering special edition prints, it is important to choose a high-quality printing paper. Giclée prints are the gold standard among fine art prints. They are superior print quality and can last for several hundred years.
An excellent printing service for Giclée prints is Giclée Today. They offer a large choice of premium archival papers and canvas prints with UV coating at affordable prices. And, there are no minimum order requirements!
9. No tangibility
When you create digital art, you don’t have any physical connection with the creation itself.
Apart from your tablet and stylus (and maybe your keyboard and mouse), there is no real tangible thing to touch.
In contrast, traditional art creates a physical connection addressing all your senses!
You can touch all the tools you work with, you can smell the paints, you can feel the canvas, and you can even hear your brush moving over the canvas.
That’s why creating traditional art may be a ‘richer’ experience.
As for digital art, you can only touch the finished print when you are holding it in your hands – which can be a nice and satisfying experience, too!
10. Equal versatility
One thing that both digital and traditional art have in common are the endless possibilities to explore.
Despite lots of controversy in the art world, I believe that both digital and traditional forms of art are as versatile.
In traditional art, you can use all kinds of mediums and materials to create a finished physical product.
Likewise, digital art software offers you lots of different tools, features and functions so that you can always try out something new.
Photoshop (best all-round software), Corel Painter (best for digital painting), Clip Studio Paint (great for manga and anime art) are all super-performing programs. Even if you learned one new thing every day, you probably wouldn’t exhaust the possibilities during your lifetime.
Plus, there are always new and advanced features being added to the program. This array of functionality probably even surpasses the possibilities of traditional art…
