I have to share a life experience that sort of frightened me. When it comes to illustration I split my time 70-30 digital work to traditional. The percentage has been migrating digital for some time but has spiked in the last year.
A few months ago I was working on a series of traditional paper and paint pieces. I had been struggling with the color for awhile and kept revisiting one section of a painting. Not being pleased I decided to shake things up and scraped off the paint, then lathered on a new layer. The new color was just so wrong. So completely wrong. As soon as I saw what a bad choice I had made, in my head popped this, 'control+z'. At first I didn't connect what I had thought. Then it struck me. Yes I had actually thought that I could use a key command to fix something in the real world. I was mortified. The lines had finally blurred. I sat for moment amazed then I started laughing at how ridiculous it was. I truly couldn't believe that I had a hot key moment in the real world.
What does this teach me? Oh, maybe I spend too much time on my computer. But it also made me think about how we use tools. I love my computer, I love painting digitally. And I love the freedom. I love that I can use Control Z, and have a 'do over'. It isn't the death of real painting but digital work has a real place. The flexibility is dreamy to me. And the speed. Digital painting is akin to using a kitchen tool to make your work easier. I am going to keep doing my digital work, interspersed with traditional painting. And hopefully I won't try to hot key my way out of a corner.
