[Big rant incoming] Hey guys, its been a while since my last rant. Not sure whether i should or not, or whether it helps or not. I have no intention of adding fuel to the fire or generate even more controversy. Im simply voicing my point of view. I remember when i started out and digital art was a relatively fresh thing, not so many people knew about it or used it. But the word spread more and more, everybody was excited about the new stuff and wanted to give it a try. The community at that point was somehow split between people who were eager to share this new thing and people who wanted to hang on to it. Yet the vast majority of artists were psyched and they would encourage others to give it a shot. When i look back to this time, what i remember the most is people being generous and zealous about sharing what they knew. [yes, i know, forums were different, it was a targeted audience, users were interested in similar things, etc.] Still, i remember being attracted by this community because it was warm, supportive and exciting. I recall very skilled artists giving feedback on my crappy first steps, and id get hyped and pace through my room with a big dumb smile on my face. Then, slowly but surely, more and more aspects of art got monetized. Which is good for a community of people who are trying to support themselves but it also turned out to be one of its downfalls. Why? Because friendly, positive competition became market competition and we started being pitted against each other in a way. Feedback interest decreased, people got busy, days seemed to shrink, and all this is completely understandable. Still, there was little bad blood. And then scandals happened. Im sure many of you remember names that i wont mention, or situations, or topics, and things seemed to go downhill from there [i reiterate, this is my personal opinion]. Tensions grew, people started lashing out at each other and the community began to dwindle. We had big big arguments on things ranging from the use of selections [i know, right?], custom brushes [which was supposedly cheating], textures, reference images, photo plates, over-painting 3D, etc. Endless debates and flame wars which rarely had coherent and positive conclusions. However, they did serve the purpose of fragmenting the community more and more. If youd agree on something, youd automatically be frowned upon by people who disagree. One of the rifts that ive personally always had a pain with was the illustrator vs. concept artist debate. Can i be both? Can i not be both? Is it ok to play both fields? Who and what decides what the lines are? Ive always been excited for both, as a matter of fact it took me a long time to even begin thinking if theres a difference between them since in my heart there was none. Painting was painting and the line for me was simply briefing based. I have and still continue to do both with an equal joy and perhaps this is why i fail to see the issue. Or i simply lack the intelligence or culture to grasp the notions and fully separate them. Over the years it seemed like a big part of concept art started getting bad rep. Dont get me wrong, illustrators had their share of beatings too [the most recent one i can remember is the bikini armors, i think many of you know what im referring to]. And so we took turns in getting smashed by this invisible force for various reasons, either theme, or technique, or whichever reason got people going at the time. As a quick side note, i dont want to be hypocritical. I too was part of these debates and i contributed to keyboard wars, i was adamant about my beliefs and i was rigid and so on. Im just letting you know i too was part of the mess and i own up to it. In light of recent debates, they are far from new. Many people working in this field for a few years have heard them dozens of times over. Heres how i personally feel about it: In a full day cycle, i use up to 4 different techniques. Whether im at the studio doing concept art or at home doing illustration for my projects. I bounce through and not limiting to photobashing, over-painting 3D models, referencing, doing linework, or going from blobs of color and working my way up. The technique i employ is usually determined by a mix of time pressure, personal preference at the time being, artistic pursuit, briefing and many other factors. If a simple line sketch helps me describe an idea better than a full scale painting, thats what ill use. Its all blurred out to me and i rarely, if ever, pay attention to which specific technique i use for which specific product. Let me just address something really quick. If you think concept artists do nothing else but photo bash endlessly or paint over 3D, youre wrong. Also if you think illustrators do nothing else but paint everything from scratch, youre again wrong. Both parties use a plethora of techniques determined by their own, personal, individual factors. Do i think either party wins over the other? Nope. This is one of the things that can be debated endlessly, with 2 or more groups preying on each other and ultimately gaining absolutely nothing. However, id like to address the real reason behind this post. What in the world happened to the art community, man? If i was a junior starting out today and id join Facebook, id most likely seek my favorite artists to gain even more knowledge of what they do, how they communicate, maybe get some know-how from them, in essence id pursue them with the purpose of learning. Yet what i find is my favorite artists throwing mud at each other because this technique is good, no its not, no its good. Do i ultimately use it or not? Wait, this guy i found on a random site is an illustrator and he doesnt photo-bash and he frowns upon bashing cheaters. But this other guy i found is a concept artist and he uses this technique and he frowns upon puritans. And i love both their work man, what do i even.. So i call to you guys, remember our first steps. Remember the support and warmth we were offered. Remember the thrill of having a top dog looking at your work and giving you a pat on the back and a keep going man!. Guys, Youre the top dogs now. Are we bashers or are we educators? Which side do we want to embrace? Ill be fully honest here man, i dont care who used which technique. I just hope we can get past little futile arguments like this and maybe carry a much nicer flag for people coming up. Id like to see this being a nice and cozy place again, where we embrace people who love creating just as much as we do, in whichever shape or form. Id really love to get back to that place and see excited people sharing awesome things past any boundaries of culture, formation, job family or genre. I crawl back to my idealistic cave now and see you on the next big rant. Much love, C
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 17:14:51 +0000
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