Digital Art vs Traditional art

1.When and why did you start drawing? How long have you been creating artworks?

I started drawing when I was around 4. I watched a lot of cartoons and movies, and I appreciated the arts for its ability to immerse the viewer in different perspectives and worlds. Back then, I was more focused on the visual and technical aspect. 

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2. Where did you obtain the education to do what you can do now? Did you go to art college?

 I am actually working towards a computer science degree. My art knowledge has mainly come from practice, observation, online studies and required art credits in high school. These were just basic, again, technical and theoretical classes to build on fundamentals. I think where I mostly got some more in-depth perspective was my IB Visual art class because of critiques from other students. 

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3.What drawing materials do you use?

 I mainly draw digitally, with a wacom create bamboo tablet and Paint Tool Sai. Occasionally, I'll use a different program like Paintstorm or Photoshop to edit. Traditionally, I prefer to use watercolor, acrylic, copics and prismacolor pencils. 

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4.Do you consider yourself more of a digital or traditional artist? Why did you choose to work with this the media? Do you have any experience in the other media?

As stated previously, I am definitely leaning more towards digital nowadays. For me, it's just much easier, organization wise, and to play with computers. I've always wanted to expand into animation, 3d sculpting or graphic design. 

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5.What is your opinion on <digital art vs tradition art>? Do you think one media is superior? Why or why not?

I definitely cannot say one is better than the other, and must disagree with anyone who contends towards one being superior than the other. As someone who has experience in both for many years, and sometimes overlaps the two, I have appreciation for both. I can say that my appreciation may differ in certain aspects, but they equally impress me overall. In a technical aspect, I only prefer digital because of my reasons above. If a person brings up that "digital art is easier", then I'm going to assume they only see certain technical aspects that can be done to make a process a bit less time consuming. Regardless of what shortcuts you use, it does not mean digital art is easier to improve; You still require the fundamental knowledge of art in order to improve and succeed. Artwork on a computer does not just appear out of no where. Practice and studying all contribute to your improvement. Me being able to use the perspective ruler does not equate to an interesting composition, with intriguing focal points and position of objects. (By the way, you could also easily look up perspective hacks for traditional artwork). 

Also to clarify, I believe a person can have a preference for digital art versus traditional art. Sometimes the look of one appeals more to a person. But as an overall generalization and I guess "movement", one cannot be better than another. 

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6.Based on your experience, what do you think are the main pros and cons of each art media?

I think in this situation, I'm going to go for a more monetary and technical approach.
Traditional materials are very costly. It's a continuous need for supply, and money needed for that supply. (depending on your medium of course...some people also manage to make appealing work, even without selling an arm or leg). Now that could also be said for digital art; Electricity is the main continuous supply you need. Everything else is just base unless your tablet or computer dies, which you need to replace, but again, does not happen often. 

I do believe that production of digital art costs less in the long run. 
In the technical aspect, digital art does make life a bit easier; once you get used to control z, it's hard to go back. However, it makes it easier if you just learn not to rely on control z anyway. If you're able to make the first, satisfying line, it's less time wasted continuously pressing control z. Traditional art teaches you to be more reliant on your own ability to visualize the line or stroke you need at the time, and translate that to a the right motor response. Contouring is a good practice utilized in classes for a reason! That's just one technical feature that makes life a bit easier, but again, does not make digital art superior. 

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7.What inspires you to draw?

A lot of things inspire to draw. Other artists aspiring to improve and do what they love, music, real life experiences, support from followers and relatives etc. I think it's hard to indicate one exact source of inspiration. 

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8. Who is your favourite artist and why?

I actually have quite a few, but I'll name my favorite two. Jun Mochizuki and Namie-kun. Mochizuki is a Japanese manga artist who worked on a well known series called Pandora Hearts. I really admire her traditional work, which is her main medium. Her techniques produce very atmospheric and crisp results, which I wish to be able to do with my own art overall. Aside from her beautiful work, her improvement is also what really drove me to take art seriously; It is really evident her unique style was discovered during her journey of writing and producing this manga. It gives me hope that one day my artwork will also take a turn for a more unique approach. Namie-kun is another artist I look up to, not only because of her gorgeous work, but her improvement also inspired me to get into digital art. At the time, I didn't really understand how digital work was created, and I didn't exactly have the will to figure out. But I stumbled across her work, and to see her process changed my outlook on it, and it felt like a spark occurred, where I was extremely motivated and intrigued. That was when I also took art seriously as well.

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9.What is an advice you would give to any artist? Any tips to draw better or become better at art?

Practice and observe. A lot of artists will say practice, but you have to be observant of your own work, and understand what it's lacking. You have to know how to improve. Critiques (constructively composed) are very valuable, and should not be taken personally. If your goal is to improve, you'll need to lose any emotional attachment to what people have to say about your work. If you strongly disagree however, then argue politely why. But be open minded and attempt to see what needs to be improved upon. 

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10.Is art your career? If not are you considering to have it as your career in the future?

I would still love to have some affiliation with the art field in the future. I currently take some art jobs and would love to study Japanese, as most of the jobs I take on are commissioned by people in Japan. 

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And there you go! :D Thank you for having me in your interview, and hopefully all my answers were sufficient. 

Good luck with your project!