Which is to learn: Digital vs traditional art

We want to prepare our students for future careers in something that is going to create a job market. All these careers will emerge due to technological advancement. A survey conducted by Dell Technologies and the Institute for the Future (IFTF) found that 85% of existing jobs in 2030 have not yet been created. So we have to change our skills with the change of technology. For this reason, schools and colleges are currently adding digital art to the curriculum.

Art teachers have trained themselves to effectively teach digital art in addition to traditional art. A survey found that 52.2% of art teachers want to learn to teach digital art.

What Is Traditional Art?

Traditional arts are usually learned from person to person through practice, which is passed on from one generation to the next. Traditional arts are influenced by culture, ethnicity, and the evolution of time. The range of traditional arts is quite wide, for example - from stone building to painting, wood carving, sculpture, and much more.

Traditional art often represents a place or a group. It bears the emotional testimony of history.

Simply telling, traditional art refers to works of art created by the feeling of touch. It can be many forms, but for this article, we can talk about painting, drawing.

What Is Digital art?

Digital art is an art created primarily through computers or other technologies. This can be done in a variety of ways, such as using graphics tablets. There are many types of digital art, most notably animation, digital portrait, and digital illustration. Although digital art does not need to follow any strict rules like traditional art, but the user needs to know how to use it in the correct way. This makes the whole process easier for the artist. Initially, digital painting programs were based on coloring pixels with the mouse, but now they have been updated to do a lot more. The artwork can also be enhanced with special writing on a graphics tablet.

The importance of digital arts:

Some art teachers think of technology as a threat to originality and do not want to replace traditional art practice. This is why this idea can be concerning for art teachers. However, many art teachers believe that the use of digital tools in art education can enhance the artistic development and creativity of the students. Digital art can serve as a powerful advocacy tool in the curriculum.

Some of the benefits of teaching digital art in the classroom:

1. Extended access

While not every student has an acrylic paint set or watercolor in their home, most students have access to digital devices such as iPads or smartphones. Although these are more expensive than watercolors. However, if we calculate, it can be seen that one-year watercolor money can be used for a long time if we buy the devices and use them carefully.

2. Advantages

In the case of traditional industries, it is difficult to carry the necessary industrial materials. In this case, you will need paint, paper, paintbrush, etc. Which you may not always have close to your hand. However, in the case of a digital industry, you can easily do the work of your choice. You can carry your device with you almost everywhere and prepare the work of art whenever you want.

3. Instant Sharability

You can easily share digital art stored on your digital device with others. You will be able to share your work instantly through websites and social media. Which is not possible in the case of paintwork.

4. Increase productivity

Digital art saves you time. If you make a mistake, pressing a button can bring you back at work. Which is not possible

in traditional painting. This speeds up your work.

Why the need for traditional art?

While the digital industry has many advantages, it requires some basic skills to create traditional art. Which makes you more proficient. But for that, you have to have different thinking and knowledge of using different materials. The various techniques of traditional art can make you so skilled that you can create extraordinary art without any specific tools. It does not limit your skills to the use of certain tools. However, when you learn about traditional art techniques, intentionally or unintentionally your brain gains a deeper understanding of the materials and you will better know what they can do or how to do.

Some advantages of traditional art:

1. Hand-in-hand experience

In traditional art, work is done using hands, eyes, and senses. In this case mental and physical skills increase. Such as learning to operate a paintbrush to create paint strokes, learning to use engraving tools to create sculptures. Also, know about the proportions of different colors in creating colors that cannot be perceived digitally.

2. Unique pieces

Since these works of art are handmade, each of them is a unique piece. Traditional works of art are generally more valuable than digital art pieces.

3. Instant problem-solving capability

In the digital industry, there is usually a tendency to make mistakes because they are easily corrected. But it is difficult to correct mistakes in traditional art and for this reason, the creator of the art has to be careful not to make any mistakes. It encourages an artist not to make those mistakes anymore and ultimately improves their skills.

Digital tools have no skills of their own. So we need to learn to increase our creativity.

If you are not ready to immerse yourself in the world of technology, you will be left behind. Learn to improve digitally instead of completely replacing traditional artmaking methods. The final word is "Learn traditionally but grow digitally".