Photoshop Vs. Natural Talent

rolla_roach · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:32 am Post subject:

I've noticed that most contest winners and pics with the most comments are the pics colored in PhotoShop. Personally, I don't think it's fair to those who can't afford a program that sophisticated or those who actually have skill and color their own drawings.

I think, when it comes to contests, PhotoShop work should be judged seperatley from hand-drawn work, and the best of EACH should win. It's just not fair to compare a flawless, digitally enhanced picture to a hand-drawn, sketchy piece of art.

PhotoShop gives a smooth, even coat of color with every shade nessassary for a perfectly shaded and colored picture. Hand-drawn art shows imperfections like pencil streaks and eraser marks. They are two different types of artwork that are NOT treated fairly.

People favor PhotoShop because of it's flawlessness, and it's not right to those who actually have talent as an artist. I think PhotoShop pics and Hand-drawn pics should be in seperate catagories.

Like I said; It's just not fair...to everyone.
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LunaticCrow · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:36 am Post subject:

Well, Different people are good at different things. I suck in photoshop, but I can use a pencil rather well.

It's unfair to disclude the Photoshop/PSP/other users. :\ Just make the contest "Handdrawn ONLY" or however you would phrase it.
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rolla_roach · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:53 am Post subject:

Don't get me wrong. I wasn't trying to disclude anyone. I'm just saying that judging Photoshop and Hand Drawn together is unfair because PhotoShop makes a pic so...perfect. How could you compare a pic that looks like a screencap to a pencil drawing? That's the part that's unfair.
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LunaticCrow · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:03 pm Post subject:

Hmm, Yeah, I do get what you're saying. But all mediums have their pros and cons. I personally hate Photoshop, All of what I've seen come from it is very generic CGing, nothing eyegrabbing or anything that could have the same visual effect as a Traditional media. I personally think you're at a disadvatage if you're using Photoshop over Pencils or whatever.

"Perfection" is so boring, anyway. It's all about experimentation rather than making everything look the same.
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rolla_roach · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:09 pm Post subject:

EXACTLY! I, myself, am a pencil/pen artist. I've never tried PhotoShop, and would really rather not. I agree, perfection does get boring...but not to the judges of a contest (apparently).

Like I said before, I don't mean to rip on people who use PhotoShop. Just trying to lay down the facts.
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Lilium · Member Joined: 01 Sep 2005 Posts: 88 Location: Jordan

I like photoshop sometimes(for the same obvious reasons), but I enjoy traditional art more. And I do agree...digital art is just becoming too popular for it's own good. All you have to be good at for photoshop is know how to design your pictures well and how to use the program itself...that's it. Everything is limitless, and, at the same time, a bit cheating. It's just so popular because it looks so cool...

But, it will never have that same look or feel as traditional art...I'm kind of glad there are some people aware of this... o_0
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Brianhjh · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 12:57 pm Post subject:

Photoshop fails, Painter wins.

and I only use photoshop to resize, blur, sharpen, and raise contrast, so I don't [i]draw[/i] with it, it's not a drawing program, and it really shouldn't be used as such. I know lots of people who does very good job with it, but really any kind of digital painting photoshop can do, Painter can do better, hence the name.

I use traditional medium, mostly because it's actually faster, and I like the fact of owning the actual version rather than holding on to a version that everybody gets to see.
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DragonicFlames · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 1:33 pm Post subject:

Traditional medium is my style, but I can see people using CG (if they are masters at it...) otherwise... no.
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Stratadrake · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:26 pm Post subject:

You mean FAC contests, right? Contest hosts are free to structure their contest any way they want. If there's a specific contest you want to question, ask the person hosting that contest.

[quote]I've noticed that most contest winners and pics with the most comments are the pics colored in PhotoShop.[/quote]

Nod.

I think people in general are just a lot more easily impressed by good CG art, despite that it's the skills of the [b]artist[/b] that dictate whether it's a CG masterpiece or a CG suckfest. Most artists who are skilled at Photoshop are [b]already[/b] equally-skilled at traditional media. There is no shortcut to mastering such artistic matters as composition/anatomy, perspective/foreshadowing, posturing, and so on, neither in traditional media nor in digital media.
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fallenangel · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:10 pm Post subject:

Download the first version of Open Canvas or the GIMP. Same thing as photoshop, free to download. A good artist makes use of what they have and does something great. It's not the tools, it's the person. Most amateur digital coloring is horrible. White edges between the colors and lines, neon pink and blue colors, and ten filters put over the whole thing.

Now, whether a contest maker considers that better than a hand drawn piece, that's their choice. Maybe having color was part of their judging criteria. BUT, I can make colored pencils or paint just as flashy as bright blue photoshop scribbles. And if you can't, download GIMP and color poorly like the rest of them.

Digital does NOT do it for you by any means, and I hate people who try to say photoshop and a tablet will make you a great artist, but I don't think you're trying to argue that. I assume you mean because people who make contests tend to lean towards the flashy colors, they should be judged separately.

But why stop there then? Why not make graphite judged separately from colored pencil because color is better than a black and white shaded picture. And make oils separate from acrylics because people are more easily impressed by saying something is an "oil painting". You can't control how people judge, I learned that real quick when I've lost (in the real world) to things that were less skilled and just flashy to look at. But you either get over it and make your work so good they can't possibly ignore it, or join them. And like I said, GIMP is right there with all you need to color like photoshop.
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tath_x · Member Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 63

Perhaps they should be put into different categories, I don't know, it's up the the competition organisers.

But CG is an artistic media, and it's damn hard to get any good at it. I've been practising for a couple of years now, and I'm still not that good. It's just like anything else. Personally I don't like using paint, but I quite like pencil.

A painting might look better to some than a pencil drawing and vice versa, but in an art contest they shouldn't be divided into different categories, unless stated by the comp. organiser. They all require artists with some semblance of skill in their chosen medium.

But yeah, judges do seem to favour CG images, and I get what you mean, so maybe there should be some 'Certain medium only' comps.

Stratadrake · Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:52 pm Post subject:

[quote]I don't know, it's up the the competition organisers.[/quote]
We can't stress that enough: [b]the final decision is up to whomever is running the particular contest[/b].
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SilentSoul92 · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 4:52 pm Post subject:

Ok, do we need example here, cause I can give a whole list of hand-drawn, hand-colored pictures which are 10 times as good as a photoshop picture.

I'll list them if we need to make a point.

rolla_roach · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 6:59 pm Post subject:

I think examples are needed and wanted. Anyone out there have a PhotoShop pic they'd like to compare to a hand-drawn pic?
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Brianhjh · Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:07 pm Post subject:

[quote] hand-drawn, hand-colored pictures which are 10 times as good as a photoshop picture.
[/quote]

[quote]I think examples are needed and wanted. Anyone out there have a PhotoShop pic they'd like to compare to a hand-drawn pic? [/quote]

You obviously haven't seen enough pictures.
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Live_Like_You_Mean_It · Rookie Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 34

I'd say different types of drawings are good for their own way.

Just hand-drawing gives a feeling of love/passion for the drawing, and it's very good for dark/sketchy pictures

Photoshop-enhanced drawings have a more serious look to them, and are great for making light pictures :D

It also takes skill and practice to master both of the techniques, and there are inner techniques inside the techniques :P

Sure, sometimes it's not fair, but Life's not fiar, kid ^_^

unfocused · Moderator Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Posts: 6983 Location: Texas

lmao pwn'd by a newbie

anyway

It's easier to make something seem more precise and have more crisp colors with a program. Plus you have the many 'tools' at your disposal to use as you like. if you really pay attention, the ratio from bad to good to great cg artists is the same as that of those who use traditional media, so yeah, alot of cg work i see really sucks. Including mine. i've only done a couple of pictures doing cg, but i love how easy it is to just do the little things that take more time with pencils and stuff. In this contest i am in, i did 4 drawings in pencil, and one in cg, because my main competition used only cg, i wanted to make it more fair. Sometimes you need to try harder, you need to use what you got and improvise, trust me, its alot better than bitching about it and not doing a thing.
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bungakawa2000 · Still very bored Joined: 15 Nov 2005 Posts: 261

As someone who has taken up PhotoShop originally as a way to make prettier pics easily... Well, it doesn't work. As others have said numerous times, bad art is bad art, regardless of how the final result comes to be. There are bad things to point out in hand-drawn: most of the god-awful drawings I see on FAC are doodled on the corner of a page during class. Most drawings that at least reach the PSing stage have *some* amount of work and effort put into them. Your milleage may vary, but I don't think it is honest in any way to pretend that using one tool or the other is cheating. Both require efforts of a different kind.

Some people see CG and think "Good!" That's as skewed as seeing CG and thinking "Hack!" or seeing hand-drawn and thinking "Good!" On a strictly personnal note, one thing that annoys me most about drawings is when it is obvious what kind of material was used. Yes, I'm looking at you, hand-drawn pics with needlessly obvious pencil strokes and uneven coloring, and at you too, CGed pics needlessly overloaded with lame stock effects (lens flare, I shake my fist at thee!).

Diathene · Very bored Joined: 31 Dec 1969 Posts: 109

Hehe, I remember a similar thread to this, I'll keep my mouth shut this time Razz

<--- digital illustrator by profession

Stratadrake · Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2006 9:53 am Post subject:

[quote]On a strictly personnal note, one thing that annoys me most about drawings is when it is obvious what kind of material was used.[/quote]
Not so for me. I don't mind if I can identify what media was used. In a way, it helps identify the piece.
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