Photoshop is a....shortcut?

[Tanika]

I cannot say exactly I've been taking a beating from other artists, but I've been hearing a lot of rants and angsty complaints saying that photoshop is just a shortcut for lazy people to cheat with.

I've been using photoshop for four years now, a little longer if you count short sessions at the library, and I do not understand how it could possibly be a shortcut. Is it a shortcut or maybe the person who said that has never used it? I'm not sure.

Personally I love to paint, but I prefer, from time to time, the neat and sometimes vibrant colors of photoshop. But, to me, photoshop takes many more hours than a painting does, I'm working on a simple portrait right now, and I mean simple, a girl standing face forward, oooh, but it is taking forever, and I'm loving every moment of it! It's taken so long and I don't care, the improvement has shocked me. So why would someone ask me to stop using photoshop and call it a shortcut?

Furthermore, I know some people here attend Rsad, I'm going to be attempting to apply there in the next year or so, my major would be in illustration, so wouldn't I -need- photoshop skills or at least some sort of computer skills?

Sorry to post something like this but I'm just so shocked and a little hurt that someone would call photoshop a mere shortcut and ask me to "please please please stop using it!"

Any thoughts? Am I wrong, is it just a shortcut and I'm just really really slow? :p

[McNallyism]

well...the answer is kind of yes and no in your case.

I think the person asking you to stop using it (is he or she your art instructor/mentor?) is thinking that at this stage in your artistic development, you could be shortchanging yourself by opting to got to digital painting so early (you're still in high school, right?).

A lot of the pros here learned to paint traditionally forwards and backwards before ever picking up a wacom pen, and I think they'll all tell you their art is better for it. Painting traditionally, for instance, makes you really think through your color choices and mix them carefully, whereas in photoshop you have the color picker to rely on. and you can just effortlessly adjust the color and contrast without understanding why something is working or not

and then theres the lense flares and filters, but we won't get into that because you're smart enough not to use them, right?.............right?


On the other hand, a lot of what you learn from experimenting in photoshop will transfer to the traditional medim as well. You can experiment with color and value without worrying about how much paint you're wasting.

SO in the end it becomes your call. you know better than anybody whether or not you're using photoshop's editabilty as a crutch or a tool.

-Sean

And BTW...Don't put any furries in your Ringling application portfolio. Or anything thats not drawn from life for that matter.

[Tanika]

Thanks for the feedback. The person is an artist who is into...a subject I strongly disagree with and a subject that is illegal to preform though I guess not to draw. They're quite young to be drawing it and I guess they don't like that I use photoshop so they went on a rant how it was a shortcut and asked me to stop. My instructor tries to push me to put out digital pieces so our school can win more art awards, it hurts my feelings sometimes actually.

As I posted before I love to paint traditionally but sometimes I really do appreciate the crisp digital paintings I do in photoshop. I learned to paint, though probably didn't master it, before I picked up a wacom. I've not mastered painting, that step seems out of reach or maybe I'm just blind. Regardless of skills or lack there of I prefer traditional.

I used a lensflare once, took it away five minutes later. Not good. The only good filter I found that I used once or twice was the blur filter for part of a background.

My teacher gets -very- upset if I use a lot of paint. And I normally paint on the largest canvas she'll allow, so normally I find myself painting in photoshop first to figure out what colors work. For me I guess it's not a shortcut, just a tool. Maybe for others it is? Sorry for bothering you, I'll tink on this, I just can't decide if I should give up photoshop or not, I was informed I needed it for my portfolio and for future classes.

[mcotie]

Photoshop a shortcut? BS! plain and simple.

first off in my job if I decided to switch to oils, my boss would be really pissed. I couldn't imagine painting skins on canvas, scanning them, then making them fit to UVW's. My freelance stuff it only makes sense to me to paint them digitally and send the file straight over to my art director through FTP. No mail, no insurance etc, etc. and any changes that need to be made can be handeled with a simple email.
I never had much traditional painting experience (unless you count airbrushing on Harleys). But I approach painting digitally the way a traditional painter would approach a canvas. more or less.

I think the biggest downfall to painting digitally is there is no original piece. That is whay I almost always start with pencils then scan them in and paint them. It brings it down to earth, if you will. Plus my A.D.'s most always want to see b/w art before adding color.

My feeling is that whoever is telling you this, does not have the full scoop on what is going on in the outside world and have a closed mind.

mitch

[J Bradford]

That is such an easy thing to say; why, because of the undo tool? I am 100% sure that the ones who make that BS up have little to no experience with Photoshop.

[Snowball]

I have to agree with the few that said that Photoshop is "NOT" a shortcut! I myself have only tinkered with it and have no Wacom to begin fully using Photoshops capabilities. Although there will come a day soon when I will own a Wacom and I will finally dive deep within the use of Photoshop and other programs because it seems so fun and enjoyable! Just seeing my own art come to life off the b/w into a fully colored and rendered digital painting would be quite pleasing to me! So keep going with Photoshop! I can't wait to begin learning how to use it! Good Luck.:chug:

[Travis_Bourbeau]

I really like mcNalysms reply and totaly agree, I started out modeling and had to learn anotomy back and forthe which relay sparked my intrest in 2d more, making me go back and re learn how to draw and paint better Also mcotie makes good sense as well in this industry which ever tool it takes to get the job done fastest is often the rule of thumb

I know alot of concept artist who are switching from markers to photoshop the end result is almost always the same often ps gives them more leway for tweaks and fast adjustments

[el coro]

McNallyism pretty much nailed it on the head i think. i learned to draw and paint traditionally. so much so that i didnt know the first thing about didgital art until i started working in the games industry back in 2001. i feel it was much easier to comprehend due to my years of traditional drawing and painting. ps has radically changed my process as well. i do most color ruffs, as well as final color corredtion/whatnot in ps. and it has helped speed up my process immensely. ps is a tool, and just like any tool, i dont think you should rely tooo fully on it. but it does come in handy from time to time-c36

[Tanika]

Thanks all, heh, me and my silly ponderings. I guess the person making up the 'shortcut' idea just doesn't know much about photoshop. I normally start out with pencil then scan and paint over it but sometimes I will ink the drawing and erase all the scribbly lines or just darken the pencil so I can see the guidelines. I find photoshop very hard but I was a little worried if RSAD would accept photoshop or not, guess that answers my question. ^^' Thanks again to all those who replied.

[cybercyst]

Well it saves me oodles of time when I'm coloring my comic strips (both dailies and Sunday strips). I'm pretty sure most cartoonists use Photoshop as well. In fact, I used to use colored pencils until Phil Foglio advised me to use Photoshop as a cleaner and quicker way to color.