We are onto our third lockdown in London and it has been a difficult one. Almost a year into this series of lockdown tier systems have taken their toll. It has become a blurry line between days and hours, a time of near-free fall. Between Netflix shows, long-lost novels, and the day job there was little time to feel creative. Just about keeping our head above water. But it was time to shake it off and pick up the paintbrush or a digital pen in this case.
Painting a canvas is more than what strokes you manage. It is a whole process. The smell of fresh paints, the nervousness of a blank canvas, the music you chose that morning and the emotional play within. It all blends into one and shows itself on the canvas.
This lockdown though I discovered digital painting. It allows the flexibility of painting anywhere, anytime and without needing to prep. The exercise can be the same painstaking minute detailing into a crease that you just can't get right! But it has been a blessing to try new work and explore a new dimension into painting.
There is a huge debate on the internet for digital art being "cheating" or the available tools making anyone an artist. The art community overall has been more welcoming and does indeed believe it requires some talent to be able to create unique pieces. Well, it did take artists like Picasso, Frida Kahlo, and Banksy to reinvent art and push the horizons of the creative world.
I am not here to question it. The more mediums and technology we have the more artists we will have and we need more of that right now. It is a new concept and a learning curve for many traditional artists like me but I have embraced it as it has given me new energy when I was looking for my mojo!
A time-lapse of the art is below and it shows the detailing is just as critical as it is on a canvas. There was a time when watercolour was deemed cheating because it let you create faster than oils. Photography was not considered art and faced criticism for a very long time. Every new element has to follow its journey before it can take center stage.
Art is art, it will always be the universal expression of creativity, imagination, and storytelling, whether through music, painting, writing, or photography. Art has always expanded its borders for new creative ideas and if we can accept robots creating paintings as art why not humans using tech to create?