Interesting how processes that were once staples of mainstream visual arts are now referred to as "romantic." Lithography and etching lost their respective roles in mass printing. Traditional photography is a wonderful art medium but is no longer practical for photo journalism.A painter could make a fantastic living applying his craft to the field of illustration. Not many instructors teach traditional oil painting to up-and-coming illustrators. With Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Painter, 3D modeling programs, why would they? After all, clients request jpegs and tiffs and pdfs, not oil on Belgian linen.
Digital is more than a buzz word. I used to brush off the computer as merely a tool, like a pencil. I would say, "it takes a decade to learn to draw well and a few short months to get a good handle on a computer program like Photoshop." Like it or not, the word digital represents the era we artists live. The computer is vital to all aspects of visual communication.
I am growing as an artist working in a traditional medium because of the computer, discovering new ways of using technology to give greater voice to my work. I choose to use technology to enhance my ability to paint, not to replace it.
