From Pen to Mouse

From Pen to Mouse

Iain

Graphic designers, along with CAD architects, engineers, and 3D animators, are the stars of today’s creative industry, a market that rewards an increasing reliance on technology

But what about keeping traditional image making techniques alive?

My father could paint, choosing Watercolour as his preferred medium. I can draw and paint, it is something that comes naturally to me. I was constantly drawing as a child, starting with crayons as an infant, then graduating to felt tip pens, then pencils. I have fond memories of these early creative experiments. I studied Fine Art, Life Drawing & Illustration during my 5 years in Higher Education. I would like to think these skills were passed down to me, and I’d imagine most people earning a living in the creative industry would have a similar story to tell.

Pure Digital

But for me, as soon as I left education and entered employment, these skills became redundant. In todays workplace, through my experience, having digital process’ is seen as beneficial regarding time and efficiency. After all, time is money. From a graphic design perspective, having the skill set to use software to digitally replicate a process that historically would have a been a manual process. Clearly the digital age has ushered in new disciplines that did not previously exist, such as interactive design, motion graphics and computer game art, to name a few.

It is clearly the process that defines if a piece of artwork is digital or not. But Graphic Design in many cases combines the two. The video below describes the two worlds beautifully. David A. Smith, a traditional designer / sign writer uses his extensive drawing talents, which are then digitised to create the cover artwork for John Mayer’s ‘Born & Raised’ album.

Same skill set, different tools

The end result, or the finished product, is what the desired target audience will consume, regardless of the process. So, therefore, it could be argued that how the designer arrived at the conclusion is irrelevant. This could also be true for the intended medium. For example, a piece of work that was designed specifically for digital output, would not benefit from using analogue techniques.

Whilst tools such as Tablets allow designers to mimic the process of painting, there is no substitute for getting your hands dirty

The flip side to this could be that we can’t disengage ourselves fully from the fine arts creative process – the hands-on involvement that draws upon centuries of tradition.

Keeping the craft alive

Whilst tools such as Tablets allow designers to mimic the process of painting, there is no substitute for getting your hands dirty. An artist based in East Sussex named Sebastian Lester is doing just that, building on a skill which is thousand of years old. His calligraphy and type design is keeping the craft alive, and has inspired me to pick up a Pilot Parallel Pen. Take a look at the video below to see him in action.

To see more of David Smith’s work, go to www.davidadriansmith.com.

To learn more about Seb Lester go to www.seblester.co.uk.

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