Skvor

Hello and thank you for visiting my DA.

I started to paint digitally in 2011. Since then I spent six years studying illustration on the University of West Bohemia. During that time I also worked in commercial and entertainment industry and I will continue to do so. I'm mostly interested in movies and video games. Even though I'm strongly critical towards modern AAA trends and I have some bold opinions, I still love to work in the field. I enjoy the creative process.

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13.6.2018

Over the last few years, commission after commission I've slowly got to a stage where I just can't continue any more. I need to finish school too and it began to feel impossible. I want to use the time to improve. In the little spare time, I wan to paint something for myself and improve my life generally, while I still can. Therefore I'm putting any freelance activity at hold. For as long as I need to. Thank you for understanding.

Comfort zone might be something we can be stuck in very hard. Comfort zone is often look upon as something bad and something we should get rid of. But maybe there is actually no reason for it. Maybe its nothing to be ashamed of.

I actually think I'm stuck in my so called comfort zone pretty bad. I repeat bucolic topics with exactly the same type of men and women. When I make portraits. I always come out with kinda similar outcome, using the same technique over and over. Recently it struck me. Not only that its actually true, but also that I'm OK with it. I could not find anything bad about it dang it.

Digital painting is around in the business literally just few years. Its widely misunderstood and underestimated. People who haven't tried it have very limited idea of what is it actually about. Generally, I feel that within the common folk, digital art has either bad image, or completely wrong image.

    When I finished my final work in fourth semester, I was asked very strange question by the commission. How is it done? I thought answer: "Its painted digitally" would be enough, but all the capacities were looking at me with even more confusion. The question was laid upon me one more time with good focus on word "how?". Then it was my turn to be confused. Finding words to describe I was interrupted by one of the commission members. Obviously she thought how to answer this much more than me. "Its made with use of brushes", she told the rest. However, this did not solve the mystery. In the haste we had, question stayed unexplained. Later, when I thought about what did the lady think, I came upon a conclusion its the tree brushes, flora brushes, cloud brushes and so on. I don't know if it was meant to lighten my effort. But I think it was attempt to make digital painting look easy. Like... ye, ye, he painted it but he used brushes. Five year old could do that. By the way, I don't like to use those "stamp" brushes. Those work very much like pohotobashing. They are easy to recognize, they repeat and they are not pretty.

    The reason why I tell you this tale is because its just one of many. Almost no one of the old generation know a first thing about digital painting and only few know its around and how painting like this work. By many, digital art is looked upon as something easy. As a cheat to achieve brilliant works with minimum effort. Other state they don't even like digital art. because its digital. We all have our experiences with such people I am sure. There is no need to explain.

    So lets look at what I think digital painting is all about. Why some people think this and that. And what trends we can see in the ocean of modern era.
Is digital art easy? Is it easier than traditional,(aka analog) techniques? Few week back, I would answer: "Yes of course, it is easy...". But then I would remember it took me four years to get to some presentable stage and would add: "...But it took me over four years to get any good and I still kinda suck in comparison to others". but you people would be surprised that not only the time that is required to master the technique defines it's difficulty. Its actually the technique itself and it's limits. In some ways, I look at traditional painting with envy. How easy certain things are. How easy it is when you don't have to deal with certain problems.

    But lets head back for a moment. Before talking digital art hard or easy we should understand what digital painting is. Its all the media you can imagine mixed together... even those we can imagine not. this leads to people making completely different works out of it. Some people just edit photos, some photobash, some draw and some people paint. Some try to just have their illustrative assignment done faster. Some paint just for the drawer. Some attempt to create a work of art. Digital art is extremely easy to aces. In a long run, its extremely cheap too. This leads to large number of creative people producing stuff. As soon there is large number of people doing something, things start to occur on surface. A lot of people are not very smart, a lot of people have awful taste and many people are devious. And all are proud of their work, want to share it and get approval. This alone is absolutely alright! Just then internet is swarming with very silly, immature and in lotta cases very ugly artworks. For people who don't actively seek out the quality works, such artworks might be the only touch with digital technique. Scary isn't it? as always, there is other side of the coin. But its no better. There is a big popularity contest going on on the web. Many artist with quite a skill might eventually get very good at pleasing the crowd. The paintings on the spotlight then make seem the digital art really as some sort of cheating. "Such details! Almost like photo! No strokes at all!" Do you know what I mean? And this kind of painting is not actually that hard to achieve as it might seem. My opinion? If you are person I would somehow appreciate, you probably hate such paintings

   Anyway, if you are interested in art and you don't avoid the digital one. You probably know there are fabulous pieces with unspeakable qualities. works of true masters. There is no question about their skill (or talent, if you believe in it). There is no arguing about high value and no discussion if it is good because digital technique is easy. Just what is it the thing that makes them great? With this you will have to trust me, because explaining would require many more boring articles. Thing is, when you are not master of the craft, Its actually far easier to achieve something looking good with traditional technique. each stroke you make with real paint is work of wonder itself. Its alive! It changes shape and colour, it makes unpredictable effects. Its fun to look at. If you are not really sure with some parts, you just paint some mess there and it actually doesn't look that bad. In the meantime, on the other side, digital art fights with it's limit being digital. Your strokes are the same, dull and it is clearly visible. There is no texture of the canvas nor paper nor anything else. There is no water spilling, no paint dropping. There is just sterile digital playground. You have to think about everything that is missing to replicate some of the live flow which otherwise happens instantly. The digital art pioneers partially solved this with painterly brushes. Those which actually have some texture or noise. but its being just way way far from something close to live painting. I don't want to make this sound as if true digital painting wanted to get to the traditional as close as possible. I would rather like to illustrate the struggle digital painting has if it wants to simply look good. To look good means to have some of the juice, some of the flow. Contrast of shapes, surfaces, strokes, hard and soft edges. To create balance, when there is too much of something, on different spot there should be too little of the same something as opposite. Because when everything is done the same, its like silence without music. Artist have to pull the strings and boldly intrude the stillness of otherwise agonizingly sterile environment. And another matter. In digital art, you make one single mistake and instantly reveals itself. You use few more stroke thane necessary, you show you did not know where to put which  stroke in order to express certain thing right, immediately wrong! 
    I feel people don't have a clue. It leads to misunderstanding and wrong evaluation. Like so many things in the world, this also leads me to one very deep truth. There is nothing easier than to hate the things we don't know or understand. Once, I myself thought digital illustrators just try to play at traditional painters because they cant do it on paper. Well, there is more to it.

thank you for reading