By: Alexa and Hannah
Credit: KOBU Agency
Do you like drawing? Many people in this world like to doodle, and some of them are good at it. Many professional artists today include technology in their creations. For example, they would draw on computers using pixels. They argue that pixel art is better than old, traditional art which uses paper and pencil. Yet other artists have more interest in traditional art, and they decided that traditional art is better than pixel art. Today, we are bringing you an article on pixel art VS paper drawing.
First, let us talk about the benefits of paper drawing. We interviewed Jiho, a 6th grader at Concordia International School. She told us that she agrees that paper-pencil drawing gives us more control over our drawing. Also, she says that we can draw more fluently. This is supported by the site www.clipstudio.net. It says that “For digital illustration, lines often become similar or uniform. Compared to that, traditional drawing reflects more of a person’s personality or characteristics.” This is different from pixel art, which makes our drawings very uniform,and as some people would call it, boring. Also, Jiho claims that when she is drawing with a pencil, she erases more naturally. She says that when people erase online, it seems awkward and straight, but when people draw with their own hands and erase with them, the erase seems less stiff.
But even though paper-and-pencil art has so many benefits, it still has negative sides. When we interviewed Jiho, she also said that she did not like how “The pencil smudges all over the paper and my fingers.” This is one of the major advantages that pixel art has. When you draw with a pencil, it is usually messy. But when you draw with pixels, “you can turn on your computer, start the software and then at once start drawing for digital illustrations. Tidying up is easy – just save your data and shut down your computer. Your room and clothes will remain clean,” (www.clipstudio.net) This makes our time management better. If you draw with paper and pencil, you will need to pack up everything, wash your hands, and put your drawing somewhere safe. This takes a lot of time. But with pixel art, there will be little time spent cleaning up. It does not do any harm to you or your clothes.
After this, we will talk about the benefits of pixel art. Pixel art gives you a LOT of detail. If you want to add super intricate details to a normal drawing, you will need to have goodeyesight and a pair of extremely sturdy hands. But with pixel art, you can just zoom in and you will be able to add as much detail as you want without messing up badly. According to citizenjournal.net, another benefit of pixel art is that it can create many different effects. For example, it can create the feel of watercolor, oil pastels, and even pencil. This gives you WAY more opportunity than just paper-and-pencil drawing. To draw watercolor on paper, you will need a watercolor palette, a cup/bowl, water, one or more brushes, and paper. Compared to that, to draw the same thing with pixel art, you just need a computer or laptop.If you want more control, you can just use a drawing tablet for a computer or an Apple pen for an iPad.
Compared to the earlier paragraph, now we will show you the negative effects of pixel art. According to an interview Alexa had with Mr. Lyon, one of our middle school art teachers, he said that it feels quite different from paper drawing, and since pixel drawing is digital, you will need power, most of the time electricity.Also, pixel art is extremely hard to both learn and master. But anyone can learn to pick up a pencil and draw, even though you need to develop the skill of drawing. For pixel art, you must both develop the skill of drawing, but also learn how your pixel art program works.It is sometimes ridiculously hard to control your brush if you are not using a drawing tablet. If you have a computer, then you might only have a mouse, not a trackpad. Here, we give a tip to draw with a trackpad: press down with one of your hands, and glide around in the trackpad with the other.But with a mouse, you will need to carefully track your mouse. A little ‘OOPS’ can cause a perfect line to be ruined. Also, not everybody can afford a laptop or computer, but everyone can afford paper and pencil.
Paper-and-pencil drawing and pixel art both have their benefits. Even though they both have little flaws in them, they are still great. No matter what.
Benefits of Pixels Art: https://citizenjournal.net/benefits-pixel-art/
Pros and Cons of Digital and Traditional Art: https://www.clipstudio.net/how-to-draw/archives/155248
Marlies Draws - Digital art vs traditional art * Pros and cons of drawing with colored pencil vs drawing digitally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZVX2T-Kyjg