Today when I was at the library they had a huge sign regarding a Fan Art contest. I thought OOOhhh I can do that! That would be awesome. And then I read their closed minded short sighted rules.
All media must be flat: Flat media includes, Paint, crayons, colored pencils, pastels, watercolor etc etc
At the bottom it stated Digital Media is accepted with the following rules. You MUST submit a sketch that is not done digitally and it MUST be created using paint and drawing, meaning Digital Art CANNOT be 3D period, even if you print your image. Even if I fully created the models to make the digital image a 3D image art piece is NOT considered ART in their Fan Art Contest....This is utter bullshit.
I am not downplaying the importance of drawn art, I am not saying 3D art is better but it's BS that 3D art is not considered art in their contests. How is it any different? I may not create all the models I use, but I can damn sure bet you I paint on the skins, the clothing as well as paint afterwards on the finished render. How is my work any LESS work than anyone elses
Over the last 5 years or so while I have been practicing and attempting to better my 3D images through actual set up and render as well as postwork which sometimes consists of hours and hours of digital painting and image manipulation I have on several occasions had the unfortunate experience of running into folks not just online but out in the "real world" who like to spout on and on about how Poser and DazStudio image creation isn't "ART". These people like to call what I do a hobby, a waste of time. They like to tell me to "get a real job" when they have no idea how much work and effort I put into attempting to actually make something of my art and myself. I've read blog posts, Deviantart journals, newsletters and blatant slams that using a 3d rendering program to set up a scene, rendering it and the subsequent postwork is not only NOT art it's not even my OWN work.
A story I remember from a friend of mine that focuses on this thought idea always comes to mind. She entered one of her images in a local art contest and they called her to ask her to participate in a local showing with some of her images. When she was asked a few questions regarding her image and she mentioned that she bought models etc from several vendors she was quickly cut off and told well, umm we can't take your images now that you've told us. That's not really your art it's a composition of other people's work. Granted this might not be the exact story but the end result is the same. She basically is stating that although a painter doesn't make his own paint his end result is art, while this friend of mine's image was not
even though she creates for sale in stores characters etc.
In this modern era where computers are a part of everyone's daily life in America and many other countries digtial media is an integral part of our society. To stand by and claim that modeling in Maya, Modo and other programs that cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars is art but the hours sometimes days and weeks it takes me to personally bend and manipulate a model, create my own textures(ALL things which I taught myself with some help of some fellow "Dummies") so that my images have that one of a kind personal touch isn't art is like telling Ansel Adams he's some dude with a camera.
Art comes in many forms and media whether we want to believe it or not. The very definition of art expresses this idea. Wikipedia defines the word Art as
" term that describes a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities, but is most often understood to refer to painting, film,photography, sculpture, and other visual media. Music, theatre, dance, literature, and interactive media are included in a broader definition of art or the arts.[1]Until the 17th century, art referred to any skill or mastery and was not differentiated from crafts or sciences, but in modern usage the fine arts are distinguished from acquired skills in general."
The very definition of art would tell us that no matter what media you choose to work with, if you can create something and with a skill not every one has then it is art. I know from experience with talking to folks who have used DAZStudio, Poser, Anime Studio, and even Maya that not everyone can create in those programs. Those starting out don't consider their art real art. I know I never did. Not until I had been working with my programs for YEARS did I call what the result was art, but even the very first image you create is art. Hundreds of people every day open up programs look at them and say "Oh! HELL NAW!" close that bad boy back up and uninstall it without a second thought.
When I post my images at angelic-artwork.deviantart.com, Cloroflot and several other portfolio sites it isn't so some jadded crack pot of an artist can spend 30 mins of their day to be dismissive of the time, effort, thought, and creativity I put into my work. It isn't so family and friends can undermine my choices and what goal I want for my life.
If you choose to work in paint, clay, modo, digital programs or fingerpaints what you create is art don't EVER let anyone tell you it isn't, and if you want to pursue a career in it. Do it! Keep working at it and don't give up. They don't call it a "Starving artist" for nothing, but while you're on that road to fame and fortune (cough cough) stop stomping all over the little guy who chooses a different medium than you do. It's not nice and it's certainly not the way to promote the need for The Arts in ANY country.
My art is art even if I choose to use a computer to create it- Angelique Field aka AngelicArtwork.
