An unexpected outcome doesn’t always add magic to an image. Serendipity is a wonderful thing but, unfortunately, not all accidents are pleasant surprises.
Toy museum is a good example. It’s an ink sketch that I scanned and coloured digitally. While I was drawing it, I realised it would have to be reworked ― a stray line here, an unfortunate expression there ― but rather than starting again (something my tutors at design school would have insisted on), I kept calm, carried on and decided that I would correct modify those bits later. It’s not cheating; it’s a kind of mixed media that includes digital tools : )
If you compare the sketch with the final image, quite a few things haven’t changed at all, but I had trouble with some of the faces and so I edited them in Photoshop. I tweaked a few other things as well but not too much — I didn’t want to take away the personality of the drawing.
Ironically, knowing that I CAN change something later means that I tend to relax and enjoy my art more and then, more often than not, I DON’T NEED TO change anything. And I like it when that happens too.
Anna Cull ~ Art & Music 
It’s taken me awhile to get used to the idea that using Photoshop to alter my illustrations is not ‘cheating’. I still have a hard time with it, actually. But it’s just as you said – a tool. This piece is great!
Thanks, Micah. I still have that little voice in my head trying to tell me that it’s cheating too — but I know she’s wrong and so I ignore her ; )
Haven’t painters always just scraped away or painted over an offensive part? Technology is just an extra scraper (is there a technical term for the actual tool?). I’m a believer that creativity is in the process and the result, not in the perfection of any single step. The result, vivid even with its simple use of color, is really nice!
I say all that, having hit backspace several times during this tiny little comment My writing teachers better not be reading this.
: ) One of the big revelations for me was reading that illustrator Quentin Blake uses a light box — and he initially struggled with the idea that it was cheating too! Why can’t we create what we want to, how we want to, without apology? Sigh. I’m still working on that one myself.
Looks like a lot of people are in total agreement with your view Anna ! I hadn’t thought about photoshop in that way before . The thing is you have the great artistic gift ANYWAY Lol …. and don’t be bashful 😉
*note to self *… enjoy * creating* my art more .
Photoshop can be a really handy tool – something I do if an image isn’t quite right is scan it and change the colours or the composition in Photoshop, then come back and rework the original. But it is also great for adding colour to black and white (and a bit of tweaking) as a permanent solution too!
Hi : ) Yes, Photoshop is VERY handy. I could cope without it but, really, why not use it when we want to? I like using it to work out colour schemes ahead of time too.