COP2: COP3 Proposal Research - Study Task 5

Question 4: To what extent do Technological developments in production and distribution impact on Illustration?

My thoughts

I'm really interested in this topic as a starting point for my COP3 module. As a student of illustration, I find myself drawn more and more to the digital side of making pictures. I have always had a certain worry, that although I feel I am technically more capable using digital media, the fact that my work only exists on a scene  is devaluing my efforts. Why is authenticity such a valued element in upcoming contemporary work? Is society bored of the digital age and yearning for an element in artwork that has been carefully considered and hand crafted? Does this give an image more value as opposed to using digital brushes? 

How can you stand out from the masses as a creative, if photoshop is so easy to use?

If you're not making illustration in a surreal/stylized way, why not just use a photograph? 

Kyle T Webster - Pioneer of photoshop brushes that mirror the aesthetic of physical mediums, why get your hands dirty?  

Made You Look documentary - A Film about creativity in the digital age. 
Drew Millward - digital artist, who uses practical methods to produce prints. 

The End Of Illustration? - Illustrator's Partnership

http://www.illustratorspartnership.org/01_topics/article.php?searchterm=00073

- "Digital media, and specifically the PhotoShop extension, has had a profound influence on the way that art directors and designers currently view illustration. Once graphic designers depended on the rendering skills and conceptual acuity of illustrators. Now they can assemble ersatz illustration-collages by themselves."

- "Since finished art can be bought straight from an online catalog as easily as a video tape or fruit basket, young art directors and designers do not develop creative relationships with illustrators."

Normal Rockwell & Wallace Polsom, Ersatz Surrealism

- "Invention of Photoshop is far more threatening than any technological advance in history of illustration." 

- "Illustration evolved from what-you-see-is-what-you-get to conceptual because the issues and themes covered in magazines were becoming more complex, more critical."

- "Conceptual illustration served two purposes: It provided meaning—and commentary— and gave a publication its visual personality."

- "owing to digital media and other design issues, illustration is in a state of flux that could dip or rise"

Article that highlights 

Interview with Kyle T Webster - businessofillustration.com

Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seems like you work almost 100% digital now (with your amazing brushes, of course). What was that transition like? What made you do the complete switch? Do you have a fancy Cintiq?

I have always worked 100% digitally ever since I got my first freelance job in 2003. Back then, I drew in Flash (before its drawing engine was ruined) and colored in Photoshop. I worked on a 4×5 Wacom Graphire tablet for about five years and then bought a used 6×8 Intuos 4. In 2012, I bought a Cintiq 24HD and I love it a little too much. I look forward to going to work just so I can draw on that thing, even if I don’t have any assignments.

Kyle T Webster - Lobby Boy and Digital Brushes Ad

Would the use of digital media effect the development of a "style"? Kyle states that he has always worked digitally, and his work utilises a whole range of stylistic approaches. Does the focus on choice of media, drive the style/content?

How Important is having a "style" as an Illustrator, in today's society?

Kyle T Webster - Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AHaFDRJF3k

Pokes fun at contemporary designers that take themselves too seriously - youtube rap video

https://illustrationage.com/2016/01/22/the-style-problem-for-artists-by-kyle-t-webster/

The Lo-Fi Phenomenon

http://futureplaces.org/essays/the-lo-fi-phenomenon-analogue-versus-digital-in-the-creative-process/

http://darkdesigngraphics.co.uk/inspiration/digital-illustration-vs-traditional-media/