Had a buddy tell me my digital paintings looked too 'perfect' last Tuesday

He said the lack of visible brush strokes made them feel dead, and honestly after staring at my latest piece for an hour I think he might be right. Has anyone else found that stepping back from ultra-smooth renders actually made their work hit harder?

3 comments

3 Comments

derek_schmidt628d ago

Man I gotta push back on that one. Smooth and clean has its own kind of power if you nail the lighting and composition. Plenty of people look for that polished finish in digital work, it's a different lane not a worse one.

umamartin28d ago

You know what, you might have a point. I used to be all about that gritty, textured look but seeing clean digital work done right does hit different. Guess I was sleeping on that polished style.

jadew6319d ago

So @derek_schmidt6, do you think the polished digital style actually limits what an artist can express, or is that just a snobby way of looking at it? Honestly, I see both sides here. I've seen clean art that feels like it has no soul because it's too perfect, like someone just ran every filter they could find. But then I've also seen stuff where the artist clearly spent hours getting the highlights and shadows just right, and it feels intentional and powerful. The problem is when people treat one style like it's the only "real" way to make art, you know? Gritty textures can hide mistakes just as easily as smooth gloss can, so it's more about the artist's skill than the finish. I guess I'm asking if you think there's a specific genre or subject where polished works better than gritty, or if it's all just personal taste.