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I realized the other day that I have never heard the word "graphite" spoken aloud at an illustrator's convention. That's not to say that people don't work in graphite at all, but it's generally not the primary medium of the work. You'll hear "just pencil" in reference to sketches and preliminary work, like value thumbs. I have scattered memories of students and teachers in art school referring to graphite as a limiting medium--the thought being, there's only so much you can do with it, and in a business with a lot of color and glows and filter effects, that's a hurdle best avoided.

IMO, if you think graphite is a boring or limiting medium, you just aren't any good at using it. Which isn't uncommon--my drawing classes never, NEVER had us work in graphite. We always went for charcoal. My illustration classes broke out the watercolors or threw us into digital painting. Pencil was reserved for the sketchbook, and I have vivid memories of myself and one other classmate catching friendly sh*t for what we turned in each day. Obviously, in the world of personal or "hobby" art on the internet, this thought process doesn't really show up as much--which indicates to me, sadly, that the professional circuit is actively talking young career artists out of using pencil.

I love digital painting. But I can also make something glow with a q-tip, a pencil, and a kneaded eraser. Pencil is not the boring medium, it's just a medium that not too many bother to pursue to mastery. Good on ya if you do--I'm a big fan.

Description

I realized the other day that I have never heard the word "graphite" spoken aloud at an illustrator's convention. That's not to say that people don't work in graphite at all, but it's generally not the primary medium of the work. You'll hear "just pencil" in reference to sketches and preliminary work, like value thumbs. I have scattered memories of students and teachers in art school referring to graphite as a limiting medium--the thought being, there's only so much you can do with it, and in a business with a lot of color and glows and filter effects, that's a hurdle best avoided.

IMO, if you think graphite is a boring or limiting medium, you just aren't any good at using it. Which isn't uncommon--my drawing classes never, NEVER had us work in graphite. We always went for charcoal. My illustration classes broke out the watercolors or threw us into digital painting. Pencil was reserved for the sketchbook, and I have vivid memories of myself and one other classmate catching friendly sh*t for what we turned in each day. Obviously, in the world of personal or "hobby" art on the internet, this thought process doesn't really show up as much--which indicates to me, sadly, that the professional circuit is actively talking young career artists out of using pencil.

I love digital painting. But I can also make something glow with a q-tip, a pencil, and a kneaded eraser. Pencil is not the boring medium, it's just a medium that not too many bother to pursue to mastery. Good on ya if you do--I'm a big fan.