Jaded

Adobe Flash, Photoshop and Illustrator are all my perpetual sources of frustration, and I don’t think I’ve ever felt as exasperated with all 3 of them as I have this week.

They seem more determined to give me a crap art than a picturesque one. 

I’m not saying that I’m an expert in any of the 3, but I’d like to think that I’m capable of doing many things with each, let alone combined. And since I do have a good control of the Pen Tool (you’ll find that an achievement if you’ve ever tried using that bastard) I think I have what it takes to create lively illustrations. However, I have my biases for what I think are lively illustrations – I lean toward a mix of funky professional street art with a tinge of Chinese painting, plus a stylistic use of lights and a conscientious reduction of palettes. What really gets my goat is how limited the 3 programs are when creating artworks like that, or heck, anything that feels more hand-drawn than digital. Just this morning, I tried drawing a samurai (draw, samurai! Get it? Hilarious!!!) by using Illustrator. I wanted him to look like a Chinese painting. Instead, he ended up looking more like an engraving done by an 8-year-old. Naturally, I trashed that work, and settled with making a digital looking stuff, which, as I later realized, required the least effort… 

Wait, what?! Is that why these so-called “digital arts” are in the rage, and is it just me, or are they becoming the most generic sight ever? I’m weary of seeing the humdrum and formulaic thing adorning the billboards. How many times are we going to see the same circles, stripes, vertigos, twirls, ink splats, angel wings, gothic crosses, tribal tattoos and boxes to “retro” and “grunge” everything up? So, I’ve done all these today, and learned how easy they are to make. Could it be that these techniques are abused speak less of their artistic merits and more of current designers’ attitudes? So what about creating a more painterly-looking art, or, heck, just something with more personality and originality? Why don’t I see them? Have our designers run out of ideas, or are their skills in Illustrator mediocre? Or is it likely that excessive use of Illustrator may lead to the loss of ideas? 

Gee, that isn’t much of a stretch. You know what Illustrator need? A command that will inspire people! CTRL+I to get Inspired, or CTRL+H to get High, or CTRL+FN+G to Find God.