Photoshop vs. The Brush

This post has been floating around in my thoughts for the past few weeks and I've been eager to write it down and share with you all. I get asked all the time how I add the color to my images. Up until these last few weeks, they've all been photoshop "painted" due to several reasons. The major one being I'm a working mom in the corporate world, and my lunch breaks serve as a short getaway during my busy day where I can quickly sketch or apply some color with photoshop. It's quick, easy and not messy for my office space. But lately, I've been challenging myself to get out of the "digital" box and start creating with paint and brush, something I haven't done since early days of college (I'm NOT going to say how long ago that was, it's kind of shocking).

Which comes to the topic of the day, Photoshop vs. the Brush...
I really love both, and I love what each medium has to offer, but each has its disadvantages as well. For me, Photoshop is super convenient and I work in it everyday, so it's just a natural medium for me. I've also had a bit of a learning curve; I find it very challenging sometimes, because I want my sketches to look painted, and it can be hard to replicate the details that a brush and hand can do so naturally. With that being said, I also think Photoshop has been a crutch, because if I don't like the color or placement, just undo and start over.

Painting, on the other hand, has felt so foreign to me. I'm having to relearn the basic techniques, as well as being more purposefully with my decisions. It's actually been a little frustrating - I assume I should just be good to go, like riding a bike, but I need to remember patience and practice! What I am LOVING is you can see all the brush strokes and fine lines, and blended tones washing happily together. I'm finding my old college style slipping back in, popping up without purposely trying. As much as I love light and airy watercolors, I'm not sure that it's actually my style. I find I gravitate towards bold, thicker brush strokes, and crazy line work. Stuff with lots of energy intrigues me and I can get lost studying it's details.

So, what will happen going forward? BOTH!!! I like refining both skill sets and I like how each version turns out so different than the other. I plan on continuing experimenting in Photoshop, and maybe move to some larger scale paintings. We shall see where this journey takes me.

Speaking of questions, I recently started a FAQs page of the questions I've been receiving from you all. I love answering them, and it's fun to get into discussions about supplies or inspiration :) You can ask here or better yet on my facebook page and I'll try to answer them!

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