Digital VS Traditional debate

A particular issue that is often debated which very much effects me is the view on digital vs traditional art. I am very much for digital and I believe it to be just valuable as traditional, the common assumption depicts digital art as being much easier or something anyone can do and in some extreme cases not even art. I believe you require the artistic skill and knowledge to create a successful piece of digital art. A quote by Federico Fellini “All art is autobiographical. The pearl is the oyster’s autobiography” In which he is stating regardless of the method and medium the final product is a valid expression from the artist thus making it ‘art’.

I found the topic being discussed on debate.org – the argument didn’t last long but an interesting point raised within this and another article I read referred to digital artists having the leisure of the cntrl Z key – the ability to undo whereas the traditional artist is without this option and therefore must carry on regardless of mistakes. While I don’t agree that this single point can really have much basis on the argument - it is something I hadn’t quite considered. I have found myself drawing traditionally, making a mistake and subconsciously attempting to ‘undo’ the action, it has built itself into the way I design and create art. A paper on hotcards.com also discusses the comparison between digital and traditional, they to make the point of being able to undo – but they also raise other valid points such as the fact that a traditional artist is required to prime and stretch a canvas, mix paints, clean brushes, allow paint to dry etc while a digital artist can skip all procedures and produce a large scale piece in barely half the time of the traditional artist. The point they make is does this privilege of really contradict the art method as a whole when any good digital artist requires the same amount of knowledge and skill as a traditional one at the end of the day. 

In my opinion, no, one example I found pointed out in the previous article on debate.org referred to the assumption that digital art is ‘easier’ – they suggested anyone to use a mouse or tablet and attempt to draw a circle on MS paint – then to attempt it with a piece of paper and pen – the fact is there is far more control available free hand than digitally therefore digital art is not entirely full of beneficial shortcuts as some like to believe and in fact renders both forms practically even. The traditional artist has more control, where as the digital artist is limited and thus makes use of the undo tool more often – but not forgetting the traditional artist – though not as nearly effective – still has access to an eraser.