I'm a physical guy, and I'm something of a romantic (but you couldn't tell from my art). I studied printmaking, because I love the physical world. I remember seeing a Van Gogh in person, and being fixated on the exposed canvas. It was like time traveling to his day 150 years ago. The artifact that hung on the wall before me was directly affected by the artist. I could see how his hand moved the paint around to depict his visage.
I fought like hell to steer clear of digital technology. I fought it, because I idolized the artists of yesterday who didn't have these tools. Now, I've grown a little wiser and realize that tools are what made humans great. Any tool is worthless without human utilization. I studied things in art school that put me far out of the running to make money from this endeavor. If I had to do it over again then I'd probably would have taken some more computer art classes.
The whole world has drifted into the digital, and I barely see people looking up from their screens anymore. I know I am guilty of this. I spent the past two days sketching people in a coffee shop, aside from training Jiu-Jitsu and lifting. I got lost in the connection between the world, my hand, the pencil and paper. I forgot the joys of this practice. I have been grinding out Tasty branded cartoons for a couple of years now, and I see that I haven't given myself time to just practice. It goes sort of the same way with my Jiu-Jitsu. I can lose sight of the joy of the moment. I blew my recent competition, because I wasn't in the moment.
The moment, it's all we have. My mind is always in the future, and it's a damn shame. I was present with pencil in hand. I will be present my next competition. I'm not anti-digital, but I won't let it lead me away from right now. Van Gogh painted astonishing paintings, because there was no place he'd rather be. If Van Gogh had access to digital tools I bet he'd use them. He probably wouldn't get lost in InstaGram though. You're reading this right now; thank you for checking out my work. Do us both a favor, and go practice something that puts you in the moment. That's where it's at. This is it...