Key Differences Between Digital Painting and Traditional Painting

The main difference between digital painting and traditional painting is the nonlinear process. That said, artists can often arrange their paintings in layers that can be edited independently. Likewise, the ability to undo and redo strokes frees the artist from a linear process. But due to surface differences and lack of physicality, digital painting is limited in adopting the techniques and research methods of traditional painters. The digital artist has no tools at his disposal to the traditional painter. Some of these features include: virtual palettes of millions of colors, virtually any size canvas or medium, and the ability to correct mistakes, as well as erasers, pencils, spray cans, brushes, combs, and a variety of 2D and 3D Effects tool. A drawing tablet allows artists to simulate real pens and drawing surfaces with precise hand movements. Even traditional surfaces have been transformed into digital paintings. Instead of a canvas or sketchbook, the artist will use the mouse or tablet to display the strokes, which will be displayed by touching the pen to the surface of the tablet or by clicking the pen. Tablets can be pressure sensitive, allowing artists to change the intensity of selected media on the screen. Some tablets have over 2000 different levels of pressure sensitivity.