Reading 6

Early on in the reading, the author mentions, “The best you can do is the best you can do. The worst you can do is nothing.” For some reason, that line stuck with me all throughout the reading echoing in my mind that the worst thing I can do is nothing. It’s such a simple phrase that I never really thought about until I actually read it. Giving up is the weakness and endurance is our motivator.

So far, I really enjoy the “do’s” and “don’ts” of this book. These sections are perhaps the only thing I look forward to when I read this textbook. It provides an accurate recollection of ideas that have been explored by other designers and passes on their knowledge/experience to me. For the most part, the sketching “do’s” and “don’ts” provided me with the best advice. The don’ts are something I always do, and I am aware of it, but I feel that right now it’s a sign I should stop doing the “don’ts” and focus more on the “do’s” to better myself as an artist (I always say I’m going to stop doing certain things, but sadly, I never commit to a promise which saddens me).

Even though I have not mastered any design program and I am still a novice as to how a design program actually works, I still rather dislike the use of digital media. No, I am not showing any bias because I know there are amazing artists who can perfect their work in digital and traditional art, but it upsets me when pompous artists, who “claim” to be a master of digital media, cannot draw or use any other traditional medium well. They literally have become a slave to the machine and their arrogance leaves me fuming. Only the best artists can use their talents in both fields excellently.

 I feel there is a loss between the artist and traditional work in digital media, and the work done traditionally just does not feel the same as digital media through the working process and at the end result. I fear with new technology, traditional art will be extinct, leading a new generation of uneducated, conceited “hipsters,” and the true talents of traditional artists will be undiscovered. The ability to grasp a pencil and know you are controlling it without any restrictions is a sensation no computer can replace. Drawing on a tablet feels awkward and I have not gotten used to its feel even though I’ve had it for more than a year. So, in the very end, my choice of weapon: pencil and paper.

Even though I dislike using digital media, Leifur Breidfjörd’s perspective gave me a better feel for it. My feelings about it are still the same, but Breidfjörd states that “it’s important to be working in different media and not to focus too heavily on one discipline.” I do agree with his statement and I feel I should learn from his philosophy. Getting frustrated will get me nowhere, but taking a breather and coming back to it later will be a better way to perfect a skill.

As of now, I am building a love-hate relationship with this textbook. On some occasions I am bored by its repetitive information, and on the other I am fascinated with interesting facts that I have never thought about. I appreciate this book for what it is and that the information inside is trying to communicate to me, but I feel it’s not doing its job well enough to keep me interested. Others may find it helpful, and I really do think it is, but I just cannot get into it. It’s redundant and gets its message across in a humdrum way. Perhaps I am being too critical because I have learned a lot of the information in it from my upper division classes, but I know if I read this book two years ago, I would have been more into the readings and have better inspiration on past and future tasks.