So I decided to write out my opinion on art style because people have been telling me that my art is ``better than their’s`` because it’s more realistic. I get a lot of comments saying ``wow, your art is so much better than mine. I can only draw cartoons`` or ``I can only draw blobs.`` This is the kind of thing that pisses me off. I am all for practicing and improving your art, and there is no harm in studying anatomy and the way characters move. However, it is not healthy to devalue your own art because you see a style that is somewhat more realistic than yours. Realistic art is NOT a showcase of pure artistic skill. Skill has many variations and is very difficult to define. I have nothing against realism. Most of my art is based on technical aspects and anatomy. However, I don’t think the quality of art should be judged by its style. Quality of art is not all about the realism of the piece. Here’s an example: A hyper-realism artist can create a piece of art that is a gorgeous representation of what they see. This is better than a cartoon in terms of skill, right? Wrong. Not if you consider that a cartoon artist can draw 1000 drawings in the time that a realism artist can draw one. A cartoon artist can create an entire animation, but a realism artist could never dream of doing so. That’s why 2D animation is (almost always) cartoons. A minute-long, smooth cartoon has the same amount of effort and the same amount of skill portrayed as a realistic piece. Not only that, but a cartoon artist can more quickly make commissioned-drawings, and will often have more customers because they can take in more slots at a time. A realism artist might charge more because one piece of art takes more time. It’s okay to change your style. However, you should not change it to because realism is typically the more accepted form of art. If you do feel that your art is lacking due to YOUR own personal feelings on your style, then change it. Your style is a representation of yourself in an artistic format, so you must change your habits in order to change your style. For example, my style relies heavily on proper anatomy, so I make sure to study the anatomy of the animal/creature I am drawing beforehand. What I’m trying to say is this: Get out there and draw your cool cartoon cats, Warriors fans. Get out there, and draw your detailed anatomy and value studies, realism artists. Get out there, and draw your anthropomorphic character designs, furries. Get out there, and draw some adorable characters, manga artists. Draw how you want. Draw what you want. Who’s going to stop you? The only person who can stop you from drawing the way you like is yourself.
