Painting is a way of capturing a moment and preserving it through time. Many paintings were done only to immortalize a person, whereas others were painted to protect the beauty of a scenario or capture precious moments.
With time, painting became a way of storytelling. Paintings are a big part of history as they tell many stories and help us understand history better. Their significance is immense. They can express emotions through colors and depths of strokes.
Even today, with this generation of digital cameras, paintings retain their gravity. However, with time, the tools and medium of painting have evolved. Digital painting has gained popularity in this era, when technology has become a part of our daily lives.
One of the most time-consuming forms of painting, oil portrait painting, has become much easier and faster to paint with the help of new technology and tools. Though digital oil painting is less time-consuming, it still can’t surpass the superiority of oil portrait painting.
What is Oil Portrait Painting ?
Historians have discovered many types and forms of painting, each using different mediums and tools. Still, only a few have made it to the limelight due to their ability to capture the scene’s beauty or the sitter’s and the artist’s emotions.
One of these famous forms of painting is oil portrait painting, which became popular in the High Renaissance and still holds immense significance in this era.
Oil portrait painting was mainly used to immortalize famous figures of the time. Its slow-drying and layering technique made the portraits more lifelike. Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and John Singer Sargent mastered this technique, leaving many portraits with high historical values.
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Oil portrait paintings have helped historians understand different eras’ fashions, social hierarchies, and cultural values. Oil portrait painting is about painting faces and preserving the artists’ emotions, the sitters’ identities, and histories.
What is Digital oil painting ?
Everything has evolved with the evolution of technology, including oil portrait painting. Oil portrait painting is a celebrated method of painting, and the evolution of digital art took this painting technique to a new level, producing this artwork faster with the help of digital technology and tools.
Digital oil painting is a modern artistic technique that has transformed the creative industry. In digital oil painting, the artist mimics traditional oil portrait painting techniques to create stunning artworks without replacing the layering technique but in a faster way.
Artists don’t have to wait for the colors to dry. They use specialized software, such as Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, or Procreate, as painting mediums in digital oil painting. These digital tools simulate the behavior of real oil paints and brushstrokes.
With the flexibility and efficiency of digital tools, digital artists replicate traditional blending methods, brush textures, and lighting efforts, making it nearly impossible to distinguish between conventional oil portrait painting and digital oil painting.
Using advanced digital technology, artists can create stunning artworks widely accepted in book illustrations, game design, and fine art galleries. Digital oil painting allows the artist to express themselves freely without using traditional methods while maintaining the beauty of oil portrait painting.
The Difference Between Digital Oil Painting and Traditional Oil Portrait Painting
The main aim of digital and traditional oil portrait painting is to create a lifelike representation using oil-like texture and deep strokes. With the help of digital technology and tools, artists can replicate traditional oil painting techniques and create stunning digital oil paintings.
Still, there are many differences between these two painting methods. While digital and traditional oil portrait paintings are nearly indistinguishable, the medium and process are different. This difference directly impacts many things, including their value and price in the market.
Let’s discuss the differences below :
1. Medium and Tools
Digital and traditional oil painting have many differences, including the choice of medium. In conventional oil portrait painting, the medium used is a canvas.
Artists used real oil paints and brushes to make portraits on canvas or wooden panels. In contrast, in digital oil painting, artists work on tablets and use specialized software Adobe Photoshop, Corel Painter, or Procreate, and digital brushes that mimic actual oil paint’s texture and blending effects to create artwork.
In traditional oil portrait painting, artists blend colors with linseed oil and prime the canvas; however, digital oil painting doesn’t require canvas or priming.
2. Process and Workflow
Traditional oil painting is a lengthy process that requires a lot of time. The artists have to wait to proceed with the layering of colors. The process requires careful layering, drying time, and skillful blending to achieve depth and realism.
Oil portrait painting requires mastery of the glazing and impasto process. Oil portrait painting is complex, and correcting errors requires scraping off or painting over layers, which can result in disaster.
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In digital oil painting, artists don’t have to wait for drying time, which makes the process much easier. Also, artists can work in layers, making correcting mistakes or adjusting details easier as they use tablets and a stylus.
3. Texture and Depth
Traditional oil portrait paintings have more depth and texture as artists use knives and brushes to layer colors. Digital oil painting lacks the physical depth of brushstrokes and the natural sheen of oil paint.
Because of the thickness of the paint on the canvas, traditional oil painting techniques can create rich, three-dimensional effects.
4. Durability and Storage
Digital oil paintings are durable and easy to store. They can be stored and reproduced infinitely without degradation. They can also be shared anytime without spending money on shipping.
Traditional oil portrait paintings are more delicate, as factors like humidity, temperature, and exposure to light can harm them and decrease their longevity.
However, oil portraits can last centuries if cared for carefully, whereas digital portraits could be deleted due to technical errors.
5. Market and Value
Traditional oil portrait paintings have more market value than digital oil paintings due to their unique layering technique that gives them a three-dimensional effect.
Although digital oil paintings have gained significance, they are often viewed as reproducible, which makes them less valuable. However, limited-edition prints or non-fungible tokens can cost more.
Conclusion
Both traditional oil portrait painting and digital oil painting require excellent skills. However, traditional oil portrait paintings are more valuable because of their techniques and lengthy process.
The unique texture of layering colors and brushstrokes on canvas creates three-dimensional effects and adds sheen to the paintings. Digital oil painting lacks these characteristics.
Although digital oil paintings have gained value and are widely accepted in book illustrations, game design, and fine art galleries, they can’t surpass the popularity of traditional oil portrait paintings. Collectors and galleries prefer physical artworks for their originality and historical significance.