The Influence of Traditional Art on Modern Industries              

 

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I: How much influence does traditional art have on digital art in games, animation and vfx? Oftentimes people think that the processes involved in creating digital and traditional art are completely different, but do they have more in common that some may believe? To answer this question, I will be referring to Canaletto’s ‘A Regatta on The Grand Canal’.

 

 

 

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A: Many modern pieces of concept art concerning landscapes and cities show clear influence from Canatello’s style. For comparison, I will use a piece of concept artwork from Naughty Dog’s ‘The Last of Us’: ‘Hunter City 1’ by Aaron Limonick. In terms of composition, ‘A Regatta on the Grand Canal’ makes clear use of the rule of thirds and rule of balance. The majority of the detail is placed in the lower third of the painting, with much of the upper thirds being clear sky. This reduces clutter and makes the image more visually appealing. In ‘Hunter City 1’, while less space is used for empty sky, the image still uses the same rules. It is split into three rows: the bottom is the ground, the middle is the close up buildings and the top is sky and distant buildings. Both paintings also have similar focal points and movement. The intersecting points of the rule of thirds draw the viewer's attention to the end of the canal in ‘Regetta’ and the direction of the boats combined with the shrinking perspective further down the canal almost funnels the viewers attention. ‘Hunter City 1’ has similar movement. The emptier space at the further end of the road is placed near the rule of thirds intersections, and the position of the buildings pulls the viewers eyes towards the sky and distant buildings. This suggests that compositional techniques used in traditional art can influence artwork for games/vfx, and that both consider the same rules and how audiences view their artwork. 

 
Even in images that are completely different in terms of composition and subject matter often bear similarities in terms of colour, light and volume. Traditional paintings often use a colour palette composed of complementary and analogous hues. ‘A Regatta on the Grand Canal’ uses contrasting, complementary colours to clearly separate the different sections of the image (sky, buildings and water), using different shades of brown alongside blue sky and water to create contrast through the complementary colours. Looking at another piece of digital concept art; a piece from the game ‘Dragon Age: Inquisition’, we can see a similar use of this. The image is mainly composed of grey, black and white hues, using complementary colours to make the image visually appealing. The intensity of colours is also taken into account. Canaletto’s piece uses lower intensity colours to create a warmer, calmer image. The National Gallery states that this painting was aimed at ‘tourists from Northern Europe’ to ‘remind them of the city’s outstanding beauty’ (https://www.nationalgallery.org.uk/paintings/canaletto-a-regatta-on-the-grand-canal ). This could suggest that the calmer palette was used intentionally to create a more serene image that targeted tourists looking to remember their holiday, and demonstrates how these elements are considered to increase the appeal of an image.

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 Light is also an element used in painting. Lighter areas tend to draw the viewer's attention more than darker ones, and many artworks use this to direct audiences to different areas. ‘Regatta’ casts shadows onto the buildings on the right side, and has buildings on the left and further down the scene in sunlight. This draws the viewer’s attention to these areas and can be used to aid the movement of the image, as the viewer's eyes are drawn between the lightest elements in the scene. Likewise, the image from ‘Dragon Age’ uses light to direct attention. The viewer’s eyes are drawn towards the castle in the distance and the figure on the right through the use of light around the areas compared to the darkness of the rocks. Light also plays a part in creating shade and volume. Using darker and lighter details, such as the sides of a building in ‘Regatta’ and the castle in ‘Dragon Age’, helps to create the illusion of a 3D object. Perspective is the other key factor in creating 3D objects. ‘Regatta’ uses a one-point perspective to further encourage the viewer to lead their eyes towards the distant, central point. Perspective is important as if it is incorrect the illusion of 3D is broken. Looking back on ‘Hunter City 1’ it also shows the use of one point perspective. This serves to demonstrate that light, colour and volume are considered just as much in modern, digital art for games, vfx and animation just as much as they are in traditional art.

 

 

 

B: With the introduction of digital artwork many tools have been created to mimic or expand upon traditional tools and techniques. ‘A Regatta on The Grand Canal’ is an example of a traditional oil painting. According to Britannica.com, “Most oil paintings made before the 19th century were built up in layers. The first layer was a blank, uniform field of thinned paint called a ground. The ground subdued the glaring white of the primer and provided a base of gentle colour on which to build images. The shapes and objects in the painting were then roughly blocked in using shades of white, along with gray or neutral green, red, or brown. The resulting masses of monochromatic light and dark were called the underpainting.” (https://www.britannica.com/art/oil-painting) Before simply putting paint on the canvas, a lot of preparation and initial marking out was mandatory. This was both due to the limitations of the materials and the minimal room for error. Painting objects at a distance, such as the furthest buildings in ‘Regatta’ would have to either have to be painted with painstakingly small precision, or simply be less detailed as the viewer would not see the imperfections. The significance of these limitations become apparent when compared to modern, digital methods of art.

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One of the most significant differences between digital and traditional processes is the ability to erase and undo mistakes. Using Adobe Photoshop as an example, tools such as ‘Undo’ and ‘Erase’ can be used to fix common mistakes that would have been a death blow for a traditional painting. Layers also support this freedom for mistakes, as the image can be drawn over without affecting the piece as a whole using multiple layers. Another notable difference is the lack of limitations from the materials. Where traditional artists would have to build up colours and shades with multiple layers of paint, digital artists can obtain any colour of any hue, value and chroma at will, along with brushes of all different shapes and sizes. This also serves to make digital art more accessible. To start painting with traditional art you would need a collection of different brushes, paints, canvases and other equipment to have an equal experience to professionals. Digital art software often includes everything you would need in one place - with the option for combining software - and their interfaces are designed to be intuitive and easy to navigate. From this perspective, traditional art is a daunting experience that requires a lot of knowledge of its limitations and materials, whereas traditional art is intuitive, accessible and easy. 

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One of the ways the two sides are connected is through transferable skills. Despite the differences in tools and intuitiveness both mediums are intended to produce artwork. A traditional painter may find digital art easy, as their knowledge of drawing, painting and art fundamentals will still be utilised. Many digital art software such as Adobe Photoshop and Procreate are simply trying to replicate traditional art practices while making them more intuitive. It could be argued that traditional art has more value (which it certainly does monetarily) due to the higher skill required and one of a kind nature. While this is mostly true, the value of most digital art - especially in the games/animation/vfx industries - comes from concept artwork. 

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C: In summary, traditional art does have an influence over digital art in games, animation and vfx industries. Compositional rules such as the rule of thirds, space and balance are all applicable in the same way. This extends to colour rules as well in terms of palettes and contrasting or analogous colours. Skills from one method to the other are transferable and both mediums can be greatly utilized by people with knowledge of art fundamentals. While it could be argued that digital art is an easier and less valuable process, this does not overshadow the transferable skills and knowledge that both mediums share.