There is a big debate out there, Traditional or Digital? For those who don’t know, there are two camps out there when it comes to drawing, The Pencil/Paper or the LCD Tablets. Both have their benefits and drawbacks, but in the end those who defend the traditional camp will have to come to at least  a common ground. There is no way around it, Like in every other field, digital usually wins out in the end. This has been going on for a long while. Back in 2003, Disney stopped all traditional animation techniques and switch over to an all digital production. All the purists weren’t very happy about it but the only choice they were given was to adapt or quit.

Another areas have rippled since then, Coloring and lettering in the comic field has gone completely digital. Inking and Penciling is still in transition depending on the artist you ask. Many who have taken the plunge into the world of digital sketching and inking usually say they couldn’t be happier Or at the least the new tools makes their job a bit easier or quicker.

So what are the benefits of going digital?
•    No more buying paper, lead / pencils, erasers, paint, markers, etc.
•    Ability to zoom in for detail work, or quickly resize misproportioned sections
•    Using layers and the eraser tool AND CTRL-Z (Undo)
•    No need to scan and fix up the art in photoshop.
•    Vector inking, Can be scaled without losing quality.

Drawbacks
•    Hardware / software Prices, Big Drawback since its quite pricey
•    Major learning curve if coming from Pencil / Paper
•    Being tethered to a desk Or at least 6 feet of a power outlet.
•    Doing confident lines requires more practice
•    No original art that can be sold for additional profit.
•    Pencil shading not easy, hard to reproduce what can easily be done with a real pencil.

That’s what I feel are some of the Big benefits and drawbacks of going digital. In my own personal experience, going digital has made doing webcomics a bit easier. Since I can do just about everything in one program, I dont have to go through a lot of the scanning hassles Or fixing up parts of a pencil sketch in photoshop before and after inking. But all in all, Drawing on paper just feels better and easier to get the lines right the first time through. Nothing beats just grabbing your sketchpad and sitting at a beach to draw till your heart’s content.

So in conclusion, its up to you… The Artist. Going digital doesn’t mean giving up the pencil and paper, its just adding a few more tools to your arsenal to help you get to the end result, a great picture. The pencil will never die, but in time it will have to learn to co-exists with the stylus.

Other articles about the same subject.
Skottie Young’s Take : http://skottieyoung.deviantart.com/journal/23988077/