Branch Into Different Mediums For Inspiration

Every artist has a favorite medium, whether it's digital, oil, acrylic, ink, or pencils. We get comfortable with our tools—every artist needs to push outside of their comfort zone to create something new and amazing.
 
Switching Mediums Promotes Learning 
Say, for instance, a digital artist takes up a paint brush and tries to paint a canvas. Traditional artwork lacks an undo button, which teaches artists to paint their way out of mistakes. Some tools in the Photoshop suddenly make sense simply because they are traditional tools translated into the technical realm.
 
On the other hand, traditional artists have tools at their disposal that they otherwise lacked. Seeing and changing mistakes in a painting takes little to no effort.
 
Switch mediums for the purpose of learning and getting inspired instead of creating a masterpiece. You may end up creating that something amazing without meaning to.

 Ideas On Applying New Mediums:

• Play with more than one different medium, one might be more fun

• Look at how other artists use different mediums

• If you normally paint digitally, carry a traditional sketchbook with you at all times

• If you normally paint traditionally, try sketching on a massive digital canvas

• Get a scanner and convert your traditional art into digital art

See Wylie Beckert's artwork for examples on crossing traditional and digital work. Also see her tutorial in the ImagineFX March 2014 issue featuring her work for further explanation on how to combine the two mediums.

Returning to What's Familiar and Combining New Knowledge 
Hopefully by changing up mediums, there's a discovery of a new idea. That idea could be textures to be applied to a digital painting, or a way to hold the stylus pen. Maybe there was too much pressure when working with graphite.
 
Anything new learned from switching mediums furthers the artistic skill and inspires new creations.

Beckert, W. (n.d.). Wylie beckert: Illustration. Retrieved from http://www.wyliebeckert.com/ 

March 2014 | magazine | imaginefx. (2014, March). Retrieved from http://beta.imaginefx.com/shop/magazine/march-2014