Simplicity is the Name of the Game

If anyone has ever seen my drawing style as of late, to most people, its probably pretty unimpressive. I've gotten to the point where I use virtually no detail at all and just do the bare minimum as far as definition of form is concerned. To most, my work would probably be seen as simplistic, childish, and lazy. And while that all may be true, there is a distinct reason as to why I draw the way I do, besides the obvious "I like the way I draw" argument. There is a logical reason for my method, which I will now try to explain.

First of all, lets take a look at this:



Can you tell what it is?

Its an apple, obviously. It took you...what? A second to look at it and figure out what it is, right?

Now, lets take a look at this:



I know haha...but what is also in this picture that was in the previous? An apple. And it took you what? A second to figure out what it was?

Now where am I going with all this? If we look at the 2nd apple, its barely an apple at all right? I mean, from a technical standpoint, its like, a few curved lines. While the first apple is a plethora of line, shape, color, and tonality. Far more intricate.

And yet they're both read as apples, the same basic object.

It was no more difficult for you, as the viewer, do decipher the cartoon as an apple then the realistic rendering as an apple. In fact, it's the exact opposite, as your brain needs more time to take in the extra detail and put it back together as a recognizable shape.

So, if I can draw a few lines and make you see an apple, why bother taking the extra time to make it look more real, when you are still going to get the exact same thing out of it? I mean, sure, the first may look more impressive (though as a cartoonist I'll take b&w lineart over colored pencil any day), but take a look at the second apple in its context. Its not meant to be a gallery piece, its a character in a comic. A story. And in this light, its all it needs to be in order to serve its purpose. Sure the first apple could easily have that caption thrown on it and have the same effect, but then thats a lot of superfluous effort, not to mention the fact that a comically rendered object in a comical situation makes a lot more sense then a photo realistically rendered object in a comical situation.

But the point is, in the first apple, the apple istelf is the star of the show. The whole point of a fine art piece is the look of whatever is being put on canvas. Its an entirely visual experience. So lots of detail is understandable. But theres more to the 2nd apple. Obviously I don't mean more detail. So what do I mean? I mean that the visual element isn't the whole story. Because its a narrative piece. The visual is only part of it. There's a voice, a statement, a purpose. Take away that purpose, and the illustration becomes meaningless. It becomes the gallery piece. The cartoon apple isn't just a drawing. It's a being. A vessel to deliver the true star of the piece. The message. The story. The narrative.

And to me, thats what narrative art should be. If you're working on a story, your main focus as a creator should be on the story. Your art can be extravagant, but pretty pictures aren't going to make up for a weak narrative. I prefer to have simplistic art that is detailed enough to let you know what it is, and then have it blend into the story itself, and let what it's doing drive your interest, not what it look like.

Images from golfiscool.deviantart.com and markstivers.com, respectively.

Brand Loyalty

A few posts down, I talked about how, after a lot of consideration, I have decided to abandon my rather long history of purchasing Macs, citing the fact that, despite their current position in the industry, Apple as a company has really decided to shift their focus from the creative professional to the average consumer willing to pay top dollar for good looks. As someone who considers themselves an intelligent consumer and a digital “artist”, I can't in good conscience go along with the crowd on this one.

So my next logical step was to think: What do I buy now? Apple has been my go to place for computers for awhile now, and even though I own a sweet Windows based desktop that I love to death, the Windows portables I own have all been “no other choice” purchases. The Dell Latitude d630 was a requirement from my school, and my laptop before that, an old HP Pavilion, was a cheap purchase from a friend that I bought simply because I needed to do a presentation my senior year of high school. So Windows notebooks, while I know a lot about both the OS and the hardware manufacturers that produce the actual laptops, isn't something I'm very familiar with. What brand will I buy? What model? The landscape of PC notebooks at this very moment is larger than Apple's entire personal computer portfolio. From giant multi billion dollar companies like Dell and HP, to bargain names like Acer and Gateway, to overseas brands like Toshiba and ASUS, to smaller companies with specialized products like MSI and Saghar. Narrowing it down to the perfect machine for me isn't going to be an easy task.

I started perusing various company webstores, already being rather familiar with the bigger companies offerings, having read Engadget and Gizmodo everyday for the past 2 years. My initial draw was to HP, as they were the manufactures of my first laptop and it was a very pleasant experience. My favorites in their portfolio were easily the Pavilion HDX 16 and the TouchSmart tx2, both around the same price range (when spec'd to my liking, that is), but offering vastly different experiences. Moving on, I quickly looked at Dell's offerings warily, as my Latitude experience has been pretty much the exact opposite of the Pavilion. While offerings such as the XPS m1330 and 1530 piqued my interest, Dell for some reason has yet to really update the offered hardware to match the competition, so Dell as a whole was quickly ruled out.

Gateway was next, as a visit to CNet revealed the Best Buy exclusive P-7811 FX gaming rig, with ridiculously high end components at a bargain price. The machine was quite bulky, but quickly rose to the top of my list of options for raw power, edging out the previously mentioned HDX. A quick Newegg search revealed that nearly every current ASUS notebook had merit, and it was really only a matter of price and size when it came to considering their machines. And getting over the rather garish design sense.

A conversation with a friend of mine turned me on to the ThinkPad line, a series of notebooks I hadn't even considered due to their longstanding business linage. However, a quick trip to their product page revealed the ThinkPad w series, a whole line of notebooks specifically made for the digital artist. Dollar for dollar, these things decimated anything Apple could throw at them, and ThinkPads not only have a great reputation, but a following that could give the Cult of Mac a run for its money. I soon found myself chatting it up online with fellow ThinkPad enthusiasts, which were quite a different breed then the Apple faithful, but no less enthusiastic about their machine of choice.

Fast forward a month, and I'm a ThinkPad nut, and I'm waiting for an eBay auction for a ThinkPad x41, a old but reliable ThinkPad convertible tablet to end. There are a few things I'm not really liking about the x41, such as the old as hell GMA 900 intergrated graphics, slow as hell 1.8” hard drive in a nearly proprietary drive bay, and slow RAM, but the people I've talked to, and reviews online have all sang the x41's praises, so I figure it'll be a great alternative to a much more expensive Wacom Cintiq, as well as a way to ditch my Latitude until I can afford a more suitable replacement.

I again was having a conversation with my friend about the x41, voicing my concerns, when he linked me to an auction for a discontinued HP business tablet. It was only a little more expensive, but remedied all my concerns with the x41, and then some. My gut told me to ditch the x41 and go with the HP (tc4400 for anyone interested), but I had fallen in love with the ThinkPad brand, and didn't want to abandon it. I ended up purchasing the tc4400, but still kinda wished it was a ThinkPad.

After purchasing the tc4400, I decided to take a look at HP's notebooks, now a month later, to see if there was anything that could beat the w500, my current favorite ThinkPad, since that I had gone with the HP tablet instead of the x41. Their consumer line was relatively unchanged, but I had forgotten to look at their business line of notebooks last time around. Taking a peek at their suit portfolio, I stumbled upon the EliteBook line, a series of notebooks I had only last month talked my friend out of buying in favor of the ThinkPad w series. They weren't as good as the w series of ThinkPads, but they looked a lot nicer, and there were good reviews about them on the web. I was wrestling with myself, trying to get my brain to like the EliteBook more then the w500, when it hit me:

I was an idiot.

I was about to do the exact same thing that I had done with the x41 and ThinkPads, and now the tc4400 and EliteBooks, that I had just recently condemned myself for with Apple: Brand Loyalty.

Brand loyalty is the single worst thing you can do to yourself as a consumer of electronics, or any product for that matter. The single greatest strength of the Window PC market, and the single reason they are a better bargain than a Mac, is the fact that the landscape is so diverse. Sticking to one brand of computers, whether its Apple, Lenovo, HP, Dell, or whatever, is limiting yourself, and cutting yourself off from a potentially better solution for your needs from a different vendor. I was an Apple fan, I was going to spend hundreds of extra dollars for a sleek aluminum case and underpowered componets. I was a ThinkPad fan, I was going to buy a now gimped tablet for a solid black chassis and a god reputaion. I was an HP fan, I was going to buy a more expensive and technically inferior notebook because it's logo matched a prior purchase.

Am I the only one who sees the idiocy in this?

As of right now, Macs arent for me, so Im not buying them. I shouldn't have to “hate” Macs and Apple because of that. I bought an HP tablet instead of a ThinkPad, that doesnt mean that I can't buy a ThinkPad w500 down the line. If its a better choice, why segregate yourself from it? Thats just bad spending.

All of my life I've had this problem of brand loyalty. Starting with TV shows and video game consoles, and continuing with computer vendors. Well, I'm glad to say I've had my epiphany and its never going to happen again. It just isnt logical. If, when I'm ready to buy, the ThinkPad w500 is still the best choice for me, I'll get the ThinkPad, HP tablet be damned. If the EliteBook line catches up and outpaces the current ThinkPad, sweet, EliteBook it is. And if Dell or Gateway or ASUS come out with something that tops all both of em then thats what I'll go with.

And if Hell freezes over and Apple makes something affordable, then I'll have to get that. I'd get 2 actually. It'll undoubtedly end up a collectors item...