Creating digitally vs traditionally

On spending quality time in the real world and making use of digital tools in your creative process. (+Sharing my honest thoughts on AI).

Jun 06, 2025

Hi there!

I mainly use my display tablet to do all of my drawing and manga-making process.

Ever since I switched to digital art at the start of 2024, I have been mostly creating with my computer.

I also write and publish articles online– in this newsletter. Which also involves me typing on a phone or my computer. When I don't have access to those, I find a piece of paper lying around to jot down my ideas.

Although I write lists and to-do lists on physical notebooks by hand, most of my creative process came to take place in the digital world.

Fast forward to 2025, May, I started taking art classes for the little kids in my neighborhood.

Now I have three main things I try to do every day: Draw digitally, write, discuss with creatives online, and teach kids to draw.

Typically, when conducting an art class, we don't introduce little kids to digital art. Which is a good thing! I personally think it's too early for kids younger than 10 to learn that– as the digital creation process could be very complex and overwhelming for beginners and kids.

Too many features, too many tools, too many distractions, too much to remember, too many irresistible temptations.

So we take out the good ol’ physical papers, notebooks, pencils, erasers, and colours.

Every Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday, in the evening, the kids would come and we would sit down on the red carpet in our living room to get the class started.

They learn well, and I have no issues with teaching them so far.

It felt like I'm re-living the moments from my childhood– back when I used to be surrounded by friends my age, younger kids, or slightly older kids, when we used to do all kinds of fun things– like crafting, drawing, inventing, and creating.

Everything we made sucked– if I have to say whether the things we made were good or not.

But it didn't matter. All that kept us coming together and creating every day– was because it was fun.

Everything was imperfect, messy, chaotic, mistakes were a part of the routine, embarrassment was almost non-existent, and we were just some average kids who enjoyed creating as much as we enjoyed playing.

We created for the fun of it, and not because the end product needs to be presentable to other people.

We would show what we made to our parents and neighbours– to get our reward for our efforts: the praise and acknowledgement from the grown-ups.

This art class feels very nostalgic and fun. We come together, create, return home, and show our parents what we drew during the class. (And I share with my mom what I taught the kids).

Usually, when I have multiple important tasks to complete in a day, every day, I think about these things:

How important these tasks are, what to work on first, and which task needs more work for improvement.

I think all these to figure out which task is better and will help me further improve my routine and skills– so that I can spend more time on it the next day.

When I think about whether the art class needs more work or the manga project needs more work, the answer is clear:

They are equally important.

The manga project is important for many reasons, including: one, it's something I want to complete and put out there in the world for people to read, enjoy, and get inspired by. And two, I will have some things to show and connect with fellow artists and creators, and I can add the good ones to my portfolio.

Also, the internet helps me to gather people who would be interested in this project and would look forward to reading the book when it's complete.

(Months after I started, we have around 30 people who are interested in this project and seeing my future works.)

The art class is important because it makes my device-obsessed-brain spend more time in the real world. It’s easy to get addicted to using devices when you have reasons to escape the real world. Which can wreck your productivity and prevent you from progressing and achieving your goals. That’s why it’s important to create reasons to spend more time in reality. I’m not referring to reasons like “I have to do this or else my boss will fire me,” but rather “I want to do this because it’s fun,” or “I want to do this because it’ll be a good memory.”

Buy a board game to play with your family, start a craft club with your friends, try a new kind of craft, get some puzzles, and buy books to read while sipping tea.

You already have work, but other than that, you probably can make time to spend some quality time without devices, rather than bingeing on Netflix.

As I left my comfort zone, I observed things I didn't notice before– like the nostalgia of creating with friends I talked about earlier.

When you see people online debating whether creating with analog tools is better or creating with digital tools is better, you don't have to pick a side.

Instead, remember this: Even if you like one more than the other, you need both. Digital creation gives you speed and flexibility. Making use of it– helps you grow in this digital age. It not only helps us create, it also helps us to advertise our creations to a lot of people way faster than if you went around the neighborhood, handing over the flyers that you designed and printed out. (I’m referring to digital tools and platforms other than AI generators, btw. If you’re curious, I’ll leave my thoughts toward the end of this article.)

While traditional creation gives you more creativity, in-person connections, and makes real life a bit more enjoyable, it creates great memories and experiences, you'll have fun when creating with friends, family, or team members.

To me, both are equally important.

This article is inspired by a book:

I have finished reading the book “Steal Like An Artist” by Austin Kleon. (This book is amazing, by the way. I believe all creatives deserve to have a copy).

This line gave me the spark of inspiration to write this article:

“I have two desks in my office—one is ‘analog’ and one is ‘digital’.”

-Austin Kleon

In the book, he also expresses why creating with analog tools is where most of the magic happens. But rather than completely switching to one medium, he makes use of both.

Both his “analog” workspace and “digital” workspace are used to create, edit, finalize, and put his work out there in the world.

Although I spend most of my time drawing with a display, I do try to spend more time in the real world. And this article will be a reminder for me and you, to keep it balanced.

My honest thoughts on AI:

(Note: I wrote this part of the article with mostly AI image-generators in mind).

Even though I like how powerful digital tools are, I don't really use AI to create something seriously. (I do fool around with it occasionally, though).

It just feels too easy, and it doesn't give the same feeling of accomplishment when you make something using it. With 100% AI art, the creation process and the creation, doesn't feel connected. It feels like exchanging one thing for another thing, rather than creating an artpiece. Not to mention, it throws out a lot of the amazing art techniques and fundamentals that artists have developed over the decades. Which a lot of folks outside the art field aren't aware of.

Even if you're not interested in anything related to AI or you already know all about the controversies involving AI and artists, I still highly recommend watching this video:

This video made me realise why I'm not a huge fan of AI, and why only human-made creations make me feel any emotion. This video explained a lot of my thoughts on AI, which I want other people to know.

I deeply enjoy and appreciate human-made art. And when I find an art piece that I fall in love with, I not only appreciate the art piece, but I also appreciate the work that goes into it. I think about the creators, editors, and artists who put in the work to bring the piece to life. Knowing the creators behind the artpiece, helps me connect more with their art.

What are your thoughts on AI? Feel free to share them in the comments below!

Harshini writes

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