Not necessarily. The editorial world leans HEAVILY towards simpler, flat-colored, illustrations or caricature (though the editorial world also pays quite poorly) and the fine art world leans HEAVILY towards the abstract. However, unlike the former and the latter, realism is persistent. It’s not always trendy. It’s not always what’s in-style. But subsequently, it’s also never *a* trend. Realism is timeless because it’s directly drawn from us and our world.

On some level, the same thing applies to photography even though you are always capturing realism. People can and have capitalized on gimmicks and trends like HDR, old-school filters, tilt-shift, heavy-compositing, and so on—but those things will fade in and out of style, photography that captures realism with real lighting, real proportions, and real effects will persist long after the fads. Music? You think auto-tuned, wubwubwub, grossly synthesized, raps about current luxury brands of current cars, clothes, and jewelry will persist? No. They’ll sell now, they’ll be relevant in this moment, but personal rap—that which hits on notes of the rise and struggle—that’s what has and will continue to have power.

Have I missed out on many jobs because of choosing realism and the time-investment that comes with it? Most definitely. Have I and will I continue to be criticized because it doesn’t express deep, abstract, thoughts and emotions? Yep. I choose realism because I love it, I love creating, and I plan on still doing it and loving it for the rest of my life… or ideally just until I reach a status where I can literally just fling random shit at a canvas and sell it for millions.. You know, the American Dream.

Hardly. They are my foundation and I have talked pretty extensively of my love for them. I embrace digital, but I do so because it allows me the depth of oil paints without the mess, palette mixing, brush cleaning, and especially: dry times. The only reason I barely touch them these days is because they don’t fit into my fast-paced workflow but I’m eager to get the time to revisit them. As much as I love the digital and technological world, much like anything in life, we occasionally have urges to return to simpler, more ‘natural’ things… to get our hands dirty and feel something a little more tangible.

Sometimes that manifests itself in something as simple as an in-person conversation over a text message, or instead of hunting down lying cakes in a videogame, one might take a tumble down a grassy hill… but the great thing about all things digital, is that you can do them, love them, enjoy the benefits of them, and still occasionally get a breath of fresh air by dabbling in simpler times.