Welcome to Gaia! ::

Perhaps this is because I only browse the R&C forum on gaia, but I've noticed that most artists tend to focus on technique as opposed to conceptual pieces.

In one of the art-related books I've been reading (an assignment from an art class), art vs. craft was discussed, where craft was said to be the perfection of technique, while art was a mix of concept and technique, with concept having a bit more weight. (Or something to that effect. ) I have teachers that tend to push more for conceptual pieces, while others push more for technical ones.

Now, I know that I enjoy doing technique-centric pieces more, however I do my best to make sure there is a balance between technique and concept in pieces. Generally, I tend to create a piece where the focus is geared more towards one or the other and occasionally striving for both.

However, I generally don't post my more conceptual pieces just because I feel like the user base on Gaia is more interested in aesthetically pleasing pieces as opposed to thought-provoking images and ideas. Likewise, I tend to keep my eye-candy pieces away from the real life world and show more conceptual pieces.

So, some questions:
1) Do you believe that the concept or technique is more important in art?
2) Do you prefer viewing more conceptual or more technical works?
3) Do you tend to create more conceptual or technical geared pieces?
4) Any other thoughts on the topic of concept vs. technique in art?

I agree that there needs to be a good balance between the two and wholeheartedly believe that one can work and improve on both at the same time since they're so directly connected to each other.

However IMO it's a bit hard to do conceptual pieces when the characters you're drawing already have established backgrounds and personalities and if it's not something that really fits them. Customers also often have a set definition of your art style that makes it hard to experiment too much without screwing up someone's picture XD

I tend to keep conceptual ideas more in my own personal work instead of showcasing it in Gaia stuff, since that gives me much more free rein <3

So, some questions:
1) Do you believe that the concept or technique is more important in art?
2) Do you prefer viewing more conceptual or more technical works?
3) Do you tend to create more conceptual or technical geared pieces?
4) Any other thoughts on the topic of concept vs. technique in art?

This is very much like the war between Fine Art and Illustration. Illustrators concentrate on technical skill [odd, because the old masters did, too, but they are today considered Fine Artists] while today's Fine Art world revolves around concept.

i do the same thing, keeping my fine art/conceptual pieces in RL and doing illustration online. actually, if the people at my college found out i did illustration, they may not have accepted me....and if my classmates ever find out, i'll be shunned.

i think concept is more important, but agree that it's contextual. online, on gaia, pretty images [not even high technical skill on all occassions] are prized...but overall, i feel as though the purpose of art is to provoke thought- all else is simply decoration.

art that makes me think or leaves a visceral impact upon me is much more interesting than a decorative piece. because i prefer this type of artwork, i try to make my own work thought-provoking.

haha sometimes though, people just don't get it XD

I'd love to work more on conception... it's something my art really lacks and that makes it just boring and like "meh, okay" to look at. I fail at originality most of the time, which really disappoints me :/
I love to see pieces that keep your attention and make you look around inside the picture and see all there is to see and to think about. It makes you wonder how the artist thought it up, how they could have done it, it makes you want to do something like that, it inspires you. Pieces with backgrounds, stories, interesting color schemes, perspective, objects, expressions, etc... I wish I had that in my art, I don't know how to achieve it yet, sadly.
A lot of pictures on gaia and elsewhere (even anything I make for people) are just like, "oh that's pretty" pieces. I mean there's not much of a thinking process involved or a wonder at how much thought the drawing took.

But also as purdoy25 said, you need technique to fulfill the task of the concept.
I think balance is necessary and specialization in one or the other is interesting.

I think both of these things are important in order to make the best piece possible.