DAE get told their digital art is 'too clean'? | Digital Art Showcase

Iris Adams · 2026-04-01T09:05:05.249472+00:00

A client in Chicago last week said my latest character piece looked 'soulless' because the linework was too perfect, which stung after I spent 40 hours on it.

umaf446mo ago

Can you add a bit of texture to the lines?

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fiona_sullivan296mo ago

That "soulless" comment is rough, but I get what @umaf44 means about texture. Clean linework is a valid style choice though, not a flaw.

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dakota_singh394mo ago

Oh man, that "soulless" comment would've wrecked me too. But here's the thing nobody's saying - maybe the problem isn't the clean lines themselves, it's that the piece was designed for digital viewing but the client was expecting something that looked like it could exist on a printed page. Like, I had a friend who drew this super crisp anime style character, perfectly smooth gradients, and it looked incredible on her iPad. But when she printed it out for a con, it looked flat and dead because clean digital art often doesn't have that slight paper texture or ink spread that makes prints feel real. Your 40 hours might've been spent making it perfect for a screen when the client was judging it by gallery standards.

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