I nearly choked on my tea when I got home last night to find this article by critic Jonathan Jones on the defender site In his brief discourse of the aliveness and engineering behind plaything Story 3, Mother Mother Jones suggests that it’s in the field of digital rendition where the hardcore drawing technique and methodological analysis of beholding have been concealing for the last few years.

While it’s great to see a more mainstream critic extolling the technical accomplishment and virtue of digital artist and animators, it’s a bit behind the times, no? plaything Story, Shrek et aluminum are all on their second and third incarnations, and even the youngest and shoutiest of nipper can get tired of Pixar’s signature stylings after a while. I hope their signature style doesn’t quite become the new Mannerism; it’s appealing and all but I’m not sure I want to see The Five facial nerve look of Venus…

In any case though, it’s great to see more people from the mainstream art world realising that those of us who use digital technology in our work have just as much – sometimes more so – conflict with the tool and trick of our trade as traditional artists. What do you reckon?