The term “starving artist” conjures images of a bearded man in a paint-covered smock living in a studio apartment that he can barely afford.

This creative individual would rather buy artist supplies rather than food. Many artsy people find this character to be endearing especially considering the sacrifices that he is willing to make for his craft.

Some creative people love to engage in artistic endeavors but we also like to be safe. We also like to be well-fed, too. Creative people like us prefer to buy artist supplies at discount prices to forgo the suffering associated with being an artistic person. Others prefer to find alternatives to artist supplies that they can use to create masterpieces in spite of their financial deficits.

When I speak of artist supplies I am not referring to computer programs. Even though today’s artist typically spends more hours on the computer than he does at the easel the image of the bearded man in the paint-covered smock beckons me back to earlier days in which art was a hands-on creative process.

I may sound a little harsh and a little prejudice against computer animation.

However, any artistic person will tell you that the traditional hands-on approach to art is extremely different than computer graphics and three-dimensional modeling that can be put together through computer programs like Poser.

This is not to suggest that artist supplies are strictly paint and brushes.

A computer graphics specialist is just as creative and talented as the traditional crafter. The technique and approach is vastly different. You even use different parts of the brain when working in computer animation and graphics. Some would be right to argue that artist supplies would include software as well as traditional artist supplies.

Nevertheless, those of us who like the old-fashioned approach to art seem to be a dying breed.

It is no long enough to create images on canvas or in clay. People do not seem to be swept away by a charcoal draft or a simple black and white cartoon anymore. Even though we enjoy hit movies like Shrek, we have to consider that there are ramifications for bulldozing over the classic artist.

Artist supplies are growing in type and style as the population of creative people is growing in style and type.

For many of us the bearded man in the paint-smeared smock is irreplaceable. He is the icon of the starving artist. For others he is gradually evolving into a computer-geek with a creative mouse.