Comparing digital to traditional art

Digital art can be seen anywhere from movies to museums and small frames to large installations.

Commonalities exist between digital and traditional art. As with traditional art, there are very few

successful, self-taught artists. The best digital artists study traditional techniques as well as technology at

a digital art school in order to become better artists.

There is skill involved and artists hone their craft. They try new techniques, use different tools and

continually push themselves to do something new. The only difference is in the tools they use. Those

tools do not create; the artist does! They only difference, really, is the medium. Their mouse is their brush

and the monitor their canvas.

Those who discount digital art bases the argument on two points: the first is that the artist can simply

erase a mistake; the second is that the computer is doing the work. It took decades for photography to

achieve status as an art form. Art purists pointed out that the photographer merely aimed the camera and captured an image. Photographers and digital artists, like their fine art counterparts, must be well-

versed in light, color, texture, saturation, and depth.

Definition of art Theres an old adage that most people cant give a definition of art, but they know it when they see it. Defined in simple terms by Merriam-Webster, art is the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.

The definition of art has been debated long before the digital age. From Greek philosophers to the United

States Supreme Court, people have considered what art is, the process by which it is created, and its

meaning to society. As digital art becomes more common, it will grow and evolve and more people will

be involved in the conversation about the status of digital art. Many would argue that art cannot be

defined. In fact, the legal system has declined to define art and has instead left it open for interpretation. It allows for societal norms and does not put limitations the process by which it is created to evolve.

Digital art takes many forms, and artists can make a living Digital art is any form that utilizes digital

technology during production. Fairly broad in definition, but there are as many forms of digital art as

traditional art. For the most part, though, a digital artist sits in front of a computer monitor to create,

rather than a blank canvas or hunk of unformed clay.

Sometimes the image created is done from scratch; other times the artist is manipulating an existing

image into something different and unique. Like other forms, digital art can take on many forms, from

illustration to multimedia to interactive.

Does digital art meet the definition of art? Of course it does. At its base, art is merely a form of communication where the artist, through creativity,

is attempting to express an idea or evoke an emotion. The same is most certainly true for a digital artist.

Each artist, most importantly, has to possess a desire to create and express himself.

Like any other form of art, digital art is merely the newest evolution of art. The potential of digital will

grow as technology progresses and will be limited only by the artists imagination.