"But It ain't paint!!!" The whole art establishment sings in unison. It's like a tag line they tack onto the end of a sentence. Digital art is good for web pages, advertisement work, a poster here and there, but as you reach for the fine art label, "it ain't paint!" This is coupled with another phrase, "it's a print". The digital artist must contend with these tag lines or his art is doomed to the video monitor. It ain't paint, it's a print.
That's right and yeah we know. Digital art is it's own form, the computer allows you to do things that traditional media could rarely approach. You can do from stick figures to a photo realistic picture and also digital camera photos in a seamless stream. The chink is the printout.
Digital art stigma? A photograph can be fine art, it doesn't matter how the picture is produced. Oil paintings can be photographed or scanned into a computer to be reproduced by digital printing for sale. The print of an oil painting is regarded as fine art. To do art on a computer and directly print it out is called "a copy". I guess it is because the original is really a undecipherable computer file that can only be viewed on the computer or as a printout. And who owns that file, who controls that file or the number of times that file is printed out. I think the rarity factor that keeps the worth of a work of art high is blown out the window with digital art. Then the file can be altered, edited or erased.
It ain't paint! It's more like a silk screen, or any other kind of "printing", flat, no texture. You can say it with your nose in the air, "it's flat, it has no texture!" Yes, that is the nature of the print, whether it's inkjet or offset, lithograph, serigraph, or etching. Is it hand print vs machine print, I don't know!?
It's a print. If the picture can be printed any number of times and each print is exactly the same, where is the original? How shall we put a value on it, there is no distinguishing the master work from the 500th print. I will admit, a highly managed professional made print will look better than one made on your desktop printer. Could print quality be the distinguishing mark of value?
Digital art as fine art is a big nut to crack for many. Being a computer draftsman for years, I appreciate what can be done with computers and printers. Folks trained in traditional media might view work on the computer as shortcuts and parlor tricks, easy art. I will attest digital art requires a different skill set to push the media but still the rules of art apply, color, proportions, composition, etc. Time will tell how computer art is regarded. For me, I can digitally paint all day and not make a mess. I have used pen and ink for drafting and painted with acrylics, so I know a little traditional media work. So for me the artist, digital art is the way to go, for the art dealer and the art buying public, there is a way to go.
I had a vision of walking into a building, there are monitors of all sizes on the walls arranged in pleasant settings. Is this a TV store? no, wait, an art gallery, wow!!
Posted By: Arnold Johnson
Friday, December 18th 2009 at 9:56AM
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