The Humanization of Digital Art

Not long ago, digital art was criticized as being lifeless and cold. It was the common perception that digital art was nothing more than fractals and photo-collages, images constructed by the computer program rather than the person. As a result, digital artists were often disregarded as not being "real" artists. This may have been true up until a certain point. However in recent years, advances in digital imaging technology have allowed artists to fully unleash their potential, as well as the potential of the digital medium. Art programs such as Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop, along with pressure-sensitive Wacom tablets, have enabled digital artists to create their images in the same way a traditional artist would. They "draw" and "paint" on the screen, from the first line to the final stroke.

Artists of traditional mediums argue that it's easy for digital artists to make breathtaking art. One obvious advantage that the digital artist enjoy is the ability to use the "undo" function for any action he or she wishes to take back. As a result, digital works often have a perfected look that a traditional work could never achieve. This could be considered a good or bad thing depending on individual perspective. To many traditional artists, this perfection is simply another attribute of the characteristic "coldness" of digital art.

However there are some digital artists who choose not to take advantage of the digital medium's ability to perfect images. Ciro Marchetti, the creator of three bestselling digital Tarot decks, is one such artist. Marchetti makes an effort to stay away from the meticulous appearance of typical digital art. His works display a richness in texture and light and shadow use that brings the best of the two worlds together. Bente Schlick is another digital artist who applies soft color and the impression of brush strokes to create breathtaking works. Yet another artist, Nene Thomas, began her career painting with traditional mediums and then transitioned to digital. Her change to digital medium was hardly noticeable because her art retained the same qualities that made it popular to begin with.

For the sake of argument, Alex Grey is not a digital artist. He paints visionary art using oils, and no one would argue that his work is not breathtaking! I am in not advocating the abandonment of traditional mediums any more than I would advocate the replacement of all books with e-readers. I simply believe that traditional artists should not martyr themselves or their art by using their lack of an "undo" feature as an excuse. Art has changed immensely over the past decade, and will continue to evolve as time passes. It is still art.