Digital art most commonly refers to
art created on a
computer in
digital form. Digital art can be purely
computer-generated, such as
fractals,and
algorithmic art or taken from another source, such as a
scanned photograph, or an image drawn using
vector graphics software using a
mouse or
graphics tablet. Though technically the term may be applied to art done using other media or processes and merely scanned in, it is usually reserved for art that has been non-
trivially modified by a computing process (such as a computer program, microcontroller or any electronic system capable of interpreting an input to create an output); digitized text data and raw audio and video recordings are not usually considered digital art in themselves, but can be part of a larger project. In an expanded sense, "digital art" is a term applied to contemporary art that uses the methods of mass production or media.The availability and popularity of photograph manipulation software has spawned a vast and creative library of highly modified images, many bearing little or no hint of the original image. Using electronic versions of brushes, filters and enlargers, these "Neographers" produce images unattainable through conventional photographic tools. In addition,
digital artists may manipulate scanned drawings, paintings,
collages or
lithographs, as well as using any of the above-mentioned techniques in combination. Artists also use many other sources of information and programs to create their work.
3D graphics are created via the process of designing complex
imagery from
geometric shapes,
polygons or
NURBS curves to create realistic 3 dimensional shapes, objects and scenes for use in various media such as film, television, print, rapid prototyping and the special visual effects. There are many software programs for doing this.The technology can enable collaboration, lending itself to sharing and augumenting by a creative effort similar to the
open source movement, and the
creative commons in which users can collaborate in a project to create unique pieces of art.
The mainstream
media uses a lot of digital art in advertisements, and computers are used extensively in
film to produce
special effects.
Desktop publishing has had a huge impact on the publishing world, although that is more related to
graphic design.
Nonetheless, digital art is yet to gain the acceptance and regard reserved for "serious" artforms such as
sculpture,
painting and
drawing, perhaps due to the erroneous impression of many that "the computer does it for you" and the suggestion that the image created could be infinitely repeatable.[
citation needed]
Computers are also commonly used to make
music, especially
electronic music, since they present a powerful way to arrange and create sound samples. It is possible that general acceptance of the value of digital art will progress in much the same way as the increased acceptance of electronically produced music over the last three decades.
Some say we are now in a
postdigital era, where digital technologies are no longer a novelty in the art world, and "the medium is the message"(
Marshall McLuhan). Digital tools have now become an integral part of the process of making art. As silicon-dry digital media converges with wet biological systems,
Roy Ascott has pointed to the emergence of a "moistmedia" substrate for 21st century artDigital Photography and digital printing is now an acceptable medium of creation and presentation by major museums and galleries, and the work of digital artists is gaining ground, through robotic installation, net art and software art. But the work of digital painters and printmakers is beginning to find acceptance as the output capabilities advance and quality increases. Internationally many museums are now beginning to collect digital art such as the San Jose Museum of Art and the
Victoria and Albert Museum print department also has a reasonable but small collection of digital art.
One reason why the established art community finds it difficult to accept digital art is the erroneous perception of digital prints being endlessly reproducible. Many artists though are erasing the relevant image file after the first print, thus making it a unique artwork. Another reason is longevity; with today's digital printing technology though, fading of colours will not occur for 60 to 100 years(www.wilhelm-research.com).
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