The copy of my term paper

Topic: How do the digital artists see themselves and the digital world?

Introduction

Digital art is a very common art in nowadays. We can see them everywhere, such as in advertisements and on websites. It has a closely relationship with us. So in this essay, I am going to digital art as my essay topic. However, digital art is a very board topic. It includes different kind of things, such as software and art forms. At the same time, I discover that there is a very interesting thing is that people will talk about digital art at their point of view, but not the artists’ point of view. Artists see themselves a little bit different than us that are the viewers. Then, in the following paragraphs, I would like to focus on the artists’ point of views to talk about how the digital art artists see themselves and digital art world, in term of their work, tools and benefits.

Background information about digital art

According to wikipedia, digital art most commonly refers to art created on a computer in digital form. Digital art can be purely computer-generated, such as fractals, 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.[1]Also, digital art can be used in the contempoary art as it needs mass production.
Digital art has different kind of field .They are computer-generated, illustration, photography/cinematography-related, painting and game-related.In my essay, I will only foucs on the digital art artists of painting.Also According to wikipedia, painting in digital art means artwork created in similar fashion to non-digital paintings; software-based brushes, pallet knives, canvases, and paints are manipulated by the painter on a computer platform.[2]

The purposes of the artists to use digital art

In digital art of painting, there are a lot categories.They are surreal,cartoons,fan art,fantasy,nature,photo,science fiction,portraits and miscellaneous.On the other hand, there are some purposes for digital artists to make digital art.Firstly,artists use digital art to express their own feeling,thinking and experience.The main equipment that need to create a piece of digital art is computer.So it is very convenience for the artists to create their works at any place in anytime.And, when the artists have strong feelings suddenly,they can make their work immediately.For examlpe, there is a artists called David em. He makes a lot of expressive arts. One of his works is called Falling Angel. This painting is about when he traveled from New York on the airplane. Suddenly, the plane had some problems. He looked out from the widow of plane. He saw what the painting have. So this painting is the combination of the artists’ feelings and experience. This is very important that artists use digital art as the medium to express themselves because they can use their arts to communicate with others freely on the internet in order to let others know about themselves.
Moreover, the second purpose of the artists to use digital art is to play with the formal elements, such as lights, colors and lines. Artists can control these formal elements more easily through the computers, so that they can create much more varieties of their artworks. For example, an artist called Charles Csuri. He uses light and colors to make a series of artworks. It is an abstract art. He can control the light very well through the computer which is very difficult to be made by hand. As a result, it is the reason of artists to use computer to make their works.
Then, the third purpose that they use digital art is to play with different kind of software and technique. As the artists can use different kind of software to make different kind of artworks, even some of these artworks cannot be made by hand. For example, an artist called Herbert W Franke. He uses some computer software to make 3D image. In this image, he used the software called William Latham. He likes to use a lot of software to make his own artworks. He explores news software to make artworks. Also there are some other software names, such as Mathemtica and Bryce. This purpose of making artworks has not existed in traditional art.
The last purpose is the collage. Collage means that mix different kind of things to do a piece of art. In digital art, the artists use different kind of media together, such as photo, alternation and computer. There are two examples. The first one is called Fallen which is made by Jason Beam. And this piece of art work can be found in his official website. This piece of artwork was created specifically for the 2005 Spooky Art Charity Projectto be auctioned off, with all proceeds from the 1/1 Artist Proof being donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. This piece of art work is combining photography, digital alteration and scanography, Jason Beam melds a variety of techniques that cannot be achieved in traditional darkroom settings and creates a piece that lies somewhere between a photo manipulation and digital illustration. Another piece of digital art is called Autumn Flows In Gold. This is made by ThruMyEyez, which is the name he used online. It made on 20/10/2007.It came from the website of GFX Artist. This image is about the nature of autumn in golden color. This is a photo. But after the process of computer, it looked like a painting. I used these two examples because these two pieces of artworks are the artists wanted to challenge the traditional art. It is because they are looked prefect. The first one is different from the traditional art as it includes a lot of concept. And the second one is similar to the traditional art but it used computer to make it. So it proves that digital art can be as beautiful as traditional art.

The unique benefits of making digital art

Artists can gain some benefits from making digital art which is different from making traditional art. From the interview of Steve, which is a digital artist, we can know more about what they learn in artists’ perspectives. Steve said “Digital artists are able to choose from hundreds of programs, each with their own advantages, as well as a variety of innovative input devices such as the popular pressure-sensitive graphics tablets. These tools give artists the freedom to create artwork in an environment with few limitations. One of the greatest and most unique benefits of creating artwork digitally is the ability to use "undo" - a virtual time machine - as a way to go back and correct anything that is less than perfect. With artistic talent and technology-educated minds, digital artists are able to create magnificent works exactly as they envision. They can share their digital masterpieces with the world by uploading to online galleries such as digitalart.org.”[3] From his words, we know that they want to make their work perfect .And digital art can let them to do this as the artworks can be corrected by many times. Also they can exchange their own work freely. Another artist called Peter, which is also a digital artist. From his interview, he said “The computer. It's my medium of choice - even though I feel a bitter lack of traditional education, I'm always drawn to the computer - kind of natural affinity. Other than that I'm very interested in water color these days. But unfortunately too lazy to get out and paint most of the times.”[4] From this interview, we can know the some artists think they can create freely is the benefit of making digital art. Also, some artists may not have some traditional learning of art. So in their perspective, the benefit is that they can create a perfect piece of artwork digitally no matter they have learnt art before.

How the digital artists see themselves

There are many people arguing whether digital art is really a kind of art and the digital artists really the artists. No matter what the others think, the digital artist think that they are making real art and they are the real artists .From the interview with Steve, he said “While there are a growing number of traditional artists becoming interested in the creation of digital artwork, many still do not regard it as being true artwork. What is true artwork, though? Computers are simply another tool, an avenue to express imagination, just like paints and brushes. In the future, digital artwork will be widely accepted as a valid form of artwork. Computers aren’t going away any time soon.”[5]In his words, we know that they see themselves as the artists. The only different they think is the tools they use. The traditional artists used paints and brush, but they used computer only. They also use the computer to express themselves and also play with the formal elements. It is the same as traditional art. So the digital artists regarded their work as art.

Conclusion

Finally, the digital artists see themseleves and the digital world very different from us which is the views’ point of view.They used digital art as their communication and expression media.And they play different kind of things,such as formal elements and technology,with digital art. For us, we may not understand why they use digital art.But after this essay, you and me may try to understand them .Also, they can get much more benefits from making digital art than making traditional art.And the benefit I cannot imagine before honestly.And the most interesting things is that they see their work and themselves as a real art and artists and the reason is very special for us.After doing this essay, we can know more about the digital artists and how they see things.



Reference:
1.Digital art, Christiane Paul, London ; New York, N.Y. : Thames & Hudson, c2003
2. http://digitalart.org/articles.php (11/12/2007)
3. http://www.dam.org/artists/index.htm (11/12/2007)
4. http://www.dam.org/gallery/index.htm (11/12/2007)
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_art (11/12/2007)

Footnotes:
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_art (11/12/2007)
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_art (11/12/2007)
[3] http://digitalart.org/interviews.php?action=ReadInterview&ID=10 (11/12/2007)
[4] http://digitalart.org/interviews.php?action=ReadInterview&ID=7 (11/12/2007)
[5] http://digitalart.org/interviews.php?action=ReadInterview&ID=10 (11/12/2007)

The Term Essay

My Term Essay Question is " How do the digital artists see the digital world and themsleves ?"


And the copy of the final version of my term essay has posted on my blog (above)
Thank you very much~

Why I interested in Digital Art?

Digital art is a very broad concept. It includes many things, such as software and theory. I am interested to write about it because I do the presentation about it. After my presentation, I learnt and knew many things about it. And all these things I have not touched before. They really interested me. So I decided to do some research about it. Digital art included a lot of things. The most interest me is the digital as a tool and digital as a medium. For digital as a tool, I have seen a lot of digital art works on the internet. I think they are amazing. They are really beautiful and perfect. I like the landscape images the most. Some of the art works look like real, and others look like the oil paintings. I found it interesting, so I want to know how to make it. For digital as a medium, when I search the digital art works, I found that many artists like to upload their works on web to share with others. Then others will give some comments to their works. I found that this kind of communication is interesting; even I think that it may help us to build up relationship, such as meeting new friends. Only a little research, I could find and discover so many interesting things. This encourages me to use this topic as my research. On behalf of the personal factors, I choose this topic because many people have many comments and thinking about it .I want to know more what they think. Of course, their comments are very important for me because I am studying visual studies now. And I use digital art most of the time,so this topic is very suitable for me to do research as it helps my understanding of digital art and my future. I hope that I can explore more about digital art.Also,after I learn how to make digital art,I may produce some digital art works later.

Digial Art Research Questions~

1.Is digital art really art?Why?

2.What things can the artistsdigital art?(Comparing with tradition art)

3.Will digital art dominate in the art field?

4.Can digital art be free of charge?And what will be the consequences?

After the discussion ,my essay will focus on the artists' perspectives.

Main Question : How do the digital artists see themselves?

Digital Art Key Quotes ~

1."Tools can be and sometimes have to be learned and btw they are in steady development so you always have to learn new things.I personally think it's surely useful to have some technical understanding of what is going on behind the scenes but the artistic skills are the ones which are important if you want to work creative."

From Tim Borgmann which is a famous Designer / Abstract artist ~

Interview with Tim Borgmann from http://www.tdt3d.com/articles_viewer.php?art_id=109


2. "'Free' computer graphics can serve as a source of new programming methods and of ideas for creating new shapes. It is through playful experiments, but also through confrontation with classical art, that experience is gained which can be useful in several ways"

From Herbert W Franke (scientist and artist)

Essay :The New Visual Age: The Influence of Computer Graphics on Art and Society from http://www.dam.org/essays/franke01.htm

3.'In Europe, in the late 1960s, artists with strong visual and conceptual alliances with the Constructivist tradition, including Manuel Barbadillo, Edward Zajec, Vera Molnar, and Manfred Mohr, were the first to use computers for artistic ends.'

From Cynthia Goodman, author of the well-known survey of computer art 'Digital Visions'

Essay :Computers and Modern Art: Digital Art Museum from Mike King on http://www.dam.org/essays/king02.htm

4." By created all digitally, I am saying that they may draw, or paint using the mouse or a pen tool and create images imitating traditional methods. This is a wonderful form of art, and I do not think that it should be roped into the type of digital art that I, or others with a similar style, produce."

From Jason Beam( artists )

Essay : Clarification of Digital Art on

http://digitalart.org/articles.php?action=ReadArticle&ID=5

5."After studying artists and paintings of the 16th, 17th and 18th century, one thing hit my eye: nevertheless whether digital art is "minor art" or not, we still should try to focus on compositoric aspects within an image. Still we try to focus on what we want to call meaning and mood or feeling."

From Sebastian Holmer

Essay :"20minutes" - A Quick Essay About Composition and Meaning on http://digitalart.org/articles.php?action=ReadArticle&ID=8

Digital Art Visual Materials~

This image is called 'Fallen', copyright 2005 by Jason Beam.And this piece of art work can be found in his offcial website.This piece of artwork was created specifically for the 2005 Spooky Art Charity Projectto be auctioned off, with all proceeds from the 1/1 Artist Proof being donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.This piece of art work is combining photography, digital alteration and scanography, Jason Beam melds a variety of techniques that cannot be achieved in traditional darkroom settings and creates a piece that lies somewhere between a photo manipulation and digital illustration.I put this image because this image show that digital art can combine many kinds of materials,such as photo and computer.So it can make art work can intergrate many different kinds of concept and materials.Let art different form before.

This image is called 3D-Ornaments which is made by Herbert W FRANKE after 1992.This image is from the website of digital art museum.This is a 3D image which done with a software programed by William Latham.I upload this image because after I saw this image,I discovered that making 3D digital art needs a lot of softwares,such as "Mathematica" and "Bryce" .And there are many kinds of these new software.One piece of art work may require two or more software.So this image give me a chance to know more about the names of some digital art softwares~



This image is called Falling Angel which is made by David em in 2004.This image is from his website.This image is described what he saw when he was on the airplane coming back from New York.The reason I included this image because this image can show what the artist thought and saw.That means digital image can express personal thinking,experience and feeling.And the important thing is that it can exchange through internet.So, digital art can for communication.

This image is called sun ,shadow and blue.This image is made by a artist called Charles Csuri.And this come from his web site on 01/17/2007 .The image used light as an medium.He can control the light very well over the computer.It is a abtract art.I included this image becasue it show the digital art can have different styles.And it is very difficult to made by hand.

The name of this image is called Autumn Flows In Gold. This is made by ThruMyEyez ,which is the name he used online.It made on 20/10/2007.It came from the website of GFX Artist.This image is about the nature of Autumn in goldern colour.I included this image because this picture make me feel surprise.This is a photo.But after the process of computer,it looked like a painting.I think it change the mind of people that appreciate classical art.

Digital Art Bibliography~

1.http://digitalart.org/articles.php
(This website has some essays about digital art.It helps me to know more about what the artists or the people think about digital art)

2.http://www.dam.org/artists/index.htm
(This website is very useful because it has a list of artists .It helps me to find more images.)

3.http://www.tdt3d.com/articles.php?CT=Interview
(This websites has some content of interviewing with artists.It is good for me to know more about how they create a art work.)

4.http://www.dam.org/gallery/index.htm
(This website have some artists works.Convenience for searching inages.)

5.http://www.csuri.com/
(This is a artist website,but not very useful.It only includes a little information and image.)

6.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_art
(It only provide some basic knowledge of digital art)

7.Digital art,Christiane Paul,London ; New York, N.Y. : Thames & Hudson, c2003
(This book is useful.It inlcudes a lot of things about digital art.)

8.New philosophy for new media ,Mark B. N. Hansen,Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, 2004
(This book do not include all new digital art.It is cannot use much for further research.)

9.http://www.digitalartsource.com/index2.shtml
(This website includes a lot of web links which about digital art.)

10.http://www.digitalblasphemy.com/mpages/topratedtodos.shtml
(This website has a lot of digital art works which are the wallpapers.)