Self Portrait,
copyright1998
"The Creation and Comparison of Analogous Digitally Originated and Natural Media Works of Visual Art"
The
profound impact of digital technology on the traditional art establishment
over the last 20 years is only
beginning to be acknowledged.
With digital technology, pigment is not necessary, color and texture
can be created instantly, entire compositions can be transformed with
just
the touch of a cursor.
Having been trained as a painter and having spent much of the last 20 years creating large scale (average size 48" x 72") oil paintings, I began experimenting with computer art programs in 1993. The ability to manipulate colors and create textural effects in the software, coupled with new high resolution large format digital printing technologies will eventually replace traditional art media altogether. While I sometimes miss the intoxicating aroma of linseed oil and damar varnish, digital images offer the ability to reproduce images endlessly in different formats for different venues. This is extremely appealing to a creative artist wishing to spend more time on creating art and less time on storing, dusting, cleaning, and framing it. In the future, art students will draw directly into the computer using digitizing tablets or wands, or take laptop computers outdoors to "paint" au plein air. Sculpture will be created in 3D software, then output to 3D printers that will create the object.
I hope to demonstrate that working with this media, just as in traditional art media, it is the mind and soul of the artist, not the tools used, which determines the aesthetic experience of the work of art for both artist and audience. To this end, I have created a series of corresponding works, half created in the computer, and half created using natural media, which are currently displayed at http://www.pixelpaint.com/gug.html;
To: Digital/Natural Media Comparison