DIGITAL ART
The first use of the term digital art was in the early 1980s when computer engineers devised a paint program which was used by the pioneering digital artist Harold Cohen. This became known as AARON, a robotic machine designed to make large drawings on sheets of paper placed on the floor. Since this early foray into artificial intelligence, Cohen continued to fine-tune the AARON program as technology becomes more sophisticated.
Digital art can be computer generated, scanned or drawn using a tablet and a mouse. In the 1990s, thanks to improvements in digital technology, it was possible to download video onto computers, allowing artists to manipulate the images they had filmed with a video camera. This gave artists a creative freedom never experienced before with film, allowing them to cut and paste within moving images to create visual collages.
In recent times some digital art has become interactive, allowing the audience a certain amount of control over the final image.
10 Types of Digital Art to Consider
It appears that more types of digital art keep coming in as the years roll by. Of course, we cannot say that it is entirely unexpected when technology, too, keeps developing every year.
While there are many different types of digital art out there, we have decided to include 15 of the most popular types right now because it is possible that you have heard most of them before, hence, making it easier for you to understand them better when going through this guide.
1. Fractal/Algorithmic Art
Fractal Art is a form of digital art including the use of mathematics. This process of deriving art through mathematics is also termed as algorithmic art. There is a specific type of beauty involved in the culmination of this art form which is considered as a part of computer art and digital art, being a part of the greater family of new media art.
New media art, although a metaphor for signifying the interruption of modernity into the presentation of art, is born from the pure art forms generated from the ancient periods. The factor of modernity changed it into digital art with the advent of technology.
2. Data-Moshing
Data-moshing can be termed as a process whereby media files can be manipulated to produce the desired visual effects or images when the file is decoded.
The status of the decoded file allows the entry of snippets from other media files and editing of the existing ones. This data-moshing process is most common in videos rather than images.
This is because the decoded video files have more scope to be manipulated than images that do not have too much space.
Modern video files have a complex method of not crossing the storage space. This is done by not downloading the entire image on the device, but only snippets of the image is downloaded.
3. Dynamic Painting
Dynamic painting is considered as the most modern and advanced form of digital art. Historically, the denotation of art was assumed to be created by the hands of man himself and art was supposed to remain in that terrain.
However, modernity and Industrial Revolution gave birth to technology and the adoption of new methods of turning physical labor into mental labor, where the work of the manual laborers was demolished and was instead replaced by the use of specialized skills to operate these machines produced by capitalist giants.
Dynamic painting developed as a form of digital art, where the art or picture was painted by an autonomous system, namely a computer, where there was minimal physical labor used to complete the work.
4. 2D Computer Graphics
Traditional paintings and drawings had a particular charm about them for sure, because of their authenticity and the hard work put behind them to turn them into masterpieces.
This art was well appreciated, until the advent of technology and the use of computers which demanded that art be transformed into digitally specific claims which could be applied to the modern world of entertainment and media.
2D computer graphics are derived from 2D dimensional models like texts and digital images. It works on transforming the traditional forms of art into digital art which can be used in projects and animation for the media and entertainment industry. 2D graphics are generally derived on traditional graphics like typography, cartography, technical drawing and advertising.
5. 3D Computer Graphics
You must have come across this term several times while watching videos, movies or learning a concept that involves animation. The 3D computer graphics is a modern concept which has come in with technological advancement and the development of the computer sciences and is a modified version of the 2D computer graphics. The 3D computer graphics has the task of representing the three-dimensional aspect of geometric data which is found in almost every model or structure. The 3-dimensional computer graphics calculates these geometric data and stores it in the device for future reference.
6. Pixel Art
This type of digital art is mainly associated with videos and images which are used for movies, games, or aesthetic ventures.
There is a specific software where the pixel art can be produced, and it supports the 8-bit and 16-bit computers, including some graphic calculators and video game consoles. Pixel art is a pure form of aesthetic used in the elaboration of video games and other animated videos where it produces the desired effect which is incomplete in the case of other forms of digital art. The idea of pixel art eminently emerged with the idea of modernizing of video games. This means that the aesthetic level of the video games created must match with the societal standards and expectations on these games.
This form of visual ecstasy can only be achieved with the adoption of pixel art as a form of digital art to infiltrate movements in the characters of the video games. What you see on the screen or play with is an intersection of several software programs to produce the desired art.
In case the video games or images need to be modified, or new effects need to be produced, the process of spriting is taken over. Spriting is specifically a term used to denote the editing and specialization of the already existing pixel art that you have produced.
7. Digital Photography
This term was invented with the discovery of computers, which introduced the use of digital cameras to produce the perfect shot which other cameras could not achieve.
Prior to the advent of digital cameras was the era of photographic films stuffed into camera rolls which after being clicked, took a long time to be developed. Even after being developed, these pictures weren’t as professional as expected.
8. Photo-painting
This form of digital art was invented with the use of computers where editing and photoshopping came into the picture. Photo-painting is done in succession to digital photography. After clicking the perfect picture and viewing it on the computer, there are a bunch of professionals who are equipped to handle the editing part specifically.
The photo painting is not a manual process. Rather, the digital picture is painted on the computer itself with some tools downloaded from certain software and apps.
Photo-painting is a very crucial editing skill which should be undertaken by every photographer. The company which hires a professional editor who is well versed with photo painting is better equipped to send out pictures dictating the company’s goals. This is extremely beneficial to the company because the edits will put them on a pedestal.
Since photo painting is available on apps which is downloadable, it is accessible through phones as well, which can be easily linked to social media. However, not everyone can do photo painting. A certain amount of skill is required in that expertise.
9. Digital Collage
We are all familiar with the concept of a collage because we use it in our day to day lives, when we tend to edit pictures or create memories. However, just as the definition of a normal collage goes, digital collage is slightly different.
This means that instead of putting several whole pictures together, different textures and ideas are taken from several sites and then collaborated under one picture. Digital collage is said to be present under the domain of photoshop which is a well-used edit feature, used by almost every business to make the picture more appealing.
The process of digital collage is a complicated one and will require particular skills to fulfill the criteria under its operation. Photoshop is accessible to everyone on your smartphones or any other device and is used at an alarming rate for updating content on social media sites. It has been widely used for fashion blogging since it is such a profitable business at present.
10. 2D Digital Painting
Digital painting forms the crux of digital art right now and is effectively one of the most practiced digital art forms of this era. By this era, I meant the era of technologically advanced machines which come in handy in almost all digital art operations. With the help of the computer, 2D art can be undertaken professionally, using multiple features which it can entail. The cruciality of 2D digital painting for business propaganda and campaigns is reflected in the company’s success in the long-run. 2D digital painting is basically digital painting on a plain surface with no added effects.