What’s digital painting?

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Digital painting uses computer software to create artwork that resembles traditional painting. It offers advantages such as ease of correction and control over the movements of the brush. Some critics condemn it as too easy, but it still requires human artistic inspiration to create.

Digital painting is the process of creating artwork that resembles traditional painting or illustrations using computer software. Programs designed for illustration or photo manipulation are typically used to create such pieces, and the methods employed are not entirely dissimilar to those used in traditional art-making. A digital painting can be printed and distributed easily through any method that could be used to transport or disseminate other digital media and computer files.

Some artists use digital painting to create something that looks beautifully like the works created on a canvas by traditional artists. Others strive to create striking images that are instantly recognizable as artwork generated within a computer, sometimes with the assistance of a computer program. Images such as fractals are created through computer programs that translate mathematical data into an artistic visualization. These images, often richly organic or stark and barren, often remind the viewer how the visual world is an expression of mathematics and science.

The advantages of digital painting can be many, from ease of correction and fewer supplies, to the ability to more readily control the movements of the “brush” on the “canvas”. An artwork created in a computer has all the same benefits as typing it in a computer word processing program: the ability to cut and paste, undo, easily edit, and save your work for later completion, among others . This is coupled with easier control over your visual input with the ability to zoom in, zoom out, flip or manipulate the image at will.

While the muscle control and hand-eye coordination of using a mouse or stylus are quite comparable to wielding a paintbrush, a computer allows the user to easily undo an incorrect stroke or repeatedly recreate a saved image. These advantages have meant that digital artworks can be very similar to works created with a traditional brush and paint, or completely different in remarkable ways. Computers allow fine control for the simple creation of geometric shapes, and those shapes can make an image more striking or act as a contrast to an organic design element.

As with any other new application of technology, there are those critics who condemn digital painting as unworthy or too easy compared to traditional paintings. Too often the human input required to create such beautiful works of art is overshadowed by the conveniences and tools offered by a computer program. While the computer may make some aspects of artistic creation easier or more controllable, the process still requires a human mind and artistic inspiration to create.




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