Digital Art: Tools and Forms

Lesson 1: Digital Art Tools

  • Digital Art: Artworks employing digital technology.

  • Tools: Computers are primary; digital artists use Hardware and Software.

  • Hardware: Physical tools like CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer; Graphic Tablet and Stylus (digital pen and paper); Inkjet Printers produce high-quality "giclee prints."

  • Software: Computer programs for art creation (e.g., CorelDRAW, Adobe Illustrator).

    • Harold Cohen: Created AARON, a program combining AI and art to generate abstract drawings.

  • Cellular Phones: Evolved into Smartphones, acting as pocket-sized computers with various capabilities.

  • Digital Photography: Uses digital cameras.

    • Camera Obscura: Earliest camera example, 1820s, long exposure.

    • Negatives: Kodak, 1884, transferred images to film rolls (limited shots).

    • Digital Camera: Captures and saves images as soft copies.

      • Types: Point-and-shoot and Digital Single-Lens Reflex (DSLR).

  • Video Games/Console: Avenue to showcase digital art (video game art).

    • Game Console: Device connected to a television.

    • Arcade Games: Consoles designed for a single game, housed in decorative containers.

  • Internet Meme: Movement, catchphrase, idea, or medium spread online.

    • Image Macro: Common meme template of top text, image, and bottom text.

Lesson 2: Digital Art

  • Digital art is ubiquitous, seen in comic books, posters, and advertisements.

  • Computer Graphics: Images created using computers, called Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), used in games and animated movies.

  • Digital Painting: Uses computer hardware and software to simulate traditional painting, often with graphic tablets and styluses.

  • American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) Art: Technique creating images from combinations of letters, symbols, and numbers.

    • Kenneth Knowlton: Created earliest ASCII art, "Studies in Perception I."

  • Running Art: Artwork created using modern smartphones, sports applications, and GPS capabilities to draw images.

  • Digital Photography: Easily manipulated with software (e.g., Adobe Photoshop, Corel).

  • Game Art Design: Visual and design elements of a video game (characters, landscapes, settings).

    • Virtual Reality: A computer-generated immersive environment for the user.