Digital "Art"?

[Ed_L Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ed_L]

I don't consider myself as having much artistic ability, but I've seen what I think are outstanding "art" images on this site. But what makes a digital image "art"? Is it applying the correct filter to make the image look like a heavy oil painting, or other forms of art? Does a digital artist need the knowledge of how to create the "look" from scratch, or can they do it by using a Photoshop action that someone else might have created? What is your personal opinion on digital "art" and digital "artists"?

Ed

[clare Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close clare]

Ed - this is a difficult one!

Art is something you create - the tools that you use are just a means to an end. Whether you are creating a wood sculpture, painting or producing something digitally - what you create is art.

Art can be to someone something divine and to another a piece of trash - what ever the persons reaction does not make something any more or any less Art.

I think digital art has opened the whole image creating field up and made it more accessable to more and more people.

Filters can be used by two different people with the same image with different results - I think that is what makes the viable as part of 'digital art'.

Its almost like a vision that people are creating. I find the main difficulty is transfereing what is on the screen on to some kind of solid medium.

May be another part of the question is when does it become art - while it is on the screen or when its outputed to paper/canvas?

Sorry if I went off the rails
Clare

[Ed_L Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ed_L]

Clare,

You didn't think I'd give you an easy one, did you? And, no, you didn't go off the rails. It's all connected.

Ed

[G. Couch Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close G. Couch]

Digital art is no different than any other form of art...it's mostly a matter of opinion and intention. If I spend hours on a digital image is it by default more of a work of "Art" than say an image that simply had a filter applied to it? Probably. But it's like comparing paint-by-numbers to a Rembrandt. They are created for entirely different reasons. If filters bring someone who has never been able to paint some joy and happiness then I am all for it...but if you want to hang work in a gallery and want it to be considered as "serious" art, it does take a bit more than a few filters to create an image.

[Ed_L Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ed_L]

I was just about to post a new thread, "Where's Greg?" Glad to see you back.

Ed

[chris h Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chris h]

I think art lies in the creation of the original piece of work. Retouching is no more than a mechanic changing the oil!

[Axe555 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Axe555]

Hey all

First of all let me say what a fantastic site this is. I've been doing retouching work for people for a while now as a hobby and this place has been very helpful (yes, I'm guilty of lurking!).

I've seen this question come up in a few different forms before and I'd like to share my answer to a recent one "What is digital art all about?"

I make no distinction between digital, drawing, photography, painting, ect. in terms of art. The way I see it, the only way various mediums differ is in the technique used to arive at the final product. One has to know how to effectively apply the techniques relative to the chosen medium in order to create a well composed image. So, I think I'll take out the 'digital' and just ask "What is art really all about." and to me, its about self expression.

I would also like to add a link here to my favorite digital artist (you'll love his work)

http://www.renderosity.com/gallery.e...&Artist=hobbit

Rich

[clare Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close clare]

Welcome to retouchPRO. Glad you decided to stop lurking and introduce your self - allways good to see another face.

I look forward to seeing some of your work in the gallery and challenges.

Clare