Digital Art

“The advantage of digital is obvious:  You don’t have to clean anything up”— Pat Scott

Digital art is a new media art category of art works that have been created or presented by the artist using some form of digital technology – these are the electronic tools, systems, and devices that generate, store or process data, such as computer programs, mobile devices, online games and applications.

The early days of digital art, at times called ‘computer art’ and ‘multimedia art’, can be traced back to the late 1960’s when engineers Billy Klüver and Fred Waldhauer joined artists Robert Rauschenberg and Robert Whitman to form a group called Experiments in Art and Technology (EAT) with a mission to promote collaborations between artists and engineers.  The result was a series of innovative installations and performances using emerging technologies, and as technology evolved over the decades, so did the art.

Since those early EAT experimental days, digital technology has revolutionized the way art can be made, distributed, and viewed.  Instead of traditional art materials such as paint, brush and canvas, artists can now paint with light, sound and pixels on a screen or multimedia projection, and the resulting creative works of art are simply amazing.

You’ve got to meet Pat Scott.  She’s a talented, tech-savy digital artist, and BTW, Pat is 98 years old. All her life, she has created art, but after moving to an apartment in a retirement community, Pat became concerned her paints would make a mess. So, she decided to try something new–digital art. Now, Pat enjoys using Photoshop and apps to draw portraits and create greeting cards.

Watch as Pat tells her inspirational, joyful story of a life enriched with creativity and innovation in this short (3 minutes) documentary “Try Something New:  Digital Artist Pat Scott” from Julie Caskey.

CREATIVE INSPIRATION 

In Try Something New, Pat Scott mentions she was inspired after reading about David Hockney using digital technology to draw and paint, and looking at his iPhone Drawings, it’s clear the reason for that creative spark.

David Hockney iPad Art, ‘Fresh Flowers’ © David Hockney

David Hockney (born in 1937) was an important contributor to the 1960’s pop art movement, and today, he’s considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century.  He began sketching flowers on his iPhone in 2009, and later on an iPad, experimenting with the variety of brush techniques and colors of a painting app, Brushes*.  His ‘Fresh Flowers’ exhibit (2010-11) included 300 iPhone and iPad drawings viewed on mounted devices and projected screens.  Later, Hockney included iPad landscape drawings in both the 2012 “A Bigger Picture” and 2013-14 “David Hockney: A Bigger Exhibition” exhibits.  Learn more about the artist and 200+ works of art via the Tate website.  See a list of current and upcoming Hockney exhibits → here.

Continue the creative art inspiration by watching→   Art Works and Digital Arts video channels, On2In2™ collections of videos FREE 2 WATCH, On-Demand

*Editor’s notes:

♦ The Brushes app (updated & renamed “Brushes Redux“) is designed specifically for iPhone and iPad, and can be downloaded free from the App Store.  Inspired by Pat Scott, I gave the app a try, and discovered it’s really a lot of fun, and only a little imagination, not art or tech expertise, is needed to create a work of art.  There are many other art drawing and painting apps available for Apple products via iTunes as well as android apps for smart phones and tablets via Google Play.  So cool.  Recommend you give one a try, too.  You’ll also want a digital art brush/stylus for drawing on the screen of your phone or tablet.  

Not ready to go digital?  Try coloring books!
We’ve got freebies for fun here→  Art Therapy

The digital art feature photo is a still shot from the video “Try Something New:  Digital Artist Pat Scott”