Let's Get Digital

by Adam Trinh

One of the latest forms of art is digital: beauty forged from technology. Digital artists are not much different from other artists, but it’s the tools of their trade that make them unique. Using computers, image-editing software and, of course, the Internet, digital artists are not only able to manifest their ideas into a visual form, but can also share their work with a larger audience.

There are many reasons these artists are attracted to computers to help create their work. Photo-editing programs like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Painter act as an extension of the artist. The things that artists can do with the software are frequently only limited by their knowledge of the program. Dozens of methods and traditional tools are programmed into the software and mimicked on the screen. The program can switch the size and shape of the brush being used, or even the type of paint.

Gary Richardson is the Visual & Digital Arts program coordinator at Humber College in Toronto. He explains that because of these features, it is easier for digital artists to create, and because it’s on a computer and they still have the opportunity to make changes.

“Photoshop is, in itself, a very sophisticated pencil or a very sophisticated paintbrush,” says Richardson. “The level of sophistication allows you to emulate any number of traditional media.”
Richardson is also a certified instructor in Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. He stresses the beauty of the tools digital artists have at their disposal. “You can combine these media in ways you couldn’t in the real world because of the physics (involved),” says Richardson. “If you put oil down on a canvas and then painted watercolour on top of it, the oil is going to rise to the top because oil and water don’t mix. In the digital world, the possibilities are endless.”

The handy “Undo” button is also a useful tool, helping to prevent permanent mistakes and thus saving an artist from having to recreate an entire piece. It is one feature any artist can appreciate, says Anna Fehr. The 18-year-old student from the Art Institute of Vancouver has been drawing for as long as she can remember and now uses Adobe Photoshop like second nature. “It’s the creative freedom that makes it so useful,” says Fehr when asked why digital artists like herself use software to create their art. “There are so many different and little things you can do that would normally take you hours if you did it traditionally.”

Fehr uses conventional watercolours and acrylics as well, but still does a lot of her work in Photoshop and Painter to create her vivid fantasy paintings. “There’s a certain physical feel that’s only available through traditional ways,” she says. “Like the brush strokes and textures.”

Aside from the software, “computer peripheral devices” such as scanners or drawing tablets are helping artists get their ideas onto the digital screen. Tablets are flat pieces of plastic designed to allow users to transfer what they are currently drawing onto the computer – somewhat like a piece of paper that only displays the sketches on the monitor. From there, the artist is free to manipulate and design the drawing in any way they envision. The now digital image is free to roam the Internet, which allows much more distribution freedom for the artist.

An Integrated Media professor at the Ontario College for Art and Design, Geoffrey Shea, says the Internet is a useful way to get work seen. “Online viewing is great,” says Shea who has experience in several different forms of art including video art, web art and computer graphics. “A lot of people are turned off by art galleries and shows. With the Internet, anyone can see your art no matter what kind of work you’re doing.”

When artists have their work posted on an online gallery, it provides easy access for people to see, and steal. Fehr is no stranger to having her work stolen. She’s had friends notify her of people stealing her work in the past.

“Eventually, fans noticed it and forced them to take the images down,” explains Fehr, who has since tried to take precautionary measures to prevent it from happening again. “Now I try to leave a certain signature in a complex area of the image, just so people can identify it as mine.”

In reality, there is very little an artist can do to prevent or report digital art theft. An artist could take the thief or thieves to court, but would need a lawyer, something not every artist can afford. Emily Mei, a freelance digital artist, considers herself lucky that she has yet to see any of her work plagiarized. “Art theft is a big problem and it happens a lot,” says the 24-year-old, who gets a lot of her inspiration from nature to create her animal art. “It rarely turns into a legal battle because normal artists don’t have the time or money, so people usually deal with it and contact the person themselves.”

Richardson has one suggestion for artists who don’t want to go through the lengthy and expensive copyright process.

“The trick is to self-register the image so you print the image and include it on a CD or a DVD,” says Richardson. “Then seal it in an envelope and mail it by registered mail to yourself. Once you’ve received it, don’t break the seal. If ever an issue comes up, you have that as evidence in a court of law.”

Since everything is composed on a computer, digital art also faces many originality issues. Artists who use the same programs and preset tools will often see artworks similar to theirs – especially in the comic book industry. Atlanta native Mark Brooks has been drawing all his life and uses Adobe Photoshop to colour his comics whenever he gets a chance. He has seen a lot of development and reliance on computers and photo-editing software over the years and encourages artists to stop looking and start doing. “Focus in on what you want and keep practicing. As cheesy as it sounds, artists need to find their own journey,” says Brooks. “What works for me might not work for them.”

Currently, Brooks is signed with Marvel and is drawing for such comics as Ultimate Spider-Man and the New X-Men. It took him eight years to get where he is now, and he says he owes it to practising and finding his own techniques. “There’s only so many ways you can draw big eyes, little nose and little mouth,” says Brooks, who believes that Anime/Manga, a Japanese style drawing, can lack originality. “Be the first you, and do something different.”

According to Emily Mei, understanding the smaller tools within the tools is something that aspiring digital artists should do as well. “Get used to the tools in different programs,” she says. “But the main thing is to practise.”