The Renaissance of Digital Art

Digital art first blossomed in the late 90s and early 2000s and while initial forms of it were not as expansive as current apps such as Procreate, these beginning stages opened a new medium into the art world. Although many artists still stick to traditional art, the medium majority of creators began using, most artists now use digital mediums in some aspect of their process. Whether or not an artist uses purely digital mediums or creates pieces entirely by hand, the modern-day art world is undeniably digital, and avoiding technology is nearly impossible.

Whether digital art should be considered “real” art is not necessarily productive in the discussion of digital art. Digital art is not simply making art on an iPad or computer screen — much as technology is not merely owning a phone— it is any part of the process of using technology. This could include using a projector to cast an image on a canvas to block proportionally, marketing one’s art online or even digitally capturing a physical art piece via scan.

Because these resources were not available to artists even 50 years ago, they should be considered “digital art” —despite their indirect applications. What should be up for debate is the creativity that can or cannot be derived from digital tools, and if this new wave of digitizing art separates true creatives from those who just have the capability to make art. Anyone with a steady hand can trace a design or image and portray said design as art, but to take an idea and transform it into art through creativity and skill is something only true artists can execute. 

Digital art is not the only type of art to have its existence condemned, critiques and artists tend to challenge most new variations of art. When photography was first created, many were critical of it because prior to this, every realistic adaptation of the world was carried on the shoulders of painters. 

For decades, photography was not considered art as it was used purely to document the people and setting of the time, not as any creative outlet; photography was seen as machinery and not human expression. However, photography has been art since its very creation. Due to the low quality of cameras when they were first invented, photos such as “Boulevard du Temple” taken by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre closely resemble a painting and are labeled as art today. 

Digital art has already begun making its mark in the artistic world and will continue until its spot is sedentary. Noemi Smolik, an art historian and critic discusses the rise of digital art in an Artforum article. 

“Not only has digital technology abetted the shift of production from material goods to immaterial ones such as information—but modern art, with its aspiration to individual freedom and glorification of creativity, had a role in that shift. Therein lies a new challenge,” Smolik said.