Digital art is art created on a computer in digital form. You can create this type of art purely through computer generation, through scanning or by using vector graphics software. Out of these manipulations come fractals, scanned photographs and drawn images. It is, strictly speaking, a term applied to art significantly modified using any computing process. In fact, there are various groups, including Digital Atelier and the Digital Art Guild, who focus on this particular type of art. Specific accepted artists in this genre include of Mavi Roberto, Joan Myerson Shrager, Jago Titcomb, D.L. Zimmerman, and Steiner Rosenburg.



Integrative Digital Art, while disputed by traditionalists, produces some highly personal and diverse styles to both the production and appearance of art. Adopting this method allows you to bring into play all the imaging sources, drawing tools, automated filters, traditional and digital processes. A virtuoso in this area, literally and figuratively, can be every media.

If you want to compete at or take your art to this next and still developing level, you will have to invest in two separate but related areas: computer hardware and software. This applies to many different types of artists from photographers - known as "neographers," to painters, as well as print makers. In this new, technologically savvy media, you absolutely must have the right equipment.

First things first: you will need a computer with sufficient memory and sophistication to handle the various programs. You decide whether it should be a Mac or a PC. Check out, however, the possibilities and compatibility between your choice and the desired programs, first, before you purchase or upgrade. You will also require a high quality scanner to process drawings, paintings, collages or lithographs and a printer. You can purchase these two items separately or in a combined form. Hewlett-Packard, Epson, Mikrotek and others offer scanners and printers at a wide variety of prices from affordable to costly. Epson has large format printers for art printing.

The type of computer program, microcontroller or electronic system you need must be capable of interpreting an input to create an output. If you want to produce 3D graphics, there are many software programs for doing this. Interested in the photographic aspect - consider the often used and maligned Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Elements. There are the latest models, but you can purchase older versions to see if this works for you. "Natural Media" software is another option. Corel has various products under the name Corel Painter. Other possibilities include GIMP, a GNU manipulation program, as well as Inscape, a vector graphics editor. The digital artist using these programs has an assortment of tools created to mimic nearly all the traditional paint and drawing tools.

If you want to take your art to the next level, you will have to invest substantial money in various digital tools. Digital tools are now an integral part of the process of making art. Both digital photography or neography and digital printing are now acceptable mediums to the public and major art galleries and museums. Digital artists are slowing making progress, executing their work through robotic installation, net art and software art. Slowly, the products of digital painters and printmakers is finding acceptance. Their chances increase as the technological capabilities and quality increases. There are now several internationally respected museums now displaying and collecting digital art. These include the San Jose Museum of Art and the Victoria and Albert Museum print department.