Researching Digital Art & Design - 21st Century

The 21st Century saw the introduction of Digital Art - the utilisation of computer hardware and software to create art using unique tools as well as tools with similar use to traditional techniques. The truly innovative and influencial programs created for this purpose were Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. These programs allowed budding artists to be as creative as possibly imaginable, all with the same tools used in different ways.
Traditional art is still popular in this Century, but Digital has truly begun to dominate the art world.





















"Sussigkeit" by Jessica Singh

Created in Photoshop


This image has very pale variations of bright colours so that the image is eyecatching, yet subtle. The texture of the imagery is quite smooth, with shading creating curved effects on rounded objects. This lines are thin, and none of them are black, but slight variations of the colours used in the shapes. The colours are blended together and some areas of the image have combined one colour the the pale background, which creates a soft gradient. This image could be partially created using simply a paintbrush tool for outlining the basic shapes, then colour could be added using different opacities.

The style can be related back to Post-Impressionism and Surrealism in terms of bright colour and juxtaposition and unrealistic imagery.
























"Mother Nature" by Neil Parkinson

Created in Photoshop & Illustrator

This image uses very earthy tones and colours to create a natural feel. The birds in the girl's hat stand out more due to the use of brighter colours. The colours are opaque and could easily be created with a brush tool. The smooth curves of the outline could be created using the pen tool in illustrator, and the fairly simple background would use block colour and block shapes which could also be created with a pen tool. The tones are quite smooth but flat due to the use of block colours without gradients or shading.

I think that this image is effectively created despite the small range of colours used, and the natural effect using the colours and tones (or lack thereof) in the combines images.

This piece of work could be related back to Post-Impressionism with its altered portrayal of a human figure. The earthy, natural tones are closer to Realism, but the illustrated style is also drawn from Surrealism and Fauvism with an abstract depiction of human form.





















"Day Job" by Sophie Henson

Created in Illustrator

These logos are simply images and typography which have been manipulated artistically to create eyecatching designs which are aesthetically pleasing. These could easily be created in illustrator with the pen tool and block colouring, and the effects around the lettering could also be used in the pen tool, or a brush tool with a steady hand (possibly on a graphics tablet).

This style can easily be related back as inspiration from the Art Nouveau movement, looking at lithography to create identical and precisely-designed print. Graphic Design-like pieces like this wouldn't exist without the Art Nouveau movement and the idea of manipulating lettering and image to make something fit for a purpose as well as aesthetically pleasing to a wide audience.



















"Bubble Gum Landscape" by Zena Santos


Created in Photoshop and Illustrator

The first thing that drew me to this image was the tone. The colours are bright, vivid and blend very well together. The use of varied thicknesses of lines is extremely effective gives the characters depth and dimension. The texture is generally smooth, but with the added 'wavy' lines over parts of the image, it gives the impression that the image was on paper and has then been crumpled. The lines can be created with a pathfinder tool in Illustrator with varying line thicknesses, and the colours could be added using a pre-existing texture that has been scanned in, or experimentation with the paintbrush tool. There is a small amount of space shown between the characters and what appear to be clouds in the sky; in my opinion this apparant separation of foreground and background gives the characters more dimension and shape.

This art piece could be somewhat drawn from Fauvism, Post-Impressionism and Surrealism, taking from each movement its bright colours and wild, imaginative designs. The sheer nonsensical idea behind this artwork was something that made Surrealism and Fauvism so crucial to the art styles of today.