Digital
Most of the works in this gallery are experiments with different effects.
I've been designing with computers for years, but it's only been relatively recently that I started applying those techniques towards "real" art, beyond more purpose-focused graphic design. Technology was the issue for a while - limitations of software and hardware made digital art look, well, digital. I had no problem designing web sites, icons, and banners with computers, but I'd still resort to paper, paint, and ink for Art art, since I was more comfortable drawing by hand. I felt like I had more control - I didn't have to go through an interface to get what I wanted. And besides, a lot of the effects that I wanted weren't possible or easy with a computer anyway.
Within the past few years, though, I've been shifting more and more towards the digital side. What I like most is the ability to really mess around without having to worry about ruining anything. It used to be that I'd be halfway through a drawing and then get paranoid about going further with it: what if I blow it? You can't undo ink, or paint. When everything's in a computer file, though, I can experiment: try ten different approaches to the same drawing, add, remove, remix, rework, duplicate and start again. I have the freedom to think about things a lot more than I would if every decision was final, and chances are the end product will be a lot more interesting than it would be if I just pushed through with what I'd originally planned.
The other major advantage to computer work is the matter of unlimited resources. I can reproduce in Photoshop and Illustrator materials that I'd ordinarily need to buy, or make, or take up a lot of space setting up. It's possible to create brushes in Photoshop that mimic actual paint with nearly indistinguishable accuracy. When I'm working on collages, as I've been doing a lot of recently, I don't have to worry about paper supplies, texture variety, or messy cut-and-paste jobs - I can simulate whatever types of paper I need, and the effects are seamless. I'm able to do things now that I just couldn't or wouldn't do before, because of time, or expense, or effort. The only real limit is processing power, and that's a high ceiling these days. Digital work offers a level of power and freedom that's hard to ignore.
There will be purists who'll argue - similar to initial criticisms of photography's artistic merit - that using a computer to create art is in some sense cheating, using a crutch. I don't see it that way. I think the end justifies the means. The computer is no less a tool than a paintbrush; it's a tool and medium rolled into one. It might be faster or easier to create certain effects, but good work still requires vision and skill. An amazing work of art generated by a computer is still amazing.
I will never abandon pen and ink. Most of my drawings still start this way. There are a lot of effects - delicate linework, blobby ballpoint penstrokes, shading - that I don't think I'll ever properly get with a machine, and I'm fine with that.
What digital works offers is a chance to take those drawings and carry them to a level beyond anything I'd ever achieve without a computer. I'm fine with that too. As I said, the end justifies the means: my end is to realize my visions and ideas, and my means will be changing for the rest of my life.
