Art Floral Oil

Art Floral Oil

Is Digital Art Real Art?

The Internet has become a worldwide marketplace where virtually everything is peddled online ranging from books, movie tickets, and kitchen gadgets to automobiles, luxury cruises, and fine art. No matter what you’re in the market for, you’ll find it online. When it comes to browsing online art galleries, you’re likely to come across examples of both fine art and digital art. But what’s the difference? And is digital art “real” art?

To better understand the differences between fine and digital art, let’s first define fine art. According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition, fine art is defined as: Art (as painting, sculpture, or music) concerned primarily with the creation of beautiful objects.

Now, let’s define digital art. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia explains that digital art is a contemporary art form where computer technology is manipulated to create distinctive works.

With those definitions in mind, a beautiful oil painting is considered fine art while a breathtaking collage of electronic images would be considered digital art. While you may be able to reach out and touch the brushstrokes on a painting or feel the contours of a sculpture, digital art tends to be less tangible, often appearing on a computer monitor or video display. Thus, the question often arises as to its legitimacy as a “real” art form.

Digital art also suffers from a perception that, because the artwork is created on a computer, it has less value than a one-of-a-kind object of fine art. Photographers encountered these same perceptions as a single photographic negative or slide is capable of creating countless identical copies of the image. While a digital artist could theoretically mass produce digital art, many digital artists have adopted the same techniques that photographers and lithographers have used successfully: limited editions.

The way that viewers interact with fine art and digital art is different as well. For the most part, looking at fine art is a static experience. Sure, the piece may evoke strong emotions as you look at it, but the experience is primarily visual. Digital art often incorporates multiple images, transitions, audio, and video; the artwork may change based on the viewer’s actions or movements, especially if touch screens or integrated video cameras are involved.

While fine art is displayed on walls, book shelves, pedestals, and other areas where you can enjoy it, digital art often requires electronic displays. Static digital artwork can be printed on paper or canvas and hung like traditional fine art paintings while multimedia artwork needs a suitable display such as a computer. Digital picture frames and flat panel TV’s with suitable inputs open digital artwork display possibilities that didn’t exist just a few years ago.

Clearly, fine art and digital art have their differences. But is digital art real art? To answer that question, ask the following questions when looking at a piece of digital art: Is it beautiful? Does it evoke emotions? If you answer “yes” to either of these questions, the digital art is indeed real art.

About the Author

The Zucco Fine Art Gallery presents an extensive and evolving collection of animal paintings along with flower painting to delight and appeal to all who value art.

I have a painting from THE ART CENTER GALLERY in Laguna Beach, CA signed JENSEN.Floral oil paint OLD!Help!?

This painting is 8X10. on back of ptng is a note saying THE ART CENTER GALLERY; 1492 South Coast Blvd; Laguna Beach, CA. Write "Marta" c/o Gallery; (telephone # HY. 4-8375). Reprint oil by Jensen. S. California.
Floral painting(yellow, blue, mauve,red flowers) The flowers have a lot of medium in them to make them raised off of the canvas. It makes them look like they are growing out of the canvas itself. Can anyone identify this artist and time era? Help

A couple of resources in Laguna might help. What you might do is take a digital photo of the piece and then email questions to places like the Laguna Museum of Art or The Art Institute of Southern California. The art community in Laguna is pretty tight. Its possible someone from these organization might know the artist.
Another option might be to send a photo to one of the prominent art magazines. If its a much older piece, they may be able to idenitify a classic art piece.