Digital artworks are artistic creations generated with computer technology. In the past, art was regarded as drawings, sculptures or paintings that artists manually produced with their hands. Nowadays, the view of what makes something artistic extends beyond illustrations and paintings, and encompasses a variety of artistic techniques – including digitally generated images.
Artists may use computer mouses or graphics tablets to generate unique digital art. Graphics tablets are input devices that are connected to computers. They have pads with pens attached to them, which artists use to make drawings on the devices. The end designs are stored on the computers, where they can be edited and improved. Sometimes, artists use computer mouses to produce digital illustrations, although many decide that pens are better than mouses at controlling images. Typically, a graphics tablet will be sensitive to pressure, so artists can be more flexible in their drawing technique.
In addition, unique digital art can involve the use of specialized software to produce images and environments in three dimensions. These could be abstract effects that utilize computer algorithms and fractal geometry, to create intricate fractal images and patterns – or other more solid designs. Frequently, this type of computer artwork is used for movie special effects. Also, it is used to produce marketing images that look too exaggerated to be real, and to generate virtual video game environments.
Digital illustration software is either raster based or vector based. Raster based software, also known as bitmap software, produces pixel images, which consist of tiny oblongs all joined together to form an onscreen image. Individual pixels often contain elements from different areas of images, so the onscreen image becomes blurred if it is enlarged. This is why raster based images are limited, in the extent to which they can be manipulated. In contrast, vector software forms paths — or lines and shapes — that adhere to mathematical concepts. These paths are completely scalable, so diminishing or enlarging them has no impact on the image quality, like it does with bitmap software. Most of the time, bitmap software is used to edit images, while vector software is used for illustrations.
Some artists use computer technology to combine traditional artistic methods with modern digital editing. Examples of works that take this approach might include unique digital art embedded into paintings, which are photographed then digitally enhanced with a computer. Artwork like this could be produced as fine art, or to showcase a design that couldn’t be produced by either method on its’ own.