Rise Of Digital Art - A Boon or A Curse

Down the ages, from the Stone Age to the Information Age[21st Century], ‘ART’ - especially TRADITIONAL ART has evolved itself in many forms and has got itself various definitions. Art has always played a very important role in our lives. From Wall Art to Rangolis, Molding To Paintings, and from Origami to Sketches. But nowadays Digital Art or the so-called Computer Art is on the rise. It is slowly disrupting handmade art. Even though Digital Art is the most prominent, established, and flourished form of presenting art in this materialistic world, it has got some demerits, losing the race to the Nonpareil Authenticity of Traditional art.

• What Is Digital Art?

Digital art can be defined as anything of a visual nature that artists typically create on a computer using various software programs. Digital art is quickly becoming a reputable form of art in our society. It is derived from the concept of traditional art forms, but it has the components of new technology. Looking at the advantages of digital art, it fulfills Flexibility, High Accessibility, Improved shareability, and much more. It is easier for artists to share their work in its highest form, as digital art creation is already stored on a digital device. Creating digitally saves time as you are not limited to the features of the material world. If there is a mistake, you can erase, manipulate, resize objects without leaving any mark.

• What Is Traditional(Hand) Art?

Traditional art is an art that is part of a culture of a certain group of people, with skills and knowledge passed down through generations from masters to apprentices.   It's not possible that every person would have computers, graphic tablets, and pens but everybody may have a paintbrush or a pencil and also have a pretty experience of using them for years. Creating traditional art doesn’t depend on technology. If you don’t have a connection or internet access, you can still go on.

you can change up, combine, add to, subtract from, and use all kinds of mediums to create your finished physical product. Digitally it’s pretty impossible to vary between paints and pencil and layer achieving depth and texture that’s noticeable to the eye and creates drama.

• Why is Traditional Art Important?

Now that we have seen the Advantages of both - The Traditional Hand Made Art as well as The Digital Art, let’s talk about why Traditional style is better than the Technological mode of art. When one learns traditional art techniques, they understand the materials and what they can do.

Take an example of ‘RANGOLI’, which is a very old tradition of art in Indian culture. It requires a lot of focus as no mistake in it is irreversible. As it is always said that “NOTHING Is Complete Without Mathematics”, it has its contribution here too.  If we observe a rangoli carefully, we can see that there are various shapes, different patterns, and making such patterns and shapes forces us to think of a chapter in Mathematics - “Construction”. There are various areas in Mathematics where we have to prove a certain parameter which develops our critical thinking, an observation which helps us decide how and where to draw a line or a figure beforehand as once something is drawn in a rangoli, there is no coming back. “Permutations and Combinations” - another chapter in Mathematics. When we select the data or objects from a certain group, it is said to be ‘PERMUTATIONS’, whereas the order in which they are represented is called ‘COMBINATIONS’. In traditional art forms, we often tend to think about the possible color combinations that can be implemented in our pieces. With the implementation of such concepts, imagine how will it affect our focus level? How relaxing will it be for our minds?

•  Conclusion

While some artists claim digital art as a blessing, which is making their work easier, others accuse it of a form of “cheating”.

Yes, Digital Art is emerging as an EASY mode of art but on the other side of the coin, it is very EASILY killing the positivity and motivation that reflects from the originality and authenticity of our hand-made work. Galleries, museums, and auction houses still see a lot of value and profit in traditional works. Many people want a “real” painting on their walls, and it is in fact, a different experience than digital art can’t quite recreate yet.