Computer painting. What is digital art, digital painting

Wikipedia:
Digital painting - the creation of electronic images, carried out not by rendering computer models, but through the use of computer simulations by humans traditional instruments artist.
Creating a drawing/painting from start to finish on a computer is a relatively new direction in the visual arts. There is no point in establishing the exact date of the creation of the first computer drawing (you can get bogged down in determining what is artistic and serious enough for a drawing as such); however, the approximate date for the widespread appearance of impressive and colorful work done on the PC is 1995-1996 (this date marks the emergence and widespread adoption of relatively affordable SVGA monitors and video cards capable of displaying 16.7 million colors). In digital painting, a computer is the same tool as a brush and easel. In order to draw well on a computer, you also need to know and be able to apply all the knowledge and experience accumulated by generations of artists (perspective, aerial perspective, color circle, glare, reflexes, etc.). Usage digital technologies photography also gave rise to hybrid technologies (for example, photo-impressionism).

Illustration for the fairy tale “Theft in the Caravanserai” (Persia)

Advantages of digital painting

Nowadays, CG art (Computer Graphics Art) is rapidly developing and occupies a strong position in the design of books/posters, has a monopoly in the computer games industry and modern cinema, and is popular in amateur art. Reasons for the rapid displacement of traditional remedies from these areas:

Availability. In order to create digital works of any level, you need to purchase/have a personal computer of sufficient power, a graphics tablet (“digitizer”) and several programs to computer painting. All this will cost ~$1500 (most of this amount is the cost of licensed programs) in the initial version (professionals buy more expensive computers, monitors and tablets, but they only increase the convenience of work).
Big operating speed. Particularly critical in the paid sector artistic activity: design of books, movies, games. Specialized programs for CG artists (for example Painter) contain a large number of tools that speed up work. Choosing the right color is a matter of seconds (unlike traditional painting, where you need to mix paints to get the desired color - requires experience and time), choosing the right brush/tool is also an almost instantaneous operation. The ability to cancel your actions, as well as the ability to save at any point in your work and return to it later and again big list opportunities and advantages - all this makes the work of a professional artist several times faster with the same quality. In addition, computer work is immediately ready for use in digital technologies of cinema, games, layout - a canvas painted in oil must first be transferred to digital form.
Unique tools. For example, working with layers or applying textures to the areas of the painting you need; various brush effects; HDR pictures; various filters and corrections - all this and much more is simply not available in traditional painting.
Prospects. Traditional art practically reached its limit in terms of perfection of technology and means back in the 18th century. Since then, nothing new has been added - you still have pigment, oil (or a ready-made mixture of them), canvas and brushes. And nothing new will appear. It’s fair to say that modern computer painting is still far from the best paintings of the geniuses of the past in terms of quality and scale of work - but it has room to develop. The resolution of monitors is growing, the quality of color rendering is improving, the power of computers is growing, programs for digital painting are changing and improving, there is a fundamental possibility of creating new methods and devices for working with color/outputting color (projectors or holography).
Ease of learning certain groups of people and ease of operation. If you know how to work on a computer and are an inquisitive and energetic person, it will not be difficult for you to understand the interface of computer painting programs - it is the same as most Windows programs + a completely logical digital artist’s toolkit. Both paid and free video lessons on working in a particular program are available on the Internet. In relation to cg-art programs, such video lessons contain a recording of all stages of the digital artist’s work on a painting.

Disadvantages of Digital Painting

Difficult to master. At the moment there are very few schools or more serious educational institutions who teach in this specialty - digital artists are mainly the most energetic and inquisitive people, and especially children who know how to self-learn and find information on their own; designers and printers (with experience working with graphics on a PC); Most famous digital artists graduated from educational institutions in traditional painting and only then independently switched to CG art. Also, a modern digital artist cannot imagine without the Internet (communication with colleagues, employers, searching for new programs or drawing methods, etc.) - and again, not many people have it. There are practically no books on creating drawings on a computer.
The current limit of computer technology. Modern monitors still do not work in resolutions close to the resolution of our eyes. That is, the monitor is not capable of displaying such a number of details and details that can provide live observation of a section of canvas of the same size classical painting. You can print your painting on a printer - but this gives rise to the third problem of CG art:
Problem with outputting a computer image onto a tangible medium. Monitors operate in the RGB color space - 16.7 million colors. Printing on paper cannot physically cover this entire range of colors - the CMYK color space covers a smaller number of colors and shades. At the moment there is no decent medium for digital drawing. Monitors that can show all the colors of a picture (and have brightness, contrast, color settings) have too low a resolution that does not allow them to show all the details of the picture (they don’t show it in full size without interpolation - a regular monitor cannot simultaneously display more than 1-2 megapixels; special and quite expensive LCD monitors can show about 8 megapixels).
Copyright problem. The one who has the original (source) file of the drawing is the owner of the drawing. But, like any digital information, the file can be duplicated (copied) and replicated in unlimited quantities without any significant costs. The simplest example protecting your drawing - posting a small copy on the Internet (usually professional artists draw in high resolution- 6000x10000 pixels or even more - it’s convenient to draw details, but a small version is posted on the Internet - 1600x1200 or less; or even a fragment). In this case, whoever has a large version of the drawing is its author and owner. The copyright on a digital drawing is easy to change and only well-known artists can really benefit from its presence.

Links

Russian-language forums where artists of all genres communicate

GURO ART FORUM - the oldest

specialized forum founded famous artist Guro in December 2002

SKETCHERS.RU - somewhat younger

a resource that has many convenient functions (magazines, galleries) for artists. Founded on January 17, 2004 by artist/designer AJ.

http://3dcenter.ru 3d center - Popular CG website and forum (Galleries

3d and 2d works, W.I.P, lessons and articles).

http://drawing.wetpaint.ru - Forum on Ilya Komarov’s website.
http://forum.hofarts.com - Forum on the Hof website.
http://forum.cgfight.com - A place to clarify the relationship between CG artists.

Regular art battles on a large scale :).

RealTime is a subsection of the Real Time school. One of the few institutions

teaching computer art in all areas (2D, 3D). At the beginning of the development of the forum, the direction of the drawing was led by the famous Russian CG artist Anry. The forum is currently inactive, but the archives are very useful for both beginners and professionals.
External links to foreign forums and artist communities.

Now let's think about artistic style. It just so happened that the time has come to decide what exactly and how exactly I want to portray. I think I'm starting to understand what I want. Here are the works of my favorite digital artists. I hope they inspire you and help you catch your wave. Next come my judgments, based purely on my preferences - we are talking about how I would like to draw, and whether someone draws poorly. In addition, the works presented here belong to an artist of such a serious level that, in principle, I have no right to judge them.

So, let's start with my eternal favorite in terms of technique, mood and plots - you_interestno .

My favorite technique for pronounced strokes:

Clouds are drawn as normal:

Light abrasions - good:

From what I found on the web:

(I couldn’t find the author, unfortunately)

Here I would work on the face properly:

Something crazy:

This kind of thing pisses me off, but I’d be too lazy to work it out myself, so I’d generalize:

Not enough detail:

Great:

I really like this kind of detailing with careless brush strokes. But you can’t work through all your work this way! From which we conclude that I want more centralized compositions. And in principle, landscapes are not for me - unless with some kind of main object, so that in the end the surroundings are only outlined, focusing attention on the main object.

Gorgeous, but the eye wanders too much. I would have concentrated my attention more strongly on this mechanical thing and the girl, and even cut off part of the environment. I really like how neatly the girl is drawn.

But here, in my opinion, there are two main objects - so I would also draw the animal more carefully. Well, the surroundings are still more careful) And yes, I understand that it’s concept art, that’s all, that maybe the task was different - but that doesn’t stop me from thinking as if this is an independent illustration.

Okay, but I don't like such an obvious use of textures in the works. Not mine, apparently.

Not enough detail =(The muzzle could have been done really well, the fur, the highlights, everything...

Super, but again, the girl would have been more detailed... Especially her elongated leg.

But here it’s very interesting to see the mixture of styles. I like the neat strokes on the towers, but not the textures and cartoon characters. But it was done in an interesting way, yes.

I also found a cool GIF on this artist’s page:

(very unusual artist Gloom82)

Very interesting work with portraits, in addition to the pronounced strokes - like it.

My favorite Windrunner is a character from Dota:

Traxex, from the same game:

Strokes, shape - like:

It works just great with the characters. So, it seems, I have found someone to focus on. I think he's gorgeous.

He has cool clouds (the cat shits on the tablet, and I circle it, yeah):

And I still couldn’t understand the logic of his strokes. For example, try drawing a scarf like this:

In general, the works are very emotional. There's a lot to see.

Also in terms of emotionality and impetuosity, I like leventep. His lines are chaotic (as it seems), and his strokes are often out of shape. He does more matte painting than drawing - but he draws well and combines everything perfectly. I advise you to study it.

Again in Dota (only in the first one), I noticed the work of kunkka, who drew illustrations for each map update. He draws well, but in terms of composition for a long time came out a mess:

Now he has leveled up, and he has something to look at:

And here it feels like the detail is expressed through a linear drawing. Also interesting to watch (Kerem Beyit):

(artist
Without textures:

And amazing in contrast to the rest of the works are these stylized things:

(in general, please love and favor, artist DavidRapozaArt)

There are also works based on 3D models, with the addition of textures and all sorts of effects. These works are very clean, but this is not for me.

I analyzed it for myself various styles and decided on what I want. Perhaps it helped you with this too.
Here I have presented the works of those artists whom I have been eyeing for the last year and a half. This is my collection =)
I look forward to your links, your views on styles and your preferences. I'm really interested.

Last week the company Wacom, a virtual monopolist in the world of digital drawing, introduced a new technology WILL– Wacom Ink Layer Language. This is a new universal standard that provides cross-platform and working together locally or in the cloud, regardless of device and ecosystem. The technology involves the use of not only specialized tablets for digital painting, but also smartphones and regular tablet computers equipped with styluses.

Digital painting, that is, the creation of electronic paintings using computer simulations of artistic tools, is a very interesting field. We don't hear every week big news about a new graphics tablet and we don’t wait with bated breath for new tools, however, this area of consumer electronics is steadily and continuously developing.

not at all as highly specialized as, say, programming. The availability of technology and tools allows even non-professional artists to create their own digital paintings. How has this industry developed and what can await us in the future? Let's try to find out! The direction of digital painting is quite young, which is obvious - for its emergence it was necessary to sufficiently develop computers and information input and output devices. Exact date The first computer drawing, in general, is not known to anyone. And what can be considered such? Should pseudographics be classified as digital drawing or not? The first noticeable and colorful works made on a computer appeared in the mid-90s of the last century, when widespread use of SVGA monitors

Interestingly, the ancestor of modern digital artist tools, the first graphics tablet, appeared long before the development of personal computers. In 1888, a certain Elisha Gray patented the first graphics tablet. But the first device, really similar to modern ones, consisting of a pen and a flat pressure-sensitive device, worked in conjunction with a computer Stylator and was used for handwriting in 1957.

In 1964, a graphics tablet was introduced, which used a grid of semiconductors under the input surface to which ternary Gray code-encoded electrical pulses were applied. The pen received this signal, which could then be decoded back into coordinates.

But the first consumer graphics devices called KoalaPad were designed to work with Apple II computers, their history began in 1984. Along with the tablet, the user was offered special drawing software. Over time, Koala tablets began to work with other computers (the graphics program for the IBM PC was called PC Design), and soon the market for consumer tablets expanded - new companies entered it.

Since the end of the twentieth century, the rapid development of digital painting or CG art(Computer Graphics Art). The reason for this was, firstly, accessibility. In order to draw on a computer, in addition to the computer itself, it was necessary to purchase only a graphics tablet and software. The second reason for the increase in popularity was the increase in the speed of the artist’s work. Graphics programs offer a large number of tools, not to mention a rich palette of colors. A modern artist only needs to make two mouse clicks to select desired color– there is no need to buy and mix paints. And don’t forget about the biggest advantage of a computer - any erroneous action in the program can be easily undone. IN digital drawing it is easier to make changes, and you can send it to the destination address immediately upon completion - there is no need to wait for the paint to dry and transfer the canvas to digital media.

The growing popularity of the technology has allowed the development of the corresponding tools - in the arsenal of a modern digital artist, illustrator or graphic designer there is a huge number of effects, brushes and filters that are simply not available in traditional painting.

U digital painting great prospects, but also great limitations. Since the 18th century, there has been virtually no technical development in traditional art; modern artists create with almost the same set of tools as their colleagues did a hundred years ago: canvas, brushes, oil... But at the same time, the resolution and pixel density of displays increases every year, the quality of color rendition improves, Computing power is growing, software is developing - all this is a determining factor for the development of digital drawing. This is on the one hand. On the other hand, the resolution of modern monitors is still far from the resolution of the human eye; the monitor is not capable of displaying the amount of detail that can provide live observation of a section of a classical painting of the same size.

Another modern problem of digital painting is simply the lack of appropriate educational institutions. Digital artist today he is, in fact, self-taught. Most famous digital artists graduated from educational institutions in traditional painting and only then independently switched to digital creativity.

Although there are very few manuals on digital painting, the choice of graphics tablets on the market is quite extensive. Company models are popular in Russia Genius And . The cheapest model costs a little more than a thousand rubles, but a professional tool with a large diagonal and functionality can cost 200 thousand rubles.

The invention of the personal computer was a revolutionary step towards technical progress. In 1984 Steve Jobs On behalf of Apple Computers, he introduced the world's first computer with a graphical interface, the Macintosh, to the general public. The computer became available for the first time to the common man, who does not have knowledge of program codes. The availability of a personal computer has begun to influence many areas of human life, including art. Computer technology offered the artist more opportunities, and new directions and genres of synthetic art began to appear. They also enriched such fundamental forms of art as theater, music, and cinema.

Computer graphics have changed many traditional technologies in art. Translation creative process into the digital space did not change the content of art - work with the image. The stylus did not replace the brush, but required possession of it to achieve success. It is obvious that computer graphics cannot claim independence in art. Possession graphic tablet is a technical skill like using a keyboard and graphic editor writer. It is not difficult for anyone who knows how to draw to learn how to use a computer as an intermediary between the artist and the digital universe.

Often, the adoption of innovations is difficult for a person, and not everyone can do this work. A person who has held a brush in his hand all his life may never be able to learn how to use a “computer brush.” But to a young artist With a flexible, but moderately firm, mindset, it is not appropriate to hide from technological progress. The ability for constant self-education is an integral part of the modern artist. We will talk further about ways to master digital technologies and reasons for abandoning them.

Problems of mastering computer technologies by artists in Russia

Russia is now a country that has difficulty accepting technologization. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of material well-being and stability in our country. Despite the fact that Russia is a developing country on the world stage, the level of funding government agencies negligibly small. At the same time, Russia cannot abandon “civilized” means of communication for many reasons, and one of them is globalization and centralized availability of information. The technical equipment of computer classes and libraries of secondary and higher education institutions is often very meager and does not meet the requirements of the dynamics of world change.

There is another quite obvious and indisputable reason - the low standard of living of the population. And in the “crisis group” in this regard, we can unite, first of all, students from disadvantaged and low-income families who do not have the opportunity to combine study and work, including non-resident students who are burdened, among other things, with the burden of problems associated with accommodation and registration. For all of them, purchasing a computer can be a problem, despite quite favorable offers in stores. So today, an artist who wants to provide himself with a professional-level personal computer with Internet access and new products software, must take care of it yourself.

So, even the most “accessible” technologies are not available to everyone. However, the number of artists with higher education, trained using traditional academic methods (which, undoubtedly, is a guarantee of professionalism), is increasing every year. But at the same time, a young artist with fundamental knowledge in the field visual arts, is an insufficiently competitive specialist in the global labor market due to a complete or partial lack of skills in working with computer technology and the Internet. On the other hand, a person who simply draws using a graphics editor is not always familiar with the basics of fine art. Many young talents capable of working in the field of computer graphics and earning a decent salary wages, using the latest achievements in the field of information technology in their creativity, either avoid technical training or do not achieve the required level of technical competence. The reasons for avoiding this area may lie, for example, in fear, or in ordinary laziness before mastering a computer, because in large volumes new information you need to learn to navigate. It turns out that after receiving a higher education art education, you need to finish your studies in order to earn a decent living.

Computer graphics are used in such areas as the production of computer games, the mass film industry, and illustrating books of dubious quality. Thus, the idea of a modern artist as “working in the field of entertainment,” although not very common today, but nevertheless deserving the right to exist, was born. There is also a fundamental belief about computer technology in the fine arts as a phenomenon, not worth attention a real artist. It is difficult to judge the roots of such opinions. I will say on my own behalf: I work in these areas and quite often encounter condemnation from the older generation of artists. However, a person with a traditional academic background higher education, proficient in modern information technology, confidently building a career and receiving a decent salary can hardly be ridiculed even by senior colleagues in the shop.

Artist and modern education

As research shows: It is believed that studying in Russia is easier than in the West due to the fact that teaching methods at universities have remained traditional, namely, knowledge of the subject is transmitted through direct and constant contact between teacher and student. In the West things are different, at the beginning school year the student receives the task and works independently. But in Russia, after graduating from higher education educational institution there is a huge problem in finding a job, very often a crisis occurs, often good specialist, for example, an artist cannot find a job without having knowledge of a personal computer. To solve these problems, I will give examples of foreign experience. At the British Higher School of Design, the training program practically guarantees employment, since even during the training process, exhibitions are created to which potential employers and artists are invited to meet. If we talk about the introduction of computer technology into the course of traditional fine arts, then there are universities with a bachelor's program in which the first courses are devoted to traditional fine arts, and the next two to drawing on a computer, for example, this experience is common in France. In Russia, the solution to the problem of adapting the artist’s knowledge to the field of computer graphics is this moment the work of the artist himself. In domestic universities of artistic orientation, the program does not include mastery of computer graphics. For example, at Herzen University in the Faculty of Fine Arts there is a course called “Design and Computer Graphics”. The program consists of studying the interface and principles of working in programs Adobe Photoshop and CorelDRAW. In addition to this knowledge, practical training using a tablet and stylus is required. The purchase of these professional tools and work with them is not provided; the artist acquires the skill of working with them independently. A conflict appears between the labor market and the education system. I would like to note that the demand for universal artists is a feature only Russian market labor. This feature is associated with a remnant of Soviet education and the transition Russian system“broad” education to the Bologna system, which provides for the training of specialists in a narrow profile. In the West at the moment there is a clearer division of the artist traditional art and artist-designer and both professions are in demand. There is a growing need to introduce an artist adaptation course in the field of computer graphics into the curriculum of Russian art universities, and to create programs that allow one to synthesize fundamental knowledge of fine art and computer graphics and an additional course in design. The next stage is the training of teachers in this area. There are many courses providing technical knowledge to professional art programs and many courses in drawing and painting that provide fundamental knowledge in the field of fine arts, but there is no course in drawing and painting in computer graphics, which is so necessary for young artists. In Russia there was no experience of introducing an experimental course or elective into the curriculum of a higher educational institution that would solve this problem.

Artist and artistry

Is a person involved in computer graphics still an artist? On this issue, I will cite the arguments of Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences Leonid Naumovich Bogolyubov about contemporary art: “Today in art, beauty often fades into the background. The place of beauty is taken by other values, which Paul Valery called shock values - novelty, intensity, unusualness. Such “art”, unlike traditional art, does not perform an aesthetic function as the main and determining one; it performs others social functions» . Yes, the instrument of fine art has changed, but has the artist lost himself? With a certain degree of convention, we can divide professional activity modern artist to create a work of art and produce a mass product. If an artist gets into production, for example, computer game, then he becomes a craftsman. But despite this, artistry is a necessary element of any creative process.

What are the criteria for artistry in art? What can be called art and what cannot? These eternal questions worried the minds of many people. A necessary condition the presence of artistry in a work of art is spiritual world a person living in the processes of transmission by the creator of an artistic image and the sensory response of the contemplator. The domestic philosopher Alexey Fedorovich Losev gave a succinct description of the artistic image: "Everyone is truly artistic image is never understood by us as a rational sum of some discrete characteristics, but as something living, from the depths of which a restless source wells up and which we cannot immediately grasp with our rational methods. Artistic is something that we can never get enough of, no matter how much we look at it. And this means that no matter how deeply we perceive an artistic image, there is always something incomprehensible and inexhaustible in it that worries us every time we perceive this image.”.

The main task of the artist is to increase the spiritual level of the viewer. It doesn’t matter whether the artist said this or that using computer or traditional means of fine art - it is important to move away from the world of vanity and effects, turn inside yourself, and find those sacred strings that a real artist-creator pulls. Art is a universal category, a universal language that does not require analysis or long descriptions of what to look at and in what order. I wish that contemporary artist I haven't forgotten this.

Elfimova L. A.

Master's degree 1 year

RGPU named after. A. I. Herzen

Saint Petersburg

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No cracks in the image or peeling paint, just best materials for printing, while the effect of strokes is preserved!
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