No Boundaries: The Expanding World of Digital Art

In its 25 years of existence, digital art and, more specifically, Digital Painting software programs have occupied a curious position between "short-cut, novelty-kitsch generator" and "paradigm-shifting, mode of artistic production." From the earliest simplistic, rough-hewn illustrations to the detailed, expansive productions made capable by programs like Corel Painter, digital painting has seen its fair share of advocates, critics, devotees and naysayers, at the artistic, critic and academic levels. However, acolytes and Luddites aside, digital painting software's continued existence and perseverance because of and despite market pressures and incentives should come as proof enough that these programs do, in fact, hold a place in the virtual and actual cultural landscape.

While Digital Painting software programs, again, like Corel Painter, are generally used in addition to hardware tablets by mixed-media and digital artists, these programs are also finding use in real-time, performance settings, either as a supplement to audio performances or a standalone aspect of art installations or mixed-media performances. Many artists, including Andrew "Android" Jones, have actually modified hardware tablets to function as musical interfaces, allowing them to synchronize visuals with audio and vice versa. These experiments have been likened to equally experimental external controllers like the KAOSS pads, albeit with an obvious, visual bend.

Though these uses aren't likely to entice--or deter--most digital painting software users, they should, however, serve as a reminder to artists, as well as their critics, to the potential that such software programs offer. While they might have and may continue to resemble their "wet media" painting and sketching counterparts in functionality and workflow, they aren't limited to the same material and immaterial design factors as "wet media" like painting, sketching and traditional photography, liberating digital and mixed media artists, if only temporarily, to new, unformulated modes of artistic production and creative expression.

As Digital Painting software programs continue to evolve and expand in relation to the computer hardware at its disposal and the digital and mixed-media artists that make use of it, the potential for novel creative expression and production will alone be limited to the imagination of its user. However, regardless of the potential individual artistic output potentially available in these software programs, the accelerated transition to digital painting and illustrations as a standard stage--as opposed to supplemental--in the conceptualization and creation process will continue to make programs like Corel Painter and ArtRAGE indispensable, if not essential.