CREATING DIGITAL ART

USING FREE (OR INEXPENSIVE) TECHNOLOGY

Today, with imagination, and digital technology like computer-generated imagery (CGI) software, practically anyone can learn to express themselves with art. You'll find lots of free and low-cost programs out there to have fun with, and to help you uncover your inner artist. 

This movie was made by librarians using Windows Movie Maker, with images created online using Pixler, Fotoflexer, and Sumopaint.

NOW YOU CAN

• Manipulate digital images, from basic photo-editing tasks like retouching, and adjusting color and contrast, to compositing (combining multiple photographs into a single image).

• Draw, paint, cartoon, or create fantasy art  by loading scans of your originals and using image manipulation software to work with them, drawing them directly into the computer or by using a digital graphics tablet.

• Create three-dimensional models of real world objects, including people, by using a collection of points in 3D space.

• Make animations in 2D or 3D with any number of readily available programs.

TOOLS FOR MAKING DIGITAL ART

With so much software out there for beginning digital artists, you're sure to find something that will match your interests. Here are just a few examples:

Free Stuff (Online, Open Source, and Freeware)

• Art Weaver Free (for Windows) is an easy to use painting and drawing tool suitable for beginners and advanced users alike.
• Blender (for Windows or Mac) is a free, open source 3D content creation suite.
• FotoFlexer is a free, web-based photo editor that lets you import and export photos to Facebook, MySpace, Photobucket, Flickr and Picasa. No downloading of software is necessary.
• trueSpace (for Windows) is a complete authoring and animation freeware.
• Check out these ready-made three-dimensional models you can use (for free!) to speed up your creativity.

See this image being drawn by Queekator at  Queeky.com, a free, worldwide online drawing community.

Commercial Stuff 

• Adobe Photoshop Elements
• PaintShop Photo Pro X3
• Corel Painter

DIGITAL ART RESOURCES ON THE WEB

There are lots of great places on the web where beginning digital artists can learn more, network with other artists, and share their creations.

Digital Art E-zines

• Free Digital Paint Magazine offers step-by-step digital painting instruction, digital art webinars, and tutorials on software and techniques.
• Digital Arts magazine comes in digital editions for iPad, Mac and PC. Also available in print.

Online Communities, Galleries, Tutorials, and Discussion Forums

The importance of networking opportunities like these for people getting involved in digital art would be hard to overstate.

• deviantART is one of the largest online art communities. Browse their digital art categories and galleries of user-made art.
• Elfwood is a huge fantasy art site and online community. They offer tutorials covering many aspects of computer generated or modified art.
• Renderosity is a free, interactive, digital arts community with forums, chats, free content, and a marketplace for digital products and 3D models.

BOOKS

The Pratt Library's Fine Arts Department has up-to-date materials like these on the subject of creating art using technology:

• The World of Digital Art, by Wolf Lieser (Köln: h.f.ullmann, 2010). N7433.8.L54 2010Q
• Digital by Design: Crafting Technology for Products and Environments, by Conny Freyer (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2009).  N72.T4D54 2009Q
• Digital Art: Painting with Pixels, by Ron Miller (Twenty-first Century Books, 2008).  N7433.8M55 2008Q

ASK US

We hope you're excited to learn more about digital art. Be sure to let us know if you'd like some help. Just call, e-mail us through our Ask-a-Librarian service, or write to us: