Cole Jo (ed.) Digital Artist Collection

Imagine Publishing Ltd, 2012. — 228 p. — ISBN 978-1908222923.My name’s April, and I’m an art historian. Or at least I was. Since I went digital, I’ve discovered that the regular art world and this one couldn’t be more different.
For a start there are people Actually Painting – can you imagine? You know we live in a messed-up world when everyone is surprised at a ‘real artist’ painting but thinks it’s normal for a software user to do so. But while the contemporary art scene has continued to be fascinated with meaning, digital artists have kept to the nuts and bolts of what painters do best – produce artwork that’s aesthetically pleasing. This is what I’m interested in, and in art historical terms that probably makes me a rebel, which is a good start. In this feature I’ll look at some of the key styles in
digital art right now. It’s by no means an exhaustive list, and it veers between genre-based movements such as fantasy, sci-fi and manga – all genres that dare the artist and the viewer to dream – and technical movements like vexel and photo-manipulation, which hark back to the deep-rooted artistic impulse to mess with your tools and fi nd a better or more interesting way of making marks and expressing ideas.
I think digital art is the best showcase of both kinds of art movement, and I’d like to show you why. From fantasy and sci-fi to the ways contemporary illustrators push their software to the limit – then a little further – the genres and styles shown here refl ect some of the most creative artwork being shown, and perhaps more importantly, commissioned and bought, today.