Is Digital Art Considered “Real Art”

While you may look at digital art and think that it’s one of the most stunning pieces that could be created, others may automatically compare it to the art that’s created by clay, pencils, or paint and deem it not as “real” as other art formats. Or, you may even think that as long as you have a drawing tablet as well as a digital art software – you can just create equally amazing pieces on your first try.

Though, the last two mindsets combined created the common misconception that digital art isn’t as real or authentic as other art formats. This could come from many believing that a real artist must go through a rigorous training regime of learning the density of charcoal pencils, the best clay to use, or the different kinds of paint before they can start creating wonderful pieces of art. Though after learning and creating, their art can exist externally. It could be touched and viewed up close. Due to this, digital artists get a bad rep of all they must do is buy some expensive tablet and software and bam – they created some stunning piece of work. Though, this could be further from the truth. There are so many unfair misconceptions about digital art that can negatively affect the artwork and the artist’s self-esteem about their own work.

The differences between the art styles

If anyone takes a visit to an art museum, it is almost undeniable that there are so many different forms of ways to create art. Withdrawing, you take a pencil to paper, sculpting requires the moulding of a soft clay, painting can combine drawing as well as the usage of paints, and digital art requires a tablet and drawing software. Though, one thing to keep in mind is that while all these activities are considered art related by a majority of the society, it’s not really creating. Those artists aren’t creating anything new except for an image while using previously created items (the paint, pencils, etc.).

For the longest time, the only three art methods that were commonly known in the world was drawing, sculpting, and painting. Though with technology increasing, a new art from finally emerged – digital art. Enhancements with computers proved to become an artist’s best friend, a new tool that could be used to create new images. Moreover, it allows for a workspace to be portable and allows for mistakes to be made without having to re-do an entire piece. Although, all of these perks allowed for some of the traditional artists to turn a sour glace towards digital art and begun to utter the mantra that it wasn’t “real art”. Instead of having tons of brushes, pints of paint, and blocks of clay, a digital artist only had one pen that could do all of that and much more, plus with the option of saving a piece and working on it at any time.

This has created a stigma in the art community as digital art just seemed to be too easy. No matter the mistake. While digital art is a more convenient way of doing art due to the lack of having to buy additional items, it doesn’t discredit the art or the artist. The computer is not an art tool. It just allowed for another platform of art to be created.