This week I have chosen to look at digital art and art apps such as Procreate.

Digital Art is defined as any form of “artwork that draws upon digital technology as an essential part of its creative process” (What Is Digital Art? 2023). It was first utilized as an art medium in the 1980s with the invention of AARON, a painting robot developed by an engineer, Harald Cohen. By the 90s the idea of digital art had grown to include the use of personal computers, and the art medium has only continued to evolve as technology has developed further, into what we see today where digital art is an expansive and easily accessible way to create. Below is a chart that compares digital art to traditional art:

Table found in the Adobe article, “What is digital art?” (2023).

One of the most popular ways to develop digital art today is through Procreate. First created in 2011, Procreate is an art app which focuses on sketching, painting, and other forms of illustrating, made exclusively for iPads. Something that I think is really cool about Procreate is its accessibility. Anybody, from a kid in one of your classes, to professionals working in the film industry can use Procreate. For example, did you know that the logo for the show Stranger Things was created on Procreate?

Procreate is also relatively easy to learn how to use, with plenty of brush options and app features that allow the artist to create their own unique image based on their own art styles.

While the app is accessible, it can able be expensive when starting out, compared to traditional art. While you can find basic art supplies at the dollar store if you are a casual artist, procreate doesn’t really have a dollar store equivalent. You fist have to acquire an iPad and then purchase the app, which itself is only $17.99, however, to really use it you also need to purchase an apple pencil, or stylus, which in its most affordable form is $109. However, once you have these tools, you dont need to spend any more money on tools, or replenishing supplies.

Now, I must admit that this week I did not actually recreate the image myself because of these financial limitations. Primarily, I did not have an iPad, and I was not going to purchase one for this activity. However, one of my friends, Lindsay, does, and she just recently started diving into digital art using Procreate, and she asked me and some of our other friends to give her suggestions of what to make. So, I asked her if she would be willing to recreate the image for my inquiry project, and this was the result as her 5th digital art creation:

Image Recreation, by LK Jones (2023).
A photo of a woman singing on a stage
Original photograph (2019)

Because I did not create this, I cannot speak to the process of creating it. However, I do want to publicly thank my friend for doing this recreation for me, so that I could include this topic in my inquiry project.

References:

Bravic, L. (2023) A Short History of Digital Art: Between new technologies & innovative artistic practices. Artland Magazine. https://magazine.artland.com/digital-art/

What is Digital Art?. Adobe. (2023). https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud/illustration/discover/digital-art.html

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