Digital paintings

Digital painting is a method of creating an art object in a computer. It adapts traditional painting medium such as acrylic paint, oils, ink, watercolor, etc. and applies the pigment to traditional carriers, such as canvas, paper, polyester etc. by means of computer software driving printers.

Visual characteristics derive from the power of a computer to attach geometrical formulas to lines, shapes and forms. While it is impossible for a human hand to create exactly identical shapes, or to construct a perfect circle or a perfectly straight line, for a computer it is difficult to do anything else. Formula-based forms are easy to recognize by a degree of perfection that is literally inhuman. Other specific traits are: transparency, symmetry, regular distortion, exact repetition, perfect circles, squares and other shapes, embossing and other 3D illusion, very smooth gradients, and perfectly monochrome color planes. The sharp and bold appearance of formula-based 'vector' forms reminds one of paper cutouts and stencil art. Alone or in combination with stroke-by-stroke 'raster' painting, it creates a language of color and form that is entirely new and could in no way be expressed with 'real' paints and brushes.

A further characteristic is the total flatness of the physical representation, due to the technical impossibility of translating brushstrokes to surface texture. Although many art lovers still prefer the artisanal appearance of real paint on canvas, a digital artwork has a look of straightforwardness and clearness that gradually becomes more accepted, in particular on mediums that support rather than conceal these qualities, such as fine art paper, brushed aluminum, xpozer, perspex, etc.

Since forms and shapes that are characteristic of digital painting cannot be transmitted to a physical carrier by hand, a digital painting, in its physical representation, is by definition a print. When the artist projects the digital painting on a physical carrier and re-paints it by hand, thereby using the computer as a preparatory device and sacrificing some or all of the digital characteristics, the artwork is categorized as a 'traditional painting'.

There is a common misunderstanding that a print cannot be a unique work of art. The number of possibilities to effectively protect originals and limited editions is steadily increasing. A primary protective measure is to hand-sign or fingerprint the work and mention the edition on the artwork itself. A certificate has become good practice. Although a Certificate of Authenticity offers no technical protection against duplication, it is possible to attach an individual watermark or hologram containing the name of the artist and the edition, of which a clone is then attached to the artwork. Security holograms are difficult to forge because they are replicated from a master hologram which requires expensive, specialized and technologically advanced equipment. They are used in banknotes, passports, credit cards as well as identification cards. Online registration at a trusted third party is at the time of writing (2017) only possible for prints on paper.

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Wikipedia