📅 Dec 03, 2021
What is digital art?
Art that is produced and presented using digital technology is called digital art. It can be purely computer-generated or scanned and completed using software like Adobe illustrator. It includes animations, photographs, illustrations, videos and digital paintings.
Since there is no physical copy of the art, some people may think digital art cannot be equivalent to traditional art. However, they are utterly wrong in this. The digital art may not be a physical form of art but it is equally significant as the traditional form of art. This type of art also requires the same skills, practice, dexterity and creative techniques that any traditional form of art would require. To make a good quality of digital art that can easily appeal to the masses, we need an original idea, immense knowledge, appropriate tools, brushing up of skills, and practising regularly. These are some tools that one need to master to produce digital art of good quality.
Why has digital art become an essential form of creative expression?
Digital art has gained immense popularity over the last few years. It has numerous applications in the fields of media and business, mainly for commercial settings. It comprises media advertisements for businesses, producing graphic effects, animations, videos, games etc. From the point of view of education, digital art is now a skill that is very intricate for students to learn. The tools used to produce this type of art increases artistic development and creativity. A digital arts curriculum can serve as a powerful tool to advocate the inculcation of technology in a child's education.
Some benefits of using digital art are:-
- It is very convenient:
Students can store all their artwork that is digitally produced by them in one place and can present them in the highest form. - It leads to an increase in productivity:
When you create digitally, a lot of time is saved. This is because you don't have to start over in case something goes wrong. Digital art gives you the benefit of undoing any mistake you make. - It is an essential form of expression:
Digital art allows everyone who is not a very good traditional artist to express their views and opinions through software-based artistic pieces. - It adds to the strength of an artist and allows complex perception and expression.
- It is a more economical form of art in the long run:
All you need is any device that can support tools like photoshop, illustrator etc and you are good to go. You don't have to invest in canvases, paints, brushes etc. that you need for traditional art. - It is easy to learn and beginner-friendly:
It is a great way to gain some confidence about your artistic skills, brush them up and practice daily to produce great pieces of artwork that can help you gain monetary benefits too.
How to begin with digital art?
With so much information over the internet, it is easy to get perplexed and get swayed away from the actual path of learning digital art. It may seem that it is a very difficult course. However, it becomes very easy to start and develop your artistic skills with proper guidance and knowledge.
To begin with the following are essential tools for a beginner:
- A working PC, laptop, drawing tablet or even your Smartphones-
This is the very basic and the most important thing required if you want to create a digital art piece. It would be best if you had enough memory so that all the software can properly work.
However, a drawing tablet is the best option as it would allow you to draw intricate art piecesThe stylus with the tablet allows you to maintain pressure and can help create some patterns that might be difficult with a mouse. Nowadays digital art has become even more convenient and accessible through your smartphones. Smartphones can be a great way to start your journey as a digital artist. You can use apps like Adobe Illustrator, Sketchbook by Autodesk or the Clip Studio Pain app. - Drawing software:
It is the following most important tool. There are numerous programs made explicitly for digital art and illustrations. It is better to try out different software and then choose the best one that fits your needs and is convenient for you to use as well.
Some of them are: - Knowledge:
After you get the required software and devices, you now need basic knowledge on how to begin. It is important to understand some fundamental concepts like shape, colour, light and shadow. This allows you to take your artwork from a beginner level to a professional level. Proper knowledge can be gained from different courses. VRAcademi provides a creative, digital design and VR course for students above the age of 9. It is a child-friendly course that takes you from the basic to the topmost level. It also gives you knowledge about creating IP of your digital art through which you may auction your artwork as NFTs, another reason for the growing popularity of digital art and design. - A good working space:
To be creative it is important to gain inspiration. Inspiration can come from any place but a good workspace is a must. It would be best if you were comfortable, maintain a good posture and be mindful while you create your art. - Other requirements:
If you want to invest more, you can also invest in colour-accurate display monitors. Since designing and creation of digital art is about display and colour, it is important that you have a monitor that can support standard pro colours like Adobe RGB.
You may also need different font types for creating posters. Since the right fonts are one of the most important aspects of design, you can access different types of fonts on the internet and choose the best one that fits your creative.
Courses offered by VRAcademi:
VRAcademi is a world-class inclusive education platform that expands imagination through immersive reality education and uses NFTs to empower their creativity.
The platform provides 2 courses for imparting digital design education that can help you learn digital art.
The course is available for all students above the age of 9. There are 2 options categorized age–wise.
The objectives of the course are:
- It will help you gain an insight into graphic designing and combine it with virtual reality.
- It will teach you to create art and enhance it with technology.
- You can also learn to edit the look and feel of an image.
- You will get to learn digital design skills using adobe photoshop and illustrator.
- This course would allow you to get a hands-on experience of virtual reality by displaying your creations on 'hubs' and 'Spoke 'by Mozilla Mixed Reality.
Both the courses offer 3 types of course options – taster, comprehensive and advanced.
- Taster course: This course is for 8 weeks. Here you will be taught and introduced to the field of digital art and photo editing. This is a very basic course.
- Comprehensive course: It is a more detailed course with 24 lessons that go on for 12 weeks. In this course, you will master the basic principles of digital art and design and learn to create an IP of your artwork. You then may auction your artwork as NFTs on different websites. You will also be introduced to Mozilla Hubs and Spoke which will help you publish and experience your creation in virtual reality.
- Advanced course – This course is the Term 2 of the comprehensive course which goes about for a total of 48 weeks with 2 lessons of 60 minutes each per week. After completing the comprehensive course, the advanced course will help you master skills and experience more in virtual reality. You can master vector graphics. Vector graphics are computer images created using a particular sequence of mathematical statements. It describes a series of points that need to be connected. You will also master the skill of creating and experiencing digital art and design projects in virtual reality and can also make your VR art gallery project that can be displayed in the VRAcademi Museum.
What makes Digital Design Course at VRAcademi special?
At VRAcademi thefocus is on developing skills amongst students of all ages. The faculty at VRAcademi teaches courses from the very basic level and allow you to explore your creative side with mindfulness. With virtual reality, you learn to create immersive art forms and build your own metaverse.Digital art is the new and upcoming trend that will take over the world of media, business and education. Therefore it becomes crucial for students of the present age to start learning this skill.
