CHAPTER 6 the digital Creatives are exploiting the digital environment to broaden their artistic vision. With each technological advancement, new pos- sibilities in art-making are being brought into the ever expand- ing visual vernacular. The sophistication of computer graphics realm approaches as a way to honor the past while staying in the vanguard of modern pop culture. Digital artists who embrace both classic and electronic media enter into the creative process in different ways. Some begin in a more traditional manner, producing hand-drawn and painted elements that are then scanned into the computer and further manipulated. Others start digitally, altering photographs and combining them with scanned elements to create a base image that is later printed out onto a custom substrate and reworked using a variety of drawing and painting materials and processes. From classical to high-tech, an image can go through several transformations before the desired look is eventually achieved. One of the advantages of working digitally is that elements may be reused once they have been stored electronically. Like a collage artist, the digital creator will collect a vast array of texture samples, objects and images. Instead of warehousing the items, the artist of the digital domain brings everything into the computer, storing the collection for future use as files on a hard drive or on a series of portable storage devices. This practice allows elements to be recycled in numerous ways, changing the color, size or shape each time. Artists are using digital cameras and scanners to import images in inventive ways. Imaginative still-life subjects may be imported into the virtual environment, so that natural and man-made elements are combined in surrealistic settings, then digitally photographed against lushly painted backdrops. To create unexpected abstract effects, creatives are bending and manipulating images and objects over a scanner. To achieve backlighting, digital-savvy artists can move a light source at the same rate of speed as the scanner's light above an object, removing unwanted shadows. Textures painted on glass can be scanned into the computer and easily wiped off, creating a new surface to work on without wasting paper, canvas or board in the process. Advances in desktop technology have also allowed artists to create custom lenticular add-ons, virtually animating the printed surface. Holographic images create depth, move, software and hardware has allowed artists to experiment as never before. A multimedia mindset is at the forefront. For most artists, integrating both traditional and electronic processes is the predominant direction. Through experimenta- tion, many have found that solely relying on the computer leads to a homogenized aesthetic. However, when combined with traditional approaches that employ the unique signature of the human hand, computer-generated art can break away from its anonymous roots to become more personal and distinctive. Many see the creative mining of both traditional and digital Gods and Monsters . Matt Manley SIZE: 11" × 8" (28cm × 20cm) / MEDIUMS: oil and alkyd / MATERIALS: Crescent illustration board, broken tiles, old window frame, torn screen, wood, type, anatomi- cal snake diagrams, alchemical engravings and passages from the Bible / TECHNIQUES: digital manipulation, digital collage and digital assemblage / SURFACE: archival ink-jet print on canvas / CLIENT: Connecticut magazine change color and morph into other things, enhancing the spatial acrobatics within the two-dimensional realm. To create intrigu- ing effects, artists are grabbing from video and importing the sequential imagery into their work. 116