Quarter II:

TECHNOLOGY_BASE
D ART
 INTRODUCTION
 Technology has literally taken over every aspect of life
in the 21st century, and the creative and visual arts
have not been spared. In fact, for the younger
generations,art as you know it is defined by
technology from its creation, to its manipulation, to
its reproduction, and even to its distribution.
Technology-based art is essentially computer
generated and/or manipulated.
Through the centuries, visual artists used actual
brushes and palettes, and a whole array of paints, inks,
and natural pigments applied to paper, canvas, fabric,
stucco walls and ceilings. Today's computer artists
employ the ever-expanding powers of image
manipulation programs and applications to create their
works which can appear in an entire range of media-
 Computer/Digital Arts
 Origin and Early Stages
 Computer art or digital art first came on the scene in
the early 1960s.
 Understandably, this was due to the technology that
was constantly developing and that became available
at the time. Thus, the early experimenters were not
necessarily artists, but engineers and scientists who
had access to and experience with the hardware
needed. It was they who began to recognize the
potential of artistic expression through the application
of scientific and mathematical principles.
 In fact, even in the sample works presented here, you
will note a strong scientific or mathematical look and
feel to the creations of many digital artists. Geometric
forms and repeating patterns appear frequently. More
traditional subjects like human beings, Tandscapes,
animals, and still-life elements are simply
incorporated as part of those forms and patterns
rather
Also than as the main
understandable was focus.
the initial reaction of the
public to computer-generated art.
There were questions as to whether it was, in fact,
"true art" since it made use of
electronic and mechanical devices, rather than the
artist's own hand, to produce the images and
effects. Within a few years, however, there was a
general acceptance of digital art as an exciting
and thought-provoking form of modern art. Exhibits
of computer art became highly popular and
critically acclaimed, as digital artists or computer
A sampling of their works can be seen here.

Polygon Drawings
Frieder Nake, 1965
 Schrotter
(“Gravel”)
(Des) Ordres
Vera Molnar, 1974
Plotter drawing
Mountain and Stauroly
Ronald Davis, 1997
Computer-generated 3
Manfred Mohr, 19
Olga Kisseleva, 20
Some digital artists have even used their works to express
their views on political, social, and cultural issues, as well
as to advocate causes that are critical to modern life, such
as the environment and climate change. Others even
explore the philosophical relationship between science and
 The Philippine Scene
 h our country, Filipino artists were likewise influenced by
the technology trend in art. However, this was more in the
commercial sphere. From the 1960s to the 1990s, their
computer-generated works were primarily geared toward
illustrating for international comic books. In fact, Filipino
illustrators earned quite a reputation for their talents and
were highly in demand in this field. They eventually
became equally sought after as animators for some of the
major film production companies in the United States, as
well as animated television series produced in different
countries.
 (See a more detailed presentation on Filipino comics
illustrators and animators in quarter lll)
 Eventually, however, the concept of computer-
generated works as a means of serious
artistic expression gained ground among the
younger generation of local artists.
 Today, even the more established names in
the field artists and critics alike have come to
accept and recognize digital works as fine
art. To view works by Philippine artists
employing digital art techniques, you may
visit the websites of the following museums
and •The
art Center
organizations:
for Art and Thought -
http://www.centerforartandthought.org/
Deviant Art -
http://www.deviantart.com/browse/all/dig
italart/
The Ateneo Art Gallery -
http://www.ateneoartgallery.org/
Yuchengco Museum -
 There are also institutions offering training
courses on the digital arts, such as the
First Academy of Computer Arts, the
Philippine Center for Creative Imaging
(PCCI), as well as the Technical Education
and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)
through scholarships given by the
Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI).
Courses such as these open up an array of
career opportunities for young Filipinos in
the fields of advertising, animation design,
multimedia communication, and web
Computer technology has by now
invaded every aspect of modern life. It
was, there-fore, inevitable that it would
develop into forms and devices that
could be mass produced, mass
distributed, and thus widely accessible
to everyone. In other words, anyone
with a computer device-from a desktop
PC to a laptop, to a tablet
Image: freepik.com
or android phone can now capture and
edit images and videos; create,
manipulate,
and share works of art; and even
compose music. You can be and
 Summary
 Computer/digital arts make use of
electronic and mechanical devices, rather
than the artist's own hand, to produce the
desired images and effects. Thus, these
are definitely technology-based art forms.
In recent decades, personal gadgets such
as laptops, tablets, and android phones
have incorporated the artistic capabilities
of the large-scale computers; so it is now
possible for anyone to be a digital artist.
 Digital Image Creation [Session 2] Note:
Prerequisite for this activity is exposure
tolexperience with Computer
Illustration under Technology Livelihood
Education (TLE).
 If you have access to a computer
drawing program, such as Adobe
Creative Suite or its less complex
counterparts, create an original
artwork.
 it a drawing program is not available,
 Store the finished illustration or
image in a device that contains an
image editing program, similar to
 Gimpthese:
(GNU Image • Picasa
manipulation program)
• Paint Star
 Paint.net
• Smooth Draw
 Inkscape
• Spray
 Xara extreme
• karbon
 Draw plus
• adobe photoshop
 Pencil
• corel paintshop pro
Mobile Phone Art / Computer-
generated Images
Mobile Phone Art
The mobile phone that you constantly hold has
evolved from a mere communication tool into a
creative device that allows you to generate
original works of art for an entire range of
purposes. These could be personal
photographs and videos that you can
manipulate with myriad special effects, both
visual as well as sound and music. They could
also be school projects or reports that require
you to combine images, incorporate text, even
include simple animation.

And the wonder of it all is that you can do all

these right on your own mobile devices,
particularly the new-generation models known
perform manually cropping,
retouching, airbrushing are now
just a few of the many editing
effects done for you with split-
second ease at the click of a
mouse, a keyboard command, or
a few taps and drags of your
finger on a touch screen.

You are probably already familiar

with the following image
•Pixir - a powerful,
free online image
editor

•Pic Collage - allows

you to make collages
incorporating photos,
stickers, text, and
frames
Photo Grid - a
downloadable application
for android phones that
allows you
to make collages out of
images from your photo
gallery
• Doodle Booth - an iPad
application (with a free
downloadable version)
that enables you to
"doodle" on your
images using available
Magic Mirror Booth - an
iPhone application that
allows you to take
amusing, distorted
images, simulating
camera effects
•Pic Monkey - a free
online photo editing
tool that provides
filters, frames, text,
and effects to
Flipagram - a downloadable
application that allows you to
"bring your photos to life" in short
videos set to music of your choice
Picsart - a free photo editor and
drawing application, as well as a
social network for you to share
your art with others
Snapseed - a photo application that
enables you to enhance, transform,
and share your photos; a free
downloadable version for android
phones is available
Instagram - a fast and fun way
to share images with others;
snap a photo, choose from
among the available filters, and
share via Facebook, Twitter,
 Many more programs and applications are constantly
being developed with even more new, exciting, and
fun features and capabilities.
 Each of these has an extensive array of special
features you can use to modify your images. Among
these are: frames, borders, and banners; filters,
cropping in different shapes, automatic collage or
color change, stickers, text bubbles; effects such as
warp, skew, tunnel, fish eye, and negative; adding
"spot color" to only certain elements of an image;
creating a photo montage with music. Some programs
even make it possible to have any photo simulate a
work of art in a whole range of media- from oil to
watercolor to pen and ink to charcoal to oil pastels to
 Modified with
Origina image
cropping,
superimposed
text, and a "silk"
 Modified to
Original image "pencil
sketch" effect
in gray scale,
plus rounded
Mirror Photo - multiple mirror
images
 Modified with
Original image color retained
on selected
 Modified to a
Original image completely
different color
 Modified to a
Original image multi-image
collage in
different tints