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Feb - Mar 98
DIGITAL WORLDS....
"Outpost - In a Far Future Far Away" by Michael B–heme Painted on a PC with Stylus and Picture Publisher and Photoshop.
See more digital artwork here.
Digital art has come a long way from the days of black dots on a white page or green lines on a phosphorous screen. Now the digital artist has millions of color s and incredibly powerful programs at their finger tips. No longer are we held back from achieving the visions we see by inadequate equipment, the nine images in this issue show that without any doubt. The future promises ever more sophisticated computers and programs. Can it be long before digital art is considered mainstream and pigment on canvas is "old hat"?
In the IAAA there seems to be two main "camps" when it comes to computers, the MacIntosh camp, and the PC camp. Each side is as enthusiastic as the other as to the benefits of "their" machine. Macs are better at graphics, PCs are more compatible, Macs require little set-up, PCs are completely configurable.Kim Poor probably has the best position to argue for either camp. He’s got three Macs and seven PCs, and he says, "My Macs make money and business for the PCs to chew on." Steve Hobbs and Joe Bergeron show the crux of the ‘argument.’ Steve said, "The PC is simple and you have absolute control over how your machine is set up and don’t have to rely on some beaut turkey OS to try and do it all for you." Joe countered with, "I WANT the OS to do it all for me. I want to work with my applications, not the OS. My Mac already does what I want it to do." Aldo Spadoni summed up the discussion perfectly. "I find it amazing how often people engage in the essentially pointless Mac vs PC argument. When I see a stunning piece of work by another artist, I respect the choices in tools that artist made to create the work. The more significant question is not which platform is better, but which platform is better for YOU?"
No matter how vociferous the arguments get, there is agreement on one point, the more memory and computing power your choice of machine has, the better your art can be. So, whether you like Bryce 3D, Photoshop, Lightwave, Painter, or PixelPaint, it just may be time to go digital! Big thanks to Dave Hardy for suggesting the project and Joe Bergeron for running it.
Copyright © 1998
International Association of Astronomical Artists