Technology has influenced my creative ideas because by seeing the different affects you can use from Adobe Illustrator computer software, it helps spark thoughts in my brain and give me ways of how to incorporate these different techniques. I can use shape building tools to refine my images and make them look neater, or manipulate shapes using the warping tool. With the world of the internet, there are millions of places and things online that can inspire a new work of art. I always go onto websites to find ideas for artwork because it opens my eyes to all of the possibilities one has when creating something new and gather inspiration. Also, using the computer for making artwork can be more fun because it is easier to come up with an image full of depth, color and excitement using technology than simply sketching on a piece of paper. I incorporate the use of my drawing skills into my newly developing digital image skills to make something that is all my own. Both medias are ones that I enjoy, but I sometimes feel like I can get a more vivid picture using tools from illustration software.
If there was no such thing as these sorts of technological devices for creating art, I know for a fact that I would use other types of media such as drawing and painting because there are no rules for using tools such as a pencil or a paintbrush. You simply glide your hands in whatever way you want them to. Sure I may not make those perfectly lined edges or shapes found in digital imagery, but it helps to show what kind of skills I possess. With drawing on paper, it is easily accessible because you can draw on paper anywhere you go. But, being an artist isn’t at all about showing perfection in a piece (especially when some may not understand what I’m trying to make), but for me, it’s about showing people what an original piece by me is supposed to show, where one can say, “Hey, is that a Laura Kramer piece?” Why, yes. Yes it is.
Despite the fact that I don’t commonly use digital image design for my artwork, seeing the works of other digital artists helps me to see a new perspective of how art is changing with society. Fifty years ago, animation would have been drawn out on regular paper, panel by panel. Today, thousands of movies, television shows and video games have their animation done by the software available on the computer. The use of technology has increased exponentially throughout the years, thus giving newer, more realistic imagery to the screen. I love to see the works of newly recognized artists because they give new fresh ideas that bring excitement into everyday life. They help dispose of the normal and bring out change for society. Like the continuous changes in society, technology is also at a continuous change phase. Think of Apple devices. You can buy an iPhone 5 one day, but they’ll be ready to sell the iPhone 5s by the next day. Technology never stops improving, never stops changing. Just like the world of art, which can never sit still. Someone, somewhere is always finding a way to innovate something new for the world to see.
