I have loved art all my life and can't remember when I was not drawing or painting or photographing something. While I paint old school too at times, I am a total advocate of digital painting and Photoshop. It is the future. I love digital art and mixed media, especially using it to produce something that resembles a traditional style painting or sketch. Now my brushes are electronic, that's all. This medium takes me places I could never go before and at times allows me to blend my photography and painting experience. Sometimes there is a photo behind my work, sometimes not. If you can't tell which is which, that's what I'm aiming for.
The world marches on and I decided to get with the new tools. In the late 1400s- early 1500s, Florence, Italy had a strong guild of book copyists, illuminators and hand binders. They scorned the new printing press and lectured their customers that no real gentlemen would ever have a cheap machine printed book in his home. They could have embraced the new stuff, offered both kinds of books, illuminated or illustrated printed books, but no. They felt threatened and decided the traditional ways were the only good way. Needless to say, they lost that battle. I'm embracing it all. Who know where we will be in 50 years? Keep an open mind.
There may be a lot of complex answers to the question of what is art. All I know is art brings me joy. Good art creates pleasure every time we look at it. Yes, I was one of those kids who colored everything the wrong color. And I've never stopped. Blue giraffes and rainbow colored zebras make me happy. It can be that simple for me. How about you?
Jane Schnetlage joined Pixels.com Licensing on November 25th, 2010.
