Getting Artsy With Tech

Benjamin Cai • Bee Jones • Gunnar Haywood Samuel Aardema Spring 2022

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Dear Readers, Welcome to Getting Artsy with Tech! Our goal with this magazine is to spotlight the changes that advances in technology have brought to the fields of painting, music, literature, and film. New softwares have opened up entirely new forms of art, expanded existing forms, and provided accessibility to wider audiences.

Our focus while creating designs, graphics, and articles was to capture the human aspect found within art assisted by technology. Our creative process usually followed this idea of locating humanity in perfection, such as when we were working on our infographics and specifically made them more random and chaotic. We’re particularly proud of the brain graphic on our inside cover separated into logic and art, detailing the separation between humanity and technology. The most work-intensive part of our magazine was our pull quotes and the photos that we had to capture in order to make them come to life.

This magazine was such a blast to make! We had so much fun having conversations with interesting professionals in their respective fields and it was truly an honor for us! We hope that our magazine can truly capture the passion of these individuals and we hope that reading our magazine is an enlightening experience.

Sincerely,

Table of Contents Letter from the Editors ....................... 3 Meet the Team ................................... 6 Note the Tech ..................................... 8 Bach to In-Person .............................. 14 Media Turning Social ......................... 16 Zooming in ........................................ 20

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Digitizing Art ................................... 22 Different Brushes ............................. 26 Ctrl+X Content ................................ 28 Special Thanks ................................. 30

Front Cover - Gunnar Haywood Inside Front Cover - Benjamin Cai Letter from the Editors - Team Table of Contents - Team Meet the Team - Team Special Thanks - Bee Jones Inside Back Cover - Benjamin Cai Back Cover - Samuel Aardema

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Meet the Team!

Bee Jones

Bee Jones hopes to one day become a doll designer, or alternatively become an imagineer at Walt Disney Studios. They enjoy hobbies such as listening to music or drawing because they derive satisfaction from the emotions that are hidden in art. Jones hopes to become a doll designer one day because they’ve been obsessed with dolls for a long time. Jones is doing their Ezine on filmmaking and how technology has evolved over the years because they’re very interested in the evolution of streaming services such as YouTube and Twitch.

Bee Jones taking a photo that could be used in the Getting Artsy with Tech Ezine. Jones enjoys using social media.

Photo by Samuel Aardema.

Sam Aardema Samuel Aardema is very interested in technology, which is perfect for our Ezine. He wants to be a software engineer after he graduates and in his free time he enjoys playing video games such as OSU! because it is easy to get into and he’s able to play with people from across the world. Aardema, as a fan of both painting and technology, hopes to write an article highlighting how painting has been affected by newer innovations in technology and how softwares have opened up new avenues for digital artists to explore.

Samuel Aardema coloring in a drawing. Aardema loves to draw but prefers digital drawing over physical.

Photo by Benjamin Cai.

Benjamin Cai Benjamin Cai has a dream to become a neurosurgeon as he finds helping others satisfying. He loves to play the piano, since Cai finds entertaining others as another form of helping them and finds happiness in challenging himself. He also likes chess due to the challenge found in learning and playing chess.

Seeing as Cai has a deep passion for the piano, he is doing his Ezine on how technologies have been used to advance the music industry by opening up new genres and traveling to new audiences.

Benjamin Cai playing the piano at LASA. Cai will sometimes play on this piano in the mornings before classes.

Photo by Samuel Aardema.

Gunnar Haywood Gunnar Haywood has found a deep interest in literature, specifically light novels, which are books written by less well-known authors, due to the longer stories with more plot and more consistent uploads. Haywood usually utilizes a chromebook and reasons that digital copies of books are more accessible than physical copies. His career in the future is still up in the air however he is positive in his love for science and believes that he will find a career in science.

Gunanr Haywood settling in with a good read at the LASA library.

Haywood likes to read fiction books.

Photo by Samuel Aardema.

Carla McElhaney performing at a house concert by Revel. Revel, a chamber arts collective in Austin strives to make classical music more personal through house concerts like this. Photo courtesy of Carla McElhaney.

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How have advances in music affected musicians?

By Benjamin Cai

ustin is called the Live Music Capital of the World and many Austinites are musicians themselves.

Technologies have helped composers work and musicians learn faster.

Musicians often use online tools such as databases like IMSLP that offer free sheet music and recordings for performers to use, platforms such

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as YouTube that give performers and composers another way to expand their audience and make profit and software like Sibelius allow composers to create samples which can be used to pick out the problems.

For pianist and teacher, Carla McElhaney, technology was what introduced her to music.

“When I was very little, three, I was watching a children’s television program called Captain Kangaroo,”

McElhaney said. “It’s a little before your time, but there was a puppet bunny rabbit, who was a regular character on the show.”

Although Mr. Bunny Rabbit’s time on the show was wordless, McElhaney said he was funny, witty, wise, and always playing jokes on the captain.

“One day they had a skit of him dressed up in a little tuxedo, playing the piano, and he was going up and

down the keyboard,” McElhaney said.

“It was just glorious music, and I just thought I have to do that, so I started bugging my parents for lessons.”

McElhaney’s family wasn’t musical, but they immediately searched for a teacher and signed her up. She said TV shows and radio programs like Captain Kangaroo exponentially expanded music’s reach.

“Another thing to consider is that when you add platforms like YouTube to the mix, suddenly technology is working to expand everyone’s cultural awareness,” McElhaney said. “We can watch performances from around the globe of every musical stripe, from world music, to jazz, to hip-hop, and from a variety of historical eras, too.”

For Michael Mikulka, an Austin composer and composition professor at ACC, technologies like YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes are instrumental to the newer generations of composers.

“We’re the first generations to grow up in the age of YouTube, Spotify, iTunes, and all these places where we can go and hear all types of music, generally, for free, pretty much any genre, any area of the world, any style of music, whenever we want,” Mikulka said. “Even 20 years ago, that wasn’t a possibility at all; we would have had to go seek out CDs.” Because of new technologies, music became more accessible to the general public. James Buhler, a music theory professor at the Butler School of Music, worries about the compensation of performers under recording and streaming technologies.

“Recording really has been a dicey thing in that respect, but streaming has really put more pressure onto performers needing to do live concerts

to make money and actually be making money through things besides making music, like merchandising,” Buhler said. “The pay rate on streaming services just isn’t very good, compared to older methods of distribution, but even under those older methods of distribution, I can’t say that the artists were receiving most of the money that was through the system even under that.”

precision?’”

McElhaney said there’s an energy exchange that’s lost between the performer and listener when a performer records something without a live audience. This is something that performers and listeners have to get used to.

“There’s no feedback, there’s just the camera and it’s actually, from my many friends I’ve talked to about

“It [the recording] doesn’t have to be really clean, but… it really has to convey emotions, or whatever it is that you’re communicating with the composition as clearly as possible because they’re going to only be able to hear it once, it has to make an immediate impression.”

-Michael Mikulka, composer

Recording performances has resulted in more music out in the world. Mikulka said because of this, rather than going to a concert, somebody can just search YouTube and find the perfect recording.

“There’s a bit more proving that we have to do about it as to, ‘Why should we be there in person when we can easily hear a recording of it?’” Mikulka said. “I think this is something that orchestras are struggling with where it’s like, ‘Why should I go in person to hear Beethoven five when I can go on YouTube and there are about 500 different versions of that played with

that, it’s a very strange and unsettling experience and makes them a little bit sad because a large part of the joy of music making comes from that exchange of energy and the upliftment and understanding that comes from the idea that we’re all sharing many aspects of a human experience together,” McElhaney said. “Certain things touch us in certain ways, certain things affect us in certain ways, and that gets lost to the performer in a virtual situation.”

McElhaney said the same thing happens to the listener; the change may be subtle, but nonetheless it is there. These small changes result

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Michael Mikulka performing mid-concerto. Mikulka is a composer, professor of music, as well as a French Horn player and teacher. Photo courtesy of Michael Mikulka.

in differences that the listener and performer have in virtual performances rather than live ones.

“Now, this is not the same thing, though, as recording a live performance where there are other people in the room, so I do think there is an increase in the level of intimacy and energy exchange, the less technological barriers there are,” McElhaney said. “There can be technological enhancements… for instance, creating a beautiful visual space with lighting that’s technology, or amplifying something that enhances the sound for a listener in a certain way; that’s using technology, but I think there are certain ways you can use it that create barriers.”

On the other hand, Mikulka said that a performer should not rely on the live performance for the recording.

Instead, the goal should be to convey emotions.

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“It doesn’t have to be really clean, but… it really has to convey emotions, or whatever it is that you’re communicating with the composition as clearly as possible, [and] because they’re going to only be able to hear it once, it has to make an immediate impression,” Mikulka said. “Simultaneously, that tends to make for bad recordings, because… something inevitably is going to go wrong somewhere.”

A live performance will never be as perfect as a recording. There will always be constraints and mistakes in the live performance that cause problems for the listener, according to Mikulka.

“Then when you’re listening to that in the recording environment, you’re not going to have the leisure of the live performance,” Mikulka said.

“When something is happening live… there’s just a different energy.”

Technologies allowed performers to create more perfect performances.

Buhler said technology has also given teachers an easier time.

“The frictions of technology have really gone away,” Buhler said.

“Now we can bring up any example we want at any time, so we have that side of things [where] we can hook in our computers and put things up on the slides and pictures up on the screen really easily.”

One of the newest technologies is online classes on Zoom. Buhler said his experience has been interesting and there are some quizzes that are much harder to give on Zoom.

“One of the things I like to do in my graduate form analysis class is just give short quizzes that help the students work on tempo,” Buhler said.

“It’s something that’s hard for them to work on on their own because it’s really hard to obey a timer unless

someone else puts it there.”

In-person quizzes usually took 5 minutes to finish, and Buhler said the technological barriers of online quizzes, such as printing the quiz out or downloading it on their tablet, made the process too slow. In fact, it took around 30 minutes online vs 5 minutes in-person.

“It’s fascinating the way that technology, on one hand, [has had] lots of real improvements,” Buhler said.

“On the other hand, doing something on Zoom and how difficult it has proved to be has opened my eyes in many respects.”

Zoom and other technologies can make education easier, but the opposite is also true. McElhaney said that one aspect of technology, integrated hybrid classes, which have some in-person and some virtual students are here to stay.

“I just started teaching piano in a place called Studio A in Austin, and I sat in on a masterclass for their advanced students,” McElhaney said.

“There were 11 students in the room with a teacher, their parents, and two or three [students] visiting via Zoom, also taking part in the class.”

Masterclasses can expand a student’s understanding of a musical piece, and McElhaney said recording something, not just masterclasses, and posting it on a site like YouTube can allow more people to reach that performance. Meanwhile, Mikulka said technology has helped in education immensely.

“In the music theory classes, when I want to play an example, there’s a computer in the room I’ll teach in and there’s a projector,” Mikulka said. “Instead of having to bring in slides, bring in audio files, and have a separate audio system, I could just plug in a cord to the computer and play

something off of YouTube.”

Mikulka said with advances in technology, he doesn’t have to worry so much about fast-forwarding or rewinding, rather he can pre-set it somewhere or just click. Overall, it’s just easier and simpler.

“I remember, during my undergrad we were going to play Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, and I had to learn one of the French Horn parts for that in a really short period of time.” Mikulka said. “The conductor was like, go to the library and listen to different recordings of it so I had to go to the library, put on headphones, listen to each of these recordings of it, and it was a pain.”

Mikulka said advances in

“The synthesizer is what the sound is, but increasingly synthesizer samplers are really taking the place of strings.”

-James Buhler, professor

YouTube and other streaming services have completely revolutionized how performers learn. Now it’s much easier to listen to other performer’s recordings in order to learn.

“People always had to go find scores from the library, now, if you want to learn about a composition like, how did Ravel do this thing?” Mikulka said. “Well, you go to IMSLP, you click on composition, [and] you can look at

each individual part if you want, you can look at the score, you can listen to like six or seven different recordings, and you can pinpoint everything.”

Mikulka said new technologies like IMSLP or YouTube allow a performer to really focus on one section of the performance; they can slow it down and repeat it 10 times, in order to really figure out the message.

This helps performers to learn pieces.

“There’s so much more of an ability to be able to just narrow in on learning something, learning something specific,” Mikulka said.

Buhler said usually he just fills the piano role when playing with composition rather than writing it all down. This is a lot easier for him and allows him to play more complicated music.

“So you’ve got things like Sibelius, you have things like Finale, you have things like Dorico which are basically notation programs, they’re designed still to create scores and then those scores are able to have parts and then to be able to get players to play and so most of them are based around that workflow there,” Buhler said. “But increasingly, things like those notation programs are starting to use samples for playback on that, and they’re actually even being used occasionally to create mockups.”

Buhler said these samples are frequently used as production cues to be approved for recording. These samples are almost always trying to imitate acoustic sounds.

“So it’s at least going through an approval process, so that’s really driving the sounds that are coming out of the computer that need to be at a higher and higher level, so I think what we’re seeing is just more and more focus on how can we produce

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sounds out of a computer that sound like they’re performances that we want to listen to, at that level,” Buhler said.

“I think what we’ve been seeing in the last 20 years really is that development towards making computers be able to do that.”

attracts attention.

“Maybe somebody hears this who’s like a spectacular violinist and they’re like, ‘Oh, I want to play your music,’” Mikulka said. “Then because that spectacular violinist plays your music, and there’s an

Revel performing at Blue Rock in Austin. Revel’s goal is to make classical music more personsonalized. Photo courtesy of Rodney Bursiel.

Buhler said synthesizers have reached the level of acoustic sounds if a composer writes for their samples.

They still can’t replace an orchestra but they can sound close.

“There are people who want that particular sound, so take something like Dune right,” Buhler said. “There’s a lot of synthesized sound in that or maybe even more, something like Blade Runner either the original or the remake 2049, the synthesizer is what the sound is, but increasingly synthesizer samplers are really taking the place of strings.”

Mikulka said one of the biggest challenges in composing is getting stuff out there. Without a platform or good connections the goal is to have little streams where a musician just puts stuff out and hopes that something

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amazing recording of it out there, then everybody hears it.”

Mikulka said it was difficult to attract attention as a composer without YouTube or SoundCloud. With these new technologies there’s a lot less gatekeeping so it becomes easier to put music out there.

“My most successful compositions in terms of sales, in terms of people buying them, in terms of people performing them, pretty much all of them just exploded on YouTube, one day, it’s gotten like 100.” Mikulka said. “Then I look back like two months later, and it has like 3000, then I look back, and it’s got like 10,000 views, I don’t know how it happened, I don’t know why it happens, but people saw it, and people recommended it to each other.”

Meanwhile, McElhaney said Revel, a chamber arts collective, found audiences online on top of in person.

“We had a beautiful website where people actually found us that were not on our mailing list, that didn’t have friends telling them about us that just happened upon us from doing a search,” McElhaney said. “We had visitors from out of town, I can remember at one concert, he said, ‘Oh, we just found it on the internet.’”

Mikulka said nowadays people can get famous easier without the backing of some label. This means that more people can learn music and have a chance in a career of music.

Mikulka said, “It’s still hard, it still requires a lot of luck in addition to putting out a built something with ability or with something that just captures people’s interest, but it’s much more possible now, because of these platforms, where basically everybody can see your music without anybody promoting other than people being like, ‘I like this, let me show something here, let me share this.’”

Because technology has expanded music’s appeal, more people are able to access this language. This results in more people listening and playing music.

“I think music is the most expansive, inclusive language, connecting language, connecting force that humans have at their disposal,” McElhaney said. “And I think it’s going to continue to open minds and hearts and bring people closer and closer together.”

Buhler said in teaching, they’ve shifted their resources in

libraries towards streaming services.

A disadvantage of this is that he has to check every semester to see if something is licensed or not.

“My gut tells me that the future of the CD is not long, that it’s a dying technology, on the other hand, vinyl has made a comeback, and I think there is the remains, for a lot of people, a desire to have the material of object,” Buhler said. “I’m not particularly sentimental about either vinyl or CDs from that standpoint, but I do have a strong feeling about wanting to own the digital copy of it rather than the streaming copy of it because I’ve had too much experience with streaming stuff going away and not being available when I need it.”

Buhler said orchestral repertoire has changed a lot and that in the future we will probably see more hybrid stuff. Historically the orchestra has always been an institution of

Orchestras nowadays are more likely to show film music or video game music in their repertoire.

“Increasingly now we’re starting to see video games, having that same type of thing, so it’s part of the way in which that institution remains viable is by tapping into these additional sources like film music,” Buhler said.

“We’ve got film music fans, we’ll have film music at this concert to get those folks into the orchestra seats as well, that’s a way that we can perpetuate ourselves so we are seeing some evolution of the repertory along those lines.”

Mikulka said music is a reflection of society. The traditions of society, the location, the time period are all reflected in the music of that time.

“If you go to the classical era in Germany, you’re going to have a time where there’s a really strict

“Certain things touch us in certain ways, certain things affect us in certain ways, and that gets lost to the performer in a virtual situation.”

-Carla McElhaney, pianist

music.

“So I guess on the one hand, you look at the economic logic, you say, ‘There’s no way,’” Buhler said. “On the other hand you look at the history and say, ‘Well, we always seem to find a way.’”

Buhler said the music in concerts today reflects the current audiences and what they’ve grown up with.

division of like upper class and lower class, and you have music being written exclusively for like the king and associated royals,” Mikulka said.

“So music, the music’s being written in a way that’s going to reflect that, it’s going to be really balanced, it’s going to be really clear and sort of prestigious sounding and there’s not going to be a lot of unexpected things, it’s going to

be lots of expectations being fulfilled and a lot of things that are full of stability and continuation.”

Mikulka said Romantic era music also reflected this with increased individualism and emotion in music as sheet music and instruments became mass produced. There’s always a reflection of society in the music.

“I think that’s one thing where society’s clearly gone these past 10, 20 years, is that everybody sort of is able to interact with each other more effectively for the first time where people from around the world are being exposed to each other for the first time,” Mikulka said. “I would expect that there’s going to be a lot more interconnection of music than there has been in the past which even though we’re already sort of there, I think that’s going to really intensify in the future.”

Buhler said nowadays it’s the video games that can shine a light on what kind of a person somebody is.

This differs from his own experience as a teen and young adult.

“From my own standpoint, I remember when I was, say, in my teens and 20s, I could say to somebody show me your music collection, I’ll tell you who you are,” Buhler said. “The sticks of identity were that strong with music for most people that you could tell what person a person was by the music they chose to have and that they listened to, I don’t think that’s true anymore.”

As the world opens up and society opens up, music will also open up. This results in more genres of music available for performers.

“That’s one of my actual, like real predictions where I can feel somewhat confident because we’re also seeing a lot more musical styles from around the world being popularized in the US,” Mikulka said. “I would expect that a lot of that is going to sort of grow and find a place in the US in a larger and larger degree.”

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Mediums to Watch Performances

EDITING

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Bach to I

Graphics by Benjamin Cai

Recounting the differences between in-person performances and virtual performances after the pandemic. Showing the connections between the most used mediums of performances and the pros and cons of each.

STREAMING

SPEAKER

LIVE

Virtual Vs. In-Person

The performer gets a one-time paycheck for performing if it’s in-person.

Virtual performances stop the chance of spreading viruses such as COVID-19.

Q&As

In-person Q&A’s have a more intimate feel and flow more naturally whereas virtual Q&A’s can allow more people to join as it’s more accessible to watch a stream or join a call.

In-Person Virtual performances can have techinical issues such as lag or indistinct audio which can hinder a performance’s success.

Virtual performances are usually able to be accessed after the first performance which means a continuous audience.

Sources: CDC, Youtube.com, Twitch.com, jshay.events

Media Social

By Bee Jones

@Getting Artsy With Tech How newer tech has affected the media being put out, process of film, and ease of growing a following.

7 comments

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K

ingsley (ClearKingsley) Taylor is a streamer on twitch. He streams and plays games as a hobby, and said that although most people don’t consider it, a lot of hard work actually goes into streaming and the making of video games.

“The algorithm on twitch is they want you to stream for a while, and they want you to do it multiple times a week,”. Taylor said. “And I believe if you get Twitch Partner you have to stream 200 hours a year, probably more than that.”

Taylor stated that there are some struggles to streaming, such as finding time to stream and figuring out how to work technology. He said having the right technology makes streaming much easier, as does having someone more knowledgable to help you.

Taylor has improved his technology since he first started streaming and shared that it is much better with the right equipment and tools, like a PC.

Picturing social media, with photo courtesy of Samuel Aardema.

Taylor also shared that platforms such as Streamlabs play an important part and make the streaming process much easier. “ I’ve been using stream labs and its a lot more organized.” Taylor stated, “I can just play music at the start of my streams instead of getting my phone, putting it up to the headset of my playstation, and then whenever I want to stop playing the music I don’t have to pause it and put back on the headset and stuff.”

It’s not only streamers who face challenges, though. Zucci Gold, a cinematographer, speaks about his own problems and experiences with technology.

“The major struggle is negotiating with clients because there may be disagreements about the cost of the production,” Gold said.

Gold says his social media does help him a lot with his job, though.

“I mostly communicate with clients on WhatsApp,” Gold said, “It has really helped. Most of my jobs and clients I get from social media - some from twitter but most jobs come from instagram. It is a great source for me.”

Photo from Gold’s social media, courtesy of Zucci Gold.

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Gold knew he wanted to go into film since he was a kid. He’d see movies and was captivated. Gold decided he wanted to be able to capture something like that.

Though he didn’t stick to wanting to create movies, it did cause him to grow up with an interest in film and he soon found work doing photoshoots with fashion brands, drinks, skincare brands, and models in general.

as a whole.

“This generation already has the technology and I believe they will be the ones to delve into it, and make it better, and have an impact on the world.”

Gold believes social media will positively impact society, but thinks there may be negative effects as well.

“Virtual reality sometimes has an effect on the kids, because once they have this virtual reality the real world is absent from them and it can cause a bit of drama, the detachment from reality can cause a breakdown” Taylor agreed it would largely impact society, and already has.

“I think it greatly affects it,” Kingsley said, “ I feel like when people see others streaming on twitch they think ‘Oh I could possibly do that’” He also tells his own story of how he got into streaming, “I remember, it was like a year ago,

“This generation already has the technology and I believe they will be the ones to delve into it, and make it better, and have an impact on the world.”

As Gold has gone along his equipment has also gotten more advanced.

- Cinematographer Zucci Gold

“I started in 2018 with just my mobile phone”, Gold said, “Now I use a camera, a gimbal stabilizer and microphone. Usually I rent the lighting when I need it” Gold also stated that he thinks newer technology and social media will change society a lot

Photos from a few of Gold’s collections, such as his Love Series, advertisements, and his graduation picture.

All pictures Courtesy of Zucci Gold.

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Some of Kingsley’s advertising in real life. Photo courtesy of Kingley Taylor

watching Wilbur Soot’s YouTube videos, and then finding out that all of this is streamed live, I thought ‘This seems pretty fun, I could do this!’”.

A photo from Gold’s “BLACKNIFICENT” series on his instagram, photo courtesy of Zucci Gold.

people see their own beauty, as well as being able to see that beauty himself and having a sense of fulfilment.

“The ability to make someone feel special and then have them see how beautiful they look and how special they are,” Gold said. “It’s priceless and gives you immeasurable joy.”

Though Gold didn’t go to college for film, he says it is his passion and it will be his life-long career. He gets joy from his art and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

Gold actually didn’t have much social media as a child because his parents were against it. Now, as an adult, he says social media is a large part of his job, both where he contacts clients and where he posts his work.

This shows that even if you aren’t expposed to it as a child, it is still a helpful tool that can even be used for a job.

Though Taylor mostly streams for fun with his friends and doesn’t consider streaming a career, it’s still a big part of his life, something he works very hard on, and a way to show creativity, which is the very definition of art.

“I consider it some type of film. I consider it art to be honest.” Kingsley said “Because film is art, it’s some form of entertainment, just longer than movies and stuff.”

“The ability to make someone feel special and then have them see how beautiful they look and how special they are, it’s priceless and gives you immeasurable joy.”

- Cinematographer Zucci Gold

Taylor believes that younger and older kids are influenced by social media since it is becoming more and more common.

Gold is very passionate about his film and photography, making it more than just photos. It’s art, and Gold said he is inspired by the beauty around him every day, whether in nature or in humans.

He said his inspiration comes from helping

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Zoomi Graphics by Bee Jones

A closer look into the history of film and streaming

I gnimooZ

ing In Before Netflix and YouTube, there were other ways of watching your favorite shows. This is a short timeline of the evolution of streaming and video.

1890Kinetograph, first motion picture camera was invented

1950’sHome television was spread and generally popularized

1920Sound started being used in feature length films

1992StarWorks (first commerical streaming service)

2005 to 2011Streaming platforms such as YouTube and Twitch start, creating new opportunities for filmmakers

TodayStreaming services are popular and easily accessible, and film strips are rarely used.

Artwork courtsey of Hammling

By Samuel Aardema

A

As lines slowly appear on his drawing board he swipes along a black tablet to the side of him. His artwork continues to build upon itself over and over as he uses the different tools available to him, able to slowly but surely finish his artwork that will eventually go online for others to look at and gain inspiration from.

Digital artwork is a subgenre of artwork where instead of using physical materials artists use technology like iPads and Photoshop to make art. The most popular software used to make digital art are Adobe products such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and Procreate which are used with iPads and Macbooks.

Many of these services require a subscription to use or a high initial price. In order to be more appealing, many of these software will incorporate new features and designs in order to grab an artist’s attention and make them more willing to pay the initial fee.

“Digital software is always evolving,” said Kloir. “From the very first time I opened microsoft paint to all of the new features of photoshop, digital art will always be changing.”

Digital art has seen massive shifts in the different features and the devices people use to draw it over time. First it started off with a simple program allowing people to draw simple lines with a paintbrush to the now evolving features slowly turning digital art into a less expensive alternative to physical art.

“Nowadays, the line between physical and digital art has become much smaller,” said Hammling.

This difference used to not be a lot, compared to today’s Hammling thinks, where we have the function of touchscreen use. Back then, a lot of newer artists had to rely on the technology of a mouse or tablet to draw.

“I remember it being jarring, learning how to draw, staring at a screen where my lines were popping up and my stylus and tablet off to the side,” said Hammling.

Most artists had to rely on a

“The one thing you can’t really imitate is understanding how different materials work and feel when you use them together,” Hammling said.

“That’s one thing that I think you have to experience and can only learn from physical art.”

But there are still major benefits to digital art for a beginner since there are no materials actually needed for newcomers to start doing digital art. The bar for entry is a lot lower compared to physical art which has a very high starting cost.

“Traditional mediums are all done physically so it requires tools and materials and are consumed accordingly,” Kloir said. “Digital tools are more forgiving as you don’t need to replenish colors, brushes, or canvases.”

This is the reason why some newcomers decide to try to start with digital art compared to traditional art which allows them to smoothly become more invested in creating art without having to waste the money on things like paint brushes and paint.

“As a newcomer to art I found it really daunting to spend some money on something that I wasn’t even certain I would ever use,” DuckBadger said.

Duckbadger believes digital art allows people to more easily get into drawing art by not requiring any money to use and start off with, but all of these benefits come with the complications of figuring out how to use them and which ones are best personally for the artist.

“For example, a lot of new

“Digital software is always evolving. From the very first time I opened microsoft paint to all of the new features of photoshop, digital art will always be changing.”

-Digital artist Kloir

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tablet in order to draw art efficiently and in detail. Nowadays due to the work of companies like Procreate and Apple, it has become easier to draw art digitally by moving the software to touchscreen devices.

“Having an iPad and Procreate can imitate a variety of different materials and tools, all while drawing directly on the screen,” Hammling said.

Procreate and Ipad have allowed digital artists to more closely relate to the more traditional form of art and draw more detailed environments and characters in their pieces. Of course, there are still issues with digital art.

digital artists get overwhelmed by what kind of brushes they should use when starting off, ” Kloir said.

This may lead newer artists to feel frustrated from starting with digital art and may lead them to quit but due to the internet it has become easier for people to interact with The artwork is called Going Nowhere, and it depicts a person just chilling. each other and figure They are walking through town enjoying the sound of rain hitting the out how to deal with sidewalk. Artwork courtesy of Hammling. these complications and better understand the intricacies in the thinks. It has allowed people to receive to understand which jobs they should programs. all these benefits while getting rid of take that seem reasonable. Without a “The internet has been a the con of being forced to go through a supportive art community, it would be tremendous resource for artists middleman. impossible for people to understand everywhere.” Kloir said. “ There are “I think the internet now which job offers are bad. so many tutorials, online courses, art allows a lot of creatives to share “Learning about what job communities, and knowledge available their work so easily, and to anyone opportunities you have as an artist, for free that it has made art so much at all; without the necessity of being how to even start out as a freelancer,” more accessible for everyone.” scouted or promoted through any one said Hammling.

The internet has allowed newer middleman,” Hammling said.

Knowing about these job artists to learn the tools needed to The ability to share your work opportunities is important but draw art. Every new digital artist has freely has been a big benefit for the art freelancers would be unable to live to rely on these tutorials to properly community but this freedom has led without the help of large social media learn and draw. Many of the best to some abuse of the systems which services. Services such as GoFundMe digital artists first started learning has led some people to be harmed or and Patreon allow artists to receive through tutorials. fear sharing their artwork with the donations and other types of things “I even learned how to draw community. from the people that support them. from tutorials that other artists “There are of course negative “I try to use as many social created,” Hammling said. “and aspects of the internet which include media platforms as possible to widen connected with a lot of other artists art theft, bullying, and many more,” my reach. If you’re trying to make a and communities over things that we Kloir said. living off art as a freelancer, social both enjoy.” media is a must.” Kloir said.

The negative aspects can The ability to easily share be terrible for a lot of people but The innovations of technology information through the internet has oftentimes the benefits will outweigh along with the constant love and allowed people to not only share the negatives since without the help support from the art community on tutorials, but also the artwork that they of these same people it would be social media has allowed artists who make. The internet also allows others were once unrecognizable to become impossible for people to understand to provide critique and feedback so why an artist’s job is important. extremely famous as well as get that you can improve your art later.

“Learning about proper work support from the people that like their “I think the internet now allows conditions as an artist and valuing work. “I try to use as many social a lot of creatives to share their work your worth as an artist; all come media platforms as possible to widen so easily, and to anyone at all,” my reach. If you’re trying to make a from a supportive art community.”

Hammling said.

Hammling said. living off art as a freelancer, social This ability to freely share your Learning how to value your own media is a must.” Kloir said. artwork is revolutionary, Hammling worth as an artist is important for them

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https://www.DigitalArtMeuseum/collection/TheBrushes

Users/Downloads/Office365/WordDocuments/DescriptionForArtwork

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Graphic by Samuel Aardema The most popular ways students use to make art. #1 Traditional art using brushes and other physical tools #2 Adobe Illustrator considred the standard for most programs #3 Procreate a Apple based software known for touchscreen devices #4 Krita a fan made digital art tool with high freedom 27 students surveyed from LASA high school on what they use to make digital art

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65%

Traditional Art

15% Illustrator

15%

Procreate

5%

Krita

Ctrl+X Content Graphics by Gunnar Haywood E-Books Cons: E-books on wireless, or even homewired will inevitebly have network issues and people will be unable to use them for a time. At anytime the device you are using could disconnect and because it is electronic, there can even be permanent loss of data depending on how long it had been since it had been used.

Pros: Some advantages for online reading/ e-books are that if they have been saved to a device, on a platform that can function without internet, and it has been saved on a mobile device, then it would be possible to use it wherever you go. The availability of e-books is also much better than physical copies, it’s possible to rent, find online, or purchase a book at anytime online. There is also much more content for heavy readers online, though the quality of some of the content may be below average.

Physical Books

Pros: Real books have the advantage of never having difficulties with the internet, they can be bought at anytime, and can be brought anywhere. There are no real restrictions on real books unless that specific book has been banned in that specific country/state/location.

Cons: The problem with real books is that if they are ever damaged in any way is that the book will likely be ruined forever, and the person who owns the book will have to aquire another copy of the book. Another disadvantage is the availability of the book, if the book production line has been discontinued, then you will have dificulty replacing or purchasing the book.

A Special Thanks to the people who made our Magazine Possible!

Carla McElhaney, Michael Mikulka, James Buhler, composer professor pianist

Zucci Gold, cinematographer

DuckBadger, digital artist

Kloir, digital artist

Kingsley Taylor, streamer

Hammling, digital artist

And a special thanks to our wonderful teacher, Kevin Garcia

Getting

Artsy with

Tech Spring 2022