did somebody mention ART

 at times like these, i can only be reminded of Kelli's love for that picture from the Iron Giant of Dean going "ART." I mean, what is ART, anyways? even worse, what's digital art??? who even knows!

unrelated, my second thought is this video:

anyways, back to ART! art has always been subjective and i think to answer the question "what is art" will take literally a lifetime (and then some). however, i think we can define what makes something digital art. traditionally, i think we all think of digital art are things that are created using digital tools & programs, like WACOM tablets and PhotoShop. while that is definitely digital art, other examples expand outside of our "typical" view as well.

Bob the Drag Queen teaching the children about what REALLY matters.

photo manipulation is a big contender a lot of people forget about. there's a lot that goes into cutting and pasting certain selections, layering, juxtaposing images, and messing with hues, lighting, and other artistic elements to create harmony in a piece. there's also flash animation, where people take their digital drawings and add frames of movement to create a moment of animation (much like a GIF, which are also arguably digital art!) along with animation, video editing to can be a form of digital art. on YouTube, people like to take clips or fanart of shows and masterfully put them to music (AMVs / MMVs), and often use the same tools as photo manipulation. there's a lot of layering and filters going on, as well as the artistic challenge of musicality to create a few minutes of digital art.

also don't forget about memes and, as i said, GIFS! also very valid in terms of art, because why not? it is subjective, after all :P for example, here's some art i made this week:

@netnarr much relax, many wow #netnarr #dda158 pic.twitter.com/jVkmeQdqHz

— hailey (@stryii) February 20, 2018

@netnarr hey @RissaCandiloro , wanna get matching knuckle tattoos of this? 👀 #netnarr #dda159 pic.twitter.com/07vbanCBxE

— hailey (@stryii) February 20, 2018

alright, maybe it's not as good as some art, but hey, it is art. and just because i'm in a "giving" mood, i'll share with you some digital art i've created myself. they're of an old character of mine from a game I used to play all the way from 2004. i got back into the game again last year, and that's when i created these. i'll share some older art, too!

Made in GIMP with a WACOM drawing tablet.

Created using Furcadia's FOX pixel editor.

And now for your entertainment, really old art I'm going to pull from a deviantART account from five+ years ago (i'm cringing RIP me).

but, the whole point: as you can see, digital art can look very different, like traditional art! there are different mediums of artistic expression, both online and in physical form, but it's up to the artist on how they want to express themselves. i also want to note the accessibility of digital art: it does offer, usually, a more affordable way of creating art, instead of constantly buying paints & fancy copic markers. however, tablets and software (if you want to actually buy PhotoShop and not use its free sister programs) can get a bit pricey, but they're usually a one-time buy. also, not everyone has a computer to use to create it, so there's that. just a little food for thought.

unrelated, but i'll also share it here, is my SelfieUnselfie! i don't know how to artistically weave this into my blog post, so i'm just gonna go ahead and show ya:

#selfieunselfie from a selfie, it would be hard for people who didn't know me to get an idea that i have an obsession with Allen Ginsberg. i also really (really) love coffee & cats, but maybe you could've guessed that just by looking at me :P #netnarr @netnarr pic.twitter.com/kF31y7YkQW

— hailey (@stryii) February 20, 2018