Digital media
by Bryan Kilgallin

Digital art uses digital technology. And digital media are machine-readable. My art club's digital group seems unique among amateurs here.

For fieldwork, I use a laptop. So I prefer a table by a power point.

The author at a laptop in a cafe
On Sunday August 8, 2021, I was at a cafe in Griffith, ACT. There Bobby Graham sketched me.

I use two types of pointing devices: a mouse and a stylus. While both input spatial data, they do so in different ways. A mouse tracks motion across a surface. It collects 2D positional data. A tablet offers more nuanced input than a mouse. It detects the stylus' position, pressure, and tilt.

Tablets

Tablet computer gear can be expensive. I have two such Wacom peripherals. The Intuos M graphics tablet was my first. One draws on the tablet while viewing on the laptop.

With a grant, I bought a Cintiq 16 pen display. It combines a drawing surface and display. But it needs stable external power. Whereas the Intuos M does not.

The author in the Hellenic Club
Above is my portrait. It was taken on 11th December 2022. Then I was with Urban Sketchers Canberra. It visited the Woden Hellenic Club.

Animation

The animation process manipulates still images. This creates the illusion of motion.
I used twelve frames per second. That's a low frame rate. Whereas 24 or 30 fps can produce a smoother visual experience.
Artists used to sketch each frame manually. That was laborious. Nowadays software accelerates workflow. So animators can focus on expression.

Illustration

Some software renders graphics. Raster programs mainly paint pixels. While vector programs mainly draw paths.