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 Canberra amateurs.

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. They visited the Woden Hellenic Club.

🎞️ Animation

The animation process manipulates still images. This creates an illusion of motion.
I use twelve to 15 frames per second. Those are low frame rates. Whereas 24 or 30 fps can produce a smoother visual experience.
Artists used to sketch each frame manually. That was laborious. Nowadays software accelerates the workflow. So animators can focus on expression.

✏️ Illustration

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