A digital artwork, as I define it, is a work of art created using technology - a digital camera, scanner and computer - in lieu of traditional materials such as brushes, paints and canvas. I start by taking a digital photograph of my subject matter. This picture acts as a base for the painting. I use the pixels of colour within the photograph as paint. Playing with each photo, I alter the focus, colour and form. Some elements are added for visual impact, while others are smudged out. Each picture dictates the painting style. Some compositions, for example, remind me of an Impressionist painting, so I use quick strokes of colour or maybe tiny pixels of colour, to render the image. The technique is essentially the same as conventional painting but with a few distinct differences. One, the materials are quite different and two, digital art is far more forgiving. Conventional painting has no 'undo' function. (I wish everything in life had an undo function!) As a digital artist, I often find myself defending the medium. While some may question the artistic value of a digital art, preferring a more conventional approach to art, I look instead to the example set by my favourite artist Henri Matisse. Matisse was labeled a Fauvist - a term of derision meaning "wild beast" - for his orgiastic use of colour. Yet despite public outrage he, like scores of artists before him, continued to push the boundaries of art and to challenge the status quo. Such is the nature of art; it is always evolving to reflect, defy and even change societal beliefs. Although materials and styles vary, artists continue to share such constants as a flair for aesthetics, a good eye for composition and an ability to communicate via form and colour. The marriage of technology and art does not lessen the merit of its offspring; indeed, a digital art is a work of art. Copyright © 2007, Kim Hutchinson. All rights reserved.