I'm just going to cut to the chase and insist that art created digitally is legitimate art in the fine art world, and not just because David Hockney says so. Next, I'll tell you how insecure I was for so long about this very idea.
Even while I was making artwork digitally, I wasn't seeing it as my real art so much as art exploration. I was thinking of the work I did on my iPad as only art journaling, or sketching ideas and nothing more. It was exploring ideas and color combos and just having fun with no end purpose in mind. It made sense. iPad art came for me at a time during 2020 when I was home with the kids while they did virtual school and couldn't excuse myself to paint, and it was also that summer when we were in the middle of moving houses, and my supplies were still in boxes. Digital art was a terrific solution and outlet for my creative energy!
Once the frenzy of moving was over, and my paints, canvases and brushes were unpacked and organized in my larger and dedicated studio, I realized that iPad art was my habit, and I liked it.
It wasn't until I started reaching for my iPad more often than my paint brushes that I realized I was in trouble. I wasn't spending enough time in my studio and I wasn't painting enough. In fact, I think I was enjoying the ease of digital too much. No time wasted with color mixing! No drying time! Easy to "undo" mistakes! No risk!
So with the acceptance, comes the dilemma: If I'm spending a great portion of my art-making time on digital art, how do I sell something that's essentially electronic vapor? NFTs? Prints?
NFTs may be all the rage, but it took me several weeks of researching it as an option to decide it's not for me. I want people to hang my artwork in their homes where it can be seen. I am not sure they would do that if they bought the digital token, even if I encouraged them to have it printed. Never say never though. Someday I may eat my words on NFTs and join the gang. For now though, I needed to find a way forward that can support me as a working artist.
I am a painter and I am a digital artist too. And it's ok to be an artist any way you want to be an artist. As for sales, I'm happy to report that my digital art prints beautifully, and I now offer some of them for purchase as limited edition prints on my website, right alongside my original painted works.
Maybe the dilemma was all in my head. I've been getting good feedback about the prints so I think I needn't have worried about it so much.
Unboxing the May prints.