Traditional Media combined with Digital, What do you call it?

[Linda Rzoska]

I work in both traditional and digital media. Recently I have been labeling the media as:

Mixed Media: Watercolor, Chalk & Oil Pastels, Calligraphy, Digital.

I list the media in order of it's use in the creation of the artwork. When the traditional aspect is finished I scan it at a high resolution and then add elements, paint in colors, and add textures.  I print them in small limited edition print ranges of usually 3 or 10.

This seems to be the acceptable standard for the juried exhibitions that I enter. I'm interested in hearing your experiences and comments.

[James MacMahon]

Once you put your mixed media work into digital format it becomes a digital work only. It should be treated as a digital photograph. The end result is a digital photo no matter how you got there and should be treated as a digital photo. Your work is good, so why transform it to a digital photograph ?

[Linda Rzoska]

Hi James, Thank you for your response and sharing your thoughts. I have done more research since posting this question and found that most describe digital art as any art where digital art software has been utilized including in a combination with traditional media.

My experience has shown that the terms "digital image" and "digital painting" are used by the galleries, institutes, and museums where I have exhibited. With the term "digital photo" being reserved for photography taken with a digital camera.

I use the digital medium to combine elements such as calligraphy and scanned found objects, to add textures, and to add color with digital painting methods. The digital medium is an essential part of the creation of my artwork.

[Andrew Schlageter]

I have found that digital media works best as its own medium.  I have scanned pieces in and edited/added to them, but the digital work I am most proud of is done in the program from start to finish.  Digital drawings tend to have their own feel to them as a separate medium, which can have benefits. 

On an other note, I would treat digital medium like a paint medium.  Programs like Photoshop have many affects that can be helpful, but a lot of my digital work is either mostly or exclusively brush tool to keep the composition unified, while even using tools like burn and dodge can cause awkward inconsistencies.

I would conclude by saying if you don't already have one, use a drawing tablet.      

[Linda Rzoska]

Hi Andrew,
Thank you for your reply and sharing your experiences with digital media. I also digitally paint using Adobe Photoshop and enjoy experimenting a great deal with textured brushes and "layer modes". I was very fortunate to have been appoved for a sabbatical leave from teaching in 2009 which allowed me to spend 7 month of studio time focusing on the development and creation of my work. A great deal of that time was exploring digital techniques I never had the opportunity to learn before. I find photoshop has so many different possibilities for artwork crestion. Yes, a tablet is a must have (at least for me).

[Marc VanDermeer]

I work with digital photographic elements that are painted on or layered via photoshop and silkscreen, I've been doing this sort of work since 2001, when I had my first group show in New York it was called "Pixel Perfect" subsequent to that I  labeled the work "Pixelation", I personally don't like those  labels  and prefer the classification of "Mixed Media"