In the mid 19th Century an artist painted a picture to depict and remind us of a moment, place or person and being able to afford such a piece was a sign of status.
Today audiences are inundated with images from a variety of places and the ability to use mobile devices gives everybody the opportunity to capture a ‘moment’. This enables many more people to show their creativity beyond the traditional art world.
Howard believes that “technology isn’t in competition with art, it’s part of it….artists use technology to produce works of art…One can argue that the use of hands in the primitive cave paintings was a technological tool of that time… art and technology are inter-related and the art world has benefitted because of that, as technology improves…the possibilities for art expand too!”
Art has increased in popularity, primarily due to the improved accessibility to a wider audience. The internet has played a huge part in that and technology has given us the ability to reproduce prints of original images by artists, this allows art to be appreciated by more people; something that Howard feels very passionate about. When talking about art and technology, Howard believes that, “Art is in everything; technology doesn’t wipe out art, it just changes it….cavemen had earth and their hands; somebody invented the brush and made it possible to paint fine lines, somebody invented paper, paints now have quicker drying times….I don’t paint from photographs, but to have a digital camera that can record the real colour is majorly helpful when finishing a painting…(and)there will always be a case for original paintings, (the artist) can exaggerate the colour and composition, remove trees and move mountains…using artistic licence to create reality.” “Art is the application of humanity on something…you can appreciate it or not(that’s up to the audience) an artist expresses their personality through what they make!”
Ultimately art in both the traditional and modern formats will transcend through the generations and will paint the story of this digital era as is the legacy of art.
Written by H.J.K with quotes from Howard