Times Of Swaziland: DIGITAL ART VS ANALOGUE ART

DIGITAL ART VS ANALOGUE ART
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Tessa Nxumalo on 15/06/2022 08:19:00


MBABANE – Arts marries technology!
The art industry is flowing with competition as the digital age comes into play.
Digital art, once called computer art or new media art refers to art made using
software, computers, or other electronic devices. Material produced or made on
digital media, such as animations, photographs, illustrations, videos and
digital paintings and such can be classified as digital art. With digital
art,you place the original image then reduce its opacity.Once that has been done
you create a new layer for your outlines and outline every detail of the
original picture using a mouse or a digital tablet.It’s very tricky when using
a mouse and it takes more time compared to using a digital tablet.
Analogue or traditional art is any art where the material making the art is
manipulated by hand, like paint. You can control any portion of it where as
digital is constituted of many individual pieces of electronic information such
as pixels, in the case of digital photography, it can’t be further broken
down.This publication reached out to one digital artist Siciniseko Mdluli (22)
from Siteki who broke it down for us. He started doing digital art a year after
he completed his high school level. It  was one of his hobbies during his gap
year before he went to college. Mdluli has always been a fan of art. Growing up
he drew characters like Dragon Ballz. This is what revived the passion he has
for art.
Custom made
Mdluli has also done a song cover artworks for the likes of former Telenovela
Isibaya’s character Abdul Khoza, custom made T-shirts for Uzalo actor Wiseman
Mncube known for his character ‘Sibonelo’. He’s also done a portrait for
the Ngubane family when Menzi Ngubane known as Mazwi from Ubambo lwami and
Isibaya passed on and many more. When reached for comment Mdluli shared how he
sells his art to the public.“I have only done so through social media. It has
been the base of my market,that’s how I’ve managed to get more clients and
sell my work, mostly through Instagram,Facebook and Twitter.”
Aleta Armstrong from Yebo Art Gallery was reached for comment on art moving into
the digital space. “Digital art is great and is a new art form which galleries
should embrace. It’s a very accessible art medium for young artists. Art
evolves and must never be put in a box, experimentation is vital,” said
Armstrong. When reached for comment owner and Director of Bahle Gallery
Sandzisile Magwaza expressed her views on digital art versus the traditional
art. “I feel that digital art has less value than original art pieces, more so
because it takes time and more creativity to create a traditional art piece.”