Normally, when I use the term digital media I am referring to videos, graphic design, movies, and so on. From reading the article I learned that digital media is an unavoidable art form. The world is advancing at a very fast pace and many new things are being discovered by the use of a computer.
I believe that digital media should play a very important role in the art classroom. This past weekend I ran into an old friend. He will graduate from high school in May of 2009. He told me that he wanted to take digital art as a junior but instead was forced to take Drawing and Painting 1 as a prerequisite. I began to ponder the bridge between digital media and traditional art tools. Why was it important for him to take Drawing and Painting 1 first? I am quite sure there are many techniques and skills that he can learn beforehand that will enrich his experience in digital media. But why was it a requirement? From his unfortunate experiences with traditional tools and I am shocked that he was still inspired to take the Digital Art class. His willingness to take Drawing and Painting 1 as the first step to taking Digital Art got me thinking about the participatory culture. I know many high school students that are members of MySpace and Facebook. They enjoy uploading pictures that have been manipulated. They are adventurous adolescents that play with the color, line, and shape of the subject in the photograph.
Was my old friend apart of this participatory culture? Is that the reason for his headstrong decision to take Digital Art? I believe that digital media plays a huge role in the art classroom today. The art classroom should facilitate the appropriate learning tools and professional instruction for the youth today. If the students are involved in participatory culture, why not use their interest to create an informative learning environment. A lot of the ideas in the article kind of went over my head but I do believe that some of the things mentioned are attainable. I enjoyed the article. I believe that as teachers we have to at least try to keep up with the fast-paced changes in the technological world today. We can use games, software, and the Internet to build social skills, problem-solving skills, a healthy identity and aesthetic of the social world.
This semester I hope to learn the purpose and the benefits of teaching Digital Art. I have always dreamed of being proficient in Photoshop and Final Cut Pro just to name a few. I truly would appreciate a demo on software such as Corel Painter X, Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe 9 (learning how to send and create files in Adobe, pdf), and much more. I would like to be knowledgeable of the Digital World. I can imagine a student knowing more than me about a program. How can I facilitate learning for the student if I don’t even know the software well enough to provide basic instruction?
I have taken three Digital classes since I’ve been at the Corcoran: Design with Pat, Digital Photography with Kim and Digital Art with Bill Newman. I have spent hours in front of Illustrator and Photoshop and still have not grasped the basic fundamentals. It is amazing. I often wonder how I completed all of those projects. I constantly question why I didn’t retain the information and tools taught during the class. I could open the application for Illustrator and immediately freeze, not knowing how to set up a template or to create an awesome piece like the digital art masters that I read about in art magazines.
My most enjoyabe memory of Digital Art class with Bill Newman was the day we printed on canvas. I was so excited. We were able to create a piece without many demands on how the piece should look. Bill gave us many options, we could print a line drawing on the canvas and then paint the piece or we could attempt to create something that looked like a painting. That class was a lot of fun. I believe that I benefited from that class because it was open to interpretation. I did not retain a lot of “how-to’s.” I think the purpose was to explore and learn through constructive play.
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