Art educators enjoy an exciting opportunity: the chance to inspire creativity in students’ everyday lives and provide an essential spark of artistic passion.
This field has long called for a unique blend of encouragement and practical skill development. Students need to feel safe in exploring creative worlds, as they learn fundamental art concepts and develop hands-on skills to share their vision with others.
Art educator at the Museum of Modern Art’s ,Victor D’Amico explained that his version of artwork involved molding artistic individuals: “I produce creative people.” He added, however, that to remain in “tune with the times” and offer students “the enrichment they deserve,” they must explore many mediums.
“I paint, make stabiles and kinetic constructions, do photography and explore strobolite experiments, and do electrical experiments,” he adds.
In the future, new challenges can be expected. After all, art education is amidst considerable changes, which align with broader shifts in fine arts and digital media. For example, because technological tools are increasingly viewed as an important component of the artistic process, art education programs now strive to equip students with a better understanding of digital art applications and software.
However, traditional art techniques remain relevant. Concepts such as shading, contrast, and color provide a crucial foundation that is often easier to learn through older media such as painting or drawing. Art education encourages students to explore both realms and integrate traditional and digital elements to unlock a whole new world of creative possibilities.
The Value of Traditional Art Techniques
Digital art tools for students can make art education easier for students and instructors alike. Many tools can be available virtually, making them easier to access than traditional tools and techniques for today’s tech-literate students. Still, there is value in exploring classic mediums. While digital art has come a long way, traditional pieces remain visually impactful, and traditional instruction can carry important nuances that may ultimately influence digital art.
Building a Strong Artistic Foundation
Critical concepts such as line, shape, form, and texture can be difficult to understand if not practiced first-hand. While strictly digital instruction can provide a strong theoretical foundation, this will ideally be accompanied by applied learning, which brings a physical element to the educational process.
Results from a study published in the academic journal College Teaching confirm that students who participate in “arts-based kinesthetic learning activities” are more likely to report “positive perceptions, and higher retention, of course, material taught using arts-based kinesthetic activities compared to traditional active learning activities or passive learning.”
Cultivating Creativity Through Hands-On Techniques
Hands-on techniques promote tactile learning, helping students understand the physical properties of real materials. This remains difficult for even the most advanced digital tools to replicate.
Meanwhile, hands-on activities boost dexterity and fine motor skills while also prompting students to think critically about manipulating physical materials to produce the desired effect. Sensory-rich experiences can offer inspiration above and beyond what students can find in the digital realm.
Speaking to the value of tactile learning, the Art Institute of Chicago’s Lucas Livingston explains, “Touch is an intrinsic form of understanding.” While Livingston aims to expand artistic appreciation by incorporating the power of touch into museum exhibits, similar effects can be achieved by making tactile experiences central to art education. The goal, as Livingston explains, is to “explore the emotion and the sensitivity of the touch, the different materiality of the objects.”
The Rise of Digital Art in Modern Education
Traditional techniques will always be relevant, but it is now just as important for art students to explore digital possibilities. Through modern curricula and innovative platforms, students can learn foundational concepts from digital processes, by accessing a broader range of learning materials and experiences. Traditional educational techniques need not be pursued entirely in place of digital opportunities. These approaches should be integrated and complement each other.
Accessibility and Innovation in Digital Tools
Many aspiring artists have long struggled to convey their artistic ideas, simply because they lack access to high-level art programs. Moving forward, these concerns can be addressed by expanding access to digital platforms, which use immersive techniques to introduce students to fundamental art concepts.
Digital art tools for students and applications (such as Blender or Adobe Fresco) can help students draw or paint digitally, with some even providing insight into three-dimensional concepts. Voice-activated software and other adaptive tools can also expand instructional opportunities to make them feel more inclusive to students with disabilities.
New Avenues for Creative Expression
Digital art has significantly expanded the scope of artistic creation, providing new avenues for expression in the virtual world. In addition to allowing budding artists to explore strictly digital techniques, tech-forward opportunities also promote the use of mixed media, which UK art organization Tate describes as “composed from a combination of different media or materials.” Digital painting techniques can capture the nuances of light and color but can also be combined with tangible elements to bring a more concrete or organic feel to digital creations.
Balancing Traditional and Digital Art Techniques
Artists and art educators increasingly recognize that both traditional and digital techniques have a powerful role to play in broadening our artistic horizons. The challenge lies in determining how to effectively integrate these two sides of the artistic world.
In teaching digital art, instructors can help shape this narrative, encouraging students to hold strong to their artistic vision while using multiple tools or mediums to expand upon their creative ideas. Through a balanced approach, core artistic principles will still ring true, bringing deeper meaning to artistic pieces while ensuring that they remain visually compelling.
Combining Traditional Skills With Digital Innovation
Many traditional skills remain critical to producing astounding works of art, even when these incorporate high-tech elements. For instance, brushwork adds movement and emotion to artistic pieces which can be reflected through digital means. Customizable brush tools and settings are available through solutions such as Photoshop or Corel, but it is also possible to capture the intricacies of traditional brushwork through layering or even through augmented reality (AR) applications.
Digital solutions can also help study artistic concepts. Again, using brushwork as an example, emerging 3D scanning and AI solutions can identify “telltale differences in brushwork” through the use of topographical scans. These solutions show that digital tools don’t have to replace traditional strategies. Instead, they can complement them or enhance our basic artistic understanding.
Digital Tools as a Complement to Traditional Art
Digital tools can enhance artistic projects or expand access. One of the main advantages of digital solutions is that they allow for multi-sensory experiences, which may prove more difficult to facilitate through traditional techniques alone. For example, blended media can integrate virtual displays into physical works, using LEDs or sound effects to bring dynamic appeal to otherwise static works.
This represents one of the most exciting opportunities within the rapidly expanding world of AR art, as referenced by contemporary artist Kaws: “I hope people see this as a turning point of how an exhibition can be experienced.” Landscape artist Judy Chicago adds that digital solutions could potentially “democratize art like print-making.”
The Role of Technology in Art Education
Technology has an exciting role to play not only in enhancing mixed media but also in shaping the art education programs of tomorrow. Already, technological tools expand access to instruction, along with customization opportunities that reflect students’ unique needs. At this point, the challenge is not finding digital art resources or platforms, but rather, finding creative ways to integrate the best of traditional instruction.
Online Learning Platforms for Art Education
Offering immersive instruction and exposure to important collaborative tools, today’s online learning platforms can expose a wider range of students to exciting artistic possibilities. This is an excellent opportunity for art education by promoting immersive and highly interactive activities through solutions such as AR.
Fully online art degree programs are now available, with other students leveraging one-off workshops or continuing education opportunities to expand upon existing skill sets. Insights from the pandemic revealed the expanded possibilities for digital art education.
What’s more, some remote solutions may provide new opportunities to highlight “important issues and keep [instruction] relevant.” The ultimate goal is always to help students grasp artistic concepts so they feel empowered to “respond and express themselves.”
Digital Collaboration and Global Learning Communities
The artistic world has long been highly collaborative, with artists seeking inspiration through travel and by gaining exposure to different cultures and perspectives. With digital art platforms, collaborative opportunities have become far more accessible, allowing artists to share fascinating ideas without physically visiting various works of art.
Opportunities from museums such as the Louvre promote access, while collaborative platforms help artists, instructors, and students work together in real-time. Solutions from DeviantArt, Behance, and ArtStation provide a glimpse of the collaborative possibilities in store. While these can present new challenges as digital systems “collide with copyright law,” tools such as Glaze can address these concerns while encouraging artists and art students to continue collaborating in the digital realm.
Preparing Students for a Future in Art and Design
Tomorrow’s art educators have an important responsibility, which is preparing students for an uncertain future. Art educators can help by exposing students to a wide range of traditional and digital techniques and by prompting students to think critically about how both traditional and digital solutions may play into future career opportunities.
The Importance of Adaptability
Soft skills such as problem-solving and adaptability are increasingly important for future artistic professionals, who may eventually need to navigate tools and techniques that do not yet exist. Those willing to leverage emerging technologies will find it easier not only to appeal to potential employers or clients but also to uncover cutting-edge ways to bring their own concepts to life. A BBC feature on the importance of adaptability explains that “being adaptable isn’t about responding to change, but being a proactive catalyst for it.”
The positive takeaway for art educators? Research suggests that self-efficacy — defined as “an individual’s beliefs and expectations about his or her ability to accomplish various tasks or behaviors” — can enhance adaptability. Artistic pursuits have long been known to boost self-efficacy. By studying art—whether through traditional techniques or digital tools—future artists may show increased self-efficacy and adaptability.
Career Opportunities in the Digital Age
While there will always be a strong need for tangible works, many of the most promising artistic opportunities of tomorrow will involve the digital realm. For instance, many artistic professionals are drawn to immersive installations or showcases. This allows them to blend innovative digital techniques with traditional elements and ultimately, create new worlds for guests or patrons.
From fashion to publishing, many industries seek visual artists, who can translate foundational artistic concepts and techniques to digital mediums, influencing branding and marketing
Expand Artistic Potential With RMCAD’s Art Education Program
Eager to inspire a new generation of creatives? You will discover impactful teaching strategies, plus opportunities for combining traditional and digital art, as you make the most of the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) Art Education program. Reflecting the expansion of art, this degree is available online and in-person. Either way, this program offers a deep dive into today’s most exciting digital art tools and techniques, without sacrificing the fundamentals. Get in touch to learn more about this exciting opportunity.
