Freedom and constraint in the creative process in digital fine art

Digital artists with motor impairments in their upper limbs face considerable barriers to accessibility when using drawing tools. Our work aims to investigate the complex relationship between digital artists’ creative processes and their accessibility challenges. We conducted 15 interviews with artists who use input devices to make digital art, analyzing their accessibility challenges for producing digital artwork. We reviewed how effective the solutions are in diminishing the impact on their creative processes and identifying design opportunities for the research community. Using thematic analysis, we look at the challenges participants reported in their artistic production, including managing pain, discomfort, and injuries alongside workarounds. Secondly, the artists reported the complexities of managing internal and external perceptions. Lastly, the ways creative processes are impacted by the accessibility challenges and solutions related to their upper limb motor impairments. We discuss research directions which can better address the impact of accessibility challenges on creative processes, the balance of creative agency over tools, and design insights for more accessible artistic technologies.

The chapter draws on the writings of Merleau-Ponty constituting an Embodiment Theory of Art, which he uses to support his embodiment theory of perception (Haworth JT, The embodiment theory of pre-reflexive thought and creativity. In: Gilhooly KJ, Keane MTG, Logie RH, Erdos G (eds) Lines of thinking, vol 2. Wiley, Chichester, 1990, Leonardo 30(2):137–145, 1997). This views the artwork as “enriched being” in its own right, as distinct from an analogue for an external truth or essence, as traditional aesthetic theory claims. It proposes that this enriched being is not produced primarily by intentional acts, the traditional view, but by the reciprocal influence of consciousness, the body, techniques and materials. It “gives visible existence to what profane vision believes to be invisible” (Merleau-Ponty M, Eye and mind. In: Eddie JM (ed) The primacy of perception. North Western University Press, Evanston, p 166, 1964a). Merleau-Ponty (Eye and mind. In: Eddie JM (ed) The primacy of perception. North Western University Press, Evanston, 1964a) drew on the writings of modern artists and concluded that the painter’s vision is not a view on the outside, but a concentration or coming to itself of the visible (p. 181). He considered that works of art contain matrices of ideas that have their origins in embodiment (Merleau-Pony M, Indirect language and the voices of silence. In Wild J (ed) Signs. North Western University Press, Evanston, p 77, 1964b). He also claimed “that modes of thought correspond to technical methods, and that to use Goethe’s phrase ‘what is inside is also outside’” (Sense and Nonsense 1964c, p 59). As Merleau-Ponty indicates, we do not see the world, but see with the world. In artistic terms different media with which we interact have different voices which play a part in the creation of enriched being, perception and consciousness. The chapter will present conclusions from research conversations undertaken by Haworth (Leonardo 30(2):137–145, 1997) using the perspectives of Merleau-Ponty, held with internationally famous artists in order to gain further insights into the creative process. The chapter will summarise and discuss findings from practice led research by the author, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Board in the UK, into Creativity and Embodied Mind in Digital Fine Art; and Freedom and Constraints in the Creative Process (Haworth JT, Explorations in creativity, technology and embodied mind. In: Freire T (ed) Understanding positive life: research and practice on positive psychology. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, pp 429–444, 2010a). Several examples of recent work in digital fine art by the author will be presented and discussed, focusing on the creative process. Comments will be noted from an international study of digital artists (Thompson P, Born digital-new materialities. Robert Gordon University, Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen, 2011). The chapter will summarise and discuss an innovative photoethnographic project by the author into ‘The Way We Are Now’, and ‘A day in the life of----’. The possibilities of interpretation of this visual methodology are considered to be “an artistic object for contemplation; as individual visual profiles for comparative research; or as analysis of themes across a group of individuals, and between groups” (Haworth JT, Explorations in creativity, technology and embodied mind. In: Freire T (ed) Understanding positive life: research and practice on positive psychology. Escolar Editora, Lisboa, pp 429–444, 2010a). The ESM method with photos can also stimulate reflection and change in perceptions. The method can break the mould of looking/ perceiving. It can open up opportunities/possibilities for new ways of seeing things, and introduce a new train of imagination. The method could be used to create a global mirror of consciousness. The chapter will conclude by discussing future directions for research and practice.

International audience

Digital art as a new trend in contemporary art practice, digital art is changing the way art is created and presented through technologies such as computer graphics and virtual reality. This article examines various ways of displaying the digital art, aesthetic concepts of digital art and its key role in protecting the traditional culture, and pays special attention to the development of Chinese digital art in our time. An analysis of how Chinese artists use digital technologies for innovative artistic practices, and how these practices reflect and influence modern Chinese society and culture. The research includes an analysis of the main technologies and examples of combining art and technology, as well as an assessment of the role of digital tools in the creative process. Special attention was paid to digital art, its innovativeness, freedom of expression and new horizons of interactivity and accessibility. This confirms that digital art, as an evolving art form, not only enriches the content and expands the scope of art, but also opens up endless opportunities for the future development of art. This convergence not only revives traditional culture on digital platforms, but also contributes to the preservation of culture through innovative ways that allow works of art to interact with a wide audience in new forms.

As digital art merges with contemporary art, there have been many fundamental changes in the creative process. New forms of art continue to emerge and a revolutionary change in the art experience is occurring in museums, galleries and on the Internet. As a digital art curator, I have been fortunate to be a part of this revolution and will share my experiences and thoughts about past, present and future developments in curating traditional, contemporary and digital art. After a few landmark exhibitions in the late 1960s, digital art found an early home in international organisations, such as Ars Electronica, ISEA, New York Digital Salon, and ZKM. The development of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s gave digital art the additional exposure it needed. Artists could now sidestep the traditional art establishment and reach a global audience through their websites. The Internet also expanded the art experience beyond galleries and museums into homes, schools and portable devices. 2001 joined 1968 as a landmark year for major museum exposure of digital art with BitStreams and Data Dynamics at the Whitney Museum of American Art and 010101 at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. What transpired over these decades has reshaped contemporary art and presented new challenges to museum professionals faced with this new art form. When looking towards the future, we will see a continued merging of digital art with contemporary art. New ways of exhibiting and creative self-expression using VR and Augmented Reality, along with other new, yet to be invented, technologies will be developed as they continue to infuse our daily lives and art experiences. This paper will examine the evolution of curating digital art over the past twenty-five years.

Education in fine arts has specific functions, expressed primarily in the direction of the child’s personality development. Currently, there is no single approach to assessing the results of creative activity. Topical are the problems of taking into account the individual characteristics of students, as well as developing their ability for independent creative reflection. The purpose of this study is to study the specifics and develop a methodology for evaluating the results of teaching children the fine arts in the system of additional education, as well as determining the conditions for its use in pedagogical practice. The article considers a humanistic and personality-oriented approach to children’s creative activity, on the basis of which a flexible strategy for assessing educational results is proposed. Based on the generalization of pedagogical experience, as well as the analysis of domestic and foreign studies of children’s creative activity, a map of parameters for assessing the results of teaching fine arts has been developed. A distinctive feature of this map is a detailed description of the evaluation criteria and their indicators. This card is designed for a wide range of additional education programs in fine and decorative arts and has been tested as a structural model of a child artist’s student portfolio. The portfolio allows you to track the creative progress and individual achievements of each student in the most visual form. The principles of filling in such a portfolio are developed and described, which contribute to the development in children of the skills of self-assessment of the results of visual activity, aesthetic perception and social interaction in the process of creativity. The novelty of this approach lies in the focus not only on the artistic result, but also on the creative process itself, which is considered in the context of continuous self-improvement and self-development of the child’s personality.

The study highlights the methodological approach to organizing the creative process of future specialists in decorative and applied arts of a higher pedagogical educational institution under conditions of the modern education system of Ukraine. The purpose of the study was to present the content of special methodological work on how to organize the creative process aimed at forming students' understanding of the decorative image features. The problem is how to achieve a high result of creative tasks, students' works, along with the development of technologies for painting fabrics (batik), which together will help a future specialist to become a professional in the future. The methods of the study were: theoretical – the analysis of scientific sources on the problem related to the formation and determination of its formation signs in students; practical – the analysis of pedagogical experience – in order to highlight effective forms of work with students within the educational environment of a higher education institution, which contributes to the formation of students' understanding of the organization of the creative process. The professional literacy of the future specialist majoring in 023 "Fine Arts and Decorative Arts, Restoration" is based on his/her ability to build activities according to aesthetic laws (to understand contemporary fine and decorative arts, folk art); it consists of a system of special knowledge and skills. It is substantiated that folk art is our self-identification, we need to know the traditions of our people, modern fine arts; it is important to revive them in original modern forms, to promote the development of experimental trends, to work creatively with folk paintings in the process of teaching the disciplines of the course "Decorative and Applied Arts", to show how promising it is today. The article describes the methodological approach to the organization of the creative process in solving the thematic tasks within the academic course "Fundamentals of Fabric Painting". One of the ways to renew assignments of the academic disciplines "Fundamentals of Fabric Painting" and “Decorative and Applied Arts" has been presented. It is shown that on the basis of the conducted pedagogical experiment and its results, the creative activity of understanding and creating a decorative image as a holistic process that improves professional skill and competence is confirmed. We see the prospects of scientific research in the extension of the study of the necessary modern methodology which develops students' interest in various types of activities, including scientific, research-centred, artistic and creative, as well as in the increasingly extensive implementation of methodological findings in the process of studying Decorative and Applied Arts.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has introduced advanced technologies such as 3D printing and digital art into fine arts, creating new opportunities and challenges for sustainability. This study investigates how artists, institutions, and practices negotiate material use in the intersection of creativity, technology, and ecological responsibility. Drawing on qualitative research methods—including interviews, observations, and document analysis—and guided by the Multi-Level Perspective (MLP) and Circular Economy (CE) frameworks, this study explores the emergence of sustainable practices within the fine arts. Findings reveal that artists are experimenting with recycled and bio-based filaments, reimagining impermanence as a valid aesthetic strategy, and developing grassroots practices of circularity. However, institutional conservatism, technical limitations, and infrastructural gaps constrain these efforts. The discussion highlights the dual role of institutions as both gatekeepers and enablers, and argues for systemic alignment across policy, practice, and research to enable sustainable transitions. The study concludes that 3D printing and digital art can drive ecological awareness and innovation in fine arts when supported by integrated institutional and cultural frameworks.

Creativity refers to the ability to produce original work that is meaningful and valuable within its context. Paul J. Guilford, at the American Psychological Association conference in 1950, devoted his presidential address to creativity and stressed its importance for future generations. Guilford conceptualized creativity as a factor within a general theory of intelligence, and in this regard, creativity was an individual ability involving divergent thinking that could be developed through interaction between individuals and their environments. Since then, creative thinking processes have been extensively studied, the initial conceptions have been modified, and new perspectives are being provided; for instance, neuroscientists are examining creative thinking processes using different methods and tools than those used in traditional cognitive psychology. Nevertheless, great creations have not always been the products of one person. On the contrary, many great creative achievements have involved the collaboration of several people, not as the sum of individual creativities but as the product of the whole group. Furthermore, both individual and group creativity, as any other psychological construct, cannot be studied isolated from the context within which it occurs. Even Guilford’s emphasis on creativity was the product of the sociopolitical and cultural conditions of the time (the Cold War, post–World War II intellectual malaise, and the dawning of the space race). Creative processes and acts are not solely an expression of individual abilities; they are also social, embodied, and temporal and should be studied as such. In recent decades the world is characterized by rapid change; the economic and the sociocultural conditions in a globalized economy have led creativity to be a highly socially valued ability. People consume creative products at a higher rate than any other time in history, including artistic creations such as films, music, fine arts, or countless technological innovations, which in turn raises the demand for more creative productions. Education has an important role to play to prepare students for a creativity-thirsty society. In Vygoskian terms it mediates the elements that help children to master their environments. Modern curricula stress the need for the development of students’ creativity so that they are equipped with the necessary skills for the society of tomorrow. It is possible to consider the different facets of creativity through a 7 Cs approach. These Cs provide a framework for examining creativity in terms of creators (creative people), creating (the act of producing new work), collaborations (interactions with close others during creation), context (the physical and social environment), creation (the new production and its characteristics), consumption (the uptake and adoption of creative work), and curricula (teaching and developing creativity through education). Research on creativity, across the 7 Cs, provides numerous avenues for the educational development of creativity.

From prehistoric cave paintings to contemporary digital creations, art has been integral to human expression throughout history. Digital art in modern art gradually includes various forms, such as Painting, sculpture and animation, using technology as its medium. Digital art includes any artistic work using digital technology, including Painting, 3D modelling, and interactive installations. It combines human creativity with computer technology, expanding the possibilities of creative expression. Studying digital artistry in India provides insights into cultural preservation, technological innovation, and social commentary. It promotes educational development and economic opportunities, contributing to the country's vibrant artistic scene. Technological advancements have democratized digital art creation in India, leading to diverse artistic expressions. Integrating digital art with emerging technologies like AR, VR, and NFTs opens up new possibilities for artistic exploration and dissemination. Digital art techniques include digital Painting, vector art, and 3D modelling, facilitated by hardware such as graphics tablets and software such as Adobe Creative Cloud. Brushes, textures and plugins enhance the creative process, while photo manipulation and 3D sculpting provide new avenues for artistic expression. Digital artistry in India offers insights into cultural dynamism, technological innovation and artistic development. This research paper delves into the evolving landscape of digital artistry in India, exploring various techniques, trends, and the socio-cultural impact of digital art in the country.

The application of artificial intelligence to creative processes has profoundly changed the modern digital art and illustration processes. Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) are among many other AI approaches that have become potent in creating quality visual art and assisting the exploration of art. In this paper, the author explores the use of GANs as a creative collaborator in the digital painting and illustration workflow. The paper analyzes the technical principles behind GAN architectures, their use in the artistic image generation, and their role in human-AI creative processes. The most important applications of GAN systems, such as concept generation, style transfer, image-to-image translation, and automated colorization, are examined in order to comprehend how the technologies can support an artist at any phase of visual creation. The examples of major GAN models DCGAN, CycleGAN, StyleGAN, and StyleGAN2 are also compared to discuss the effectiveness of these models in the synthesis of artistic images. According to the results provided, it is seen that advanced architectures are better in image realism, consistency of structures and artistic usability than the previous models. Moreover, the study demonstrates the advantages of GAN-based tools as it promotes quick ideation, experimentation with styles, and design feedback, without taking control of the creative process of artists. The paper also talks of the technical structures of integrating GAN systems in the digital art setting and talks about issues of ethical issues surrounding authorship, originality, and bias in the dataset. All in all, the results indicate that the technologies based on GAN redefine the production of digital art by facilitating the interactive collaboration between human creativity and machine intelligence and creating new opportunities in the realm of innovations in computational creativity and digital illustration practice.

As a complex phenomenon, the creative process is shaped by multiple factors such as emotions, cognitive abilities, and contexts. Media materiality, as one of the contextual aspects of the creative process, has a significant impact on shaping and informing creative outcomes. To better understand the impact of different media materiality on the creative process, nineteen published studies were analyzed adhering to the PRISMA guidelines, focusing on four comparison groups: physical media vs non-immersive 2D/3D media, physical media vs immersive 3D media, digital 2D media vs immersive 3D media, and non-immersive 3D media vs immersive 3D media. The findings suggest that the choice of media materiality significantly influences the creative process, impacting factors such as ideation, expression, collaboration, and the overall experience of creating. This review concluded that media materiality in immersive virtual reality has the potential to enhance creativity, but traditional media may have more significant psychological benefits compared to virtual reality experiences. Future research directions in fine arts and design will be discussed based on the review results.

Aim/Purpose: This study examined the understudied perceptions of higher education instructors on the use of art-based AI generators in digital art, design, and creative-based courses and answered the research questions: (1) how disruptions by generative artificial intelligence (GenAIs) are impacting teaching, and (2) what are the major factors that contribute to a healthy digital art ecosystem in higher education. Background: While GenAI has attracted widespread public attention, there is insufficient research on integrating art-based AI generators in digital art and design classrooms. Concurrently, there is a demand for collecting and integrating faculty and educators’ perspectives, which are key stakeholders in preparing future art and design professionals for the GenAI-driven workforce. Our study is presented against such a backdrop. Methodology: The study incorporated a mixed-method approach to analyze survey data collected from higher education faculty on their perception of text-to-image generators. Quantitative data was analyzed through statistical analysis, and qualitative data was analyzed through a blend of human-AI thematic analysis. Contribution: The study provides empirical data on higher education faculty’s perspectives regarding the implications of art-based AI generators through survey and mixed-method analysis, serving as a baseline for further research and the development of AI literacy interventions. Additionally, the research identifies effective pedagogical strategies and best practices for embedding generative AI into teaching and learning, contributing to the field of education. Findings: Art-based GenAIs create both positive disruptions (e.g., improved ideation, problem-solving, and creative processes) and negative disruptions (e.g., ethical implications, technical limitations, and pedagogical concerns) in higher education. Insufficient AI literacy and inadequate resources among faculty significantly set back the effective adoption of GenAIs in classrooms. Ethical issues, including academic integrity, copyright, and bias, emerge as prominent issues requiring the implementation of responsible AI frameworks and policies. Adopting pedagogical strategies, such as action-based learning, experimental learning, and active learning, can help optimize student engagement and enhance learning outcomes. Last but not least, a healthy digital art ecosystem in higher education hinges on responsible AI use and standards, continuous technological improvement, effective educational support, a human-centered approach, and a strong sense of community and collaboration. Recommendations for Practitioners: The paper recommends increasing AI literacy among faculty through professional development programs and collaborative learning initiatives; developing and implementing responsible AI use policies, guidelines, and frameworks to address ethical concerns and ensure the effective and ethical use of GenAIs in classrooms; and integrating pedagogical strategies such as action-based learning, experimental learning, and active learning to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes with GenAIs. Recommendation for Researchers: The paper recommends conducting further research on the integration of art-based generative AI in digital art and design classrooms across all academic levels; further exploring faculty and educators’ perspectives on GenAI use to develop best practices and frameworks for effective and ethical adoption in higher education; and investigating the long-term impacts of GenAI technologies on teaching and learning in art, design, and creative-integrated disciplines through longitudinal studies. Impact on Society: The larger implications of the paper’s findings include promoting awareness and education on the ethical implications, benefits, and limitations of GenAIs to foster responsible use and acceptance; encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration to address the challenges and opportunities presented by GenAIs in the creative and cultural industries; and supporting the development of a healthy digital art ecosystem that balances human creativity with technological advancements, ensuring inclusivity, accessibility, and sustainability. Future Research: Based on drawbacks that emerged from the study, such as the sampling method and the sample size, future research should focus on targeting larger and more diverse samples from across different regions of the United States, as well as integrating objective measures to complement self-reported data. As this research is focused on text-to-image generators, future research should expand to additional GenAI types and models to deepen our understanding of their potential benefits and use impacts. Additionally, future research would benefit from studying the long-term impacts of GenAIs on education and the development of human-centered solutions and interventions tailored for faculty and students.

Art objects might be described as symbolic objects that aim at stimulating emotions. They reach us through our senses (visual, auditory, tactile, or other). They are displayed by means of physical material (stone, paper, wood, etc.) and combine some patterns to produce an aesthetic composition. They convey some message, normally to suggest some state of mind or to induce an emotion and the consequent feeling on the side of the viewer. Digital art differs from conventional art pieces by the use of computers and computer-based artifacts that manipulate digitally coded information, inheriting the almost unlimited possibilities in interaction, virtualization and manipulation of information the computer medium offers. In this chapter the authors propose to analyze and discuss the concepts and definitions behind digital art, emphasizing how the computer medium is itself the tool and the raw material in its creation, especially if we stress the fact that the conception and design of artistic information content is at the heart of any artistic work. Furthermore the authors present a framework for digital art creation that consists of a common design space where digital artists can smoothly progress from the concept until the final artifact while exploring the computer medium to its maximum potential.

This writing is aimed to give wider concept to society or readers especially for candidates of fine art teacher to make assessment for fine art works. It is indeed such a standard, but a candidate of assessor must be able to make and have an objective assessment. The results show that assessing fine arts both pure fine art and applied ones can be viewed from some point other than fine art structure viewing only idea in the form of message, imagination, illusion, desire, and fantasy of the artist other than considering work physical form element, principle, media and effective technique. There are some ways to assess a work from aesthetical side resulted in the writing. Firstly, the presence of initial reaction (clarifying initial identification) of an art work. Secondly, exposition involving further identification of art elements in an art work, which the art elements including : line, plane, color, value, format, texture, and space. Another, there are design principles consisting of balance, harmony, central, interest, movement, proportion, restriction, model pattern, rhythm, unity, and variety. Beside considering fine art elements, it also requires to consider design elements including : balance, emphasis, euryhmy, harmony, horror vacui, limitation, movement, pattern proportion, rhythm, unity, and variety. Elements and principles are much higher to consider the design and closer with its pure art consideration of using fine art component consisting of theme or subject matter, form, and meaning or content. Thirdly, analyzing by further identification on order of organization in an art work as art principles used to arrange art elements in an art work. Fourthly, interpretation of meaning as a communication form the artist to feel the atmosphere and idea in the art work by considering the history, creative process, environment, political/social condition, innovation, philosophy, and economy. Fifthly, evaluation process to consider the intended interpretation both on meaning and artistic service in the art work. The benefit expected from the research is giving the public wider insight to know more on the assessment of fine art works that the common society and academician know qualified art work objectively and subjectively. Kata kunci: penilaian, karya seni, dan proses evaluasi