The Backstory

In the late 19th century, a group of rebel artists broke free from convention in the pursuit of bringing emotion and structure to their work. This movement ushered in a new era of artistic innovation with techniques, not all that different to digital art today. In this article I share what these art movements can teach us about light, bravery to work beyond traditions, and God.

A few rebels..

Georges Seurat (1859-1891)

Georges Seurat is often credited as the pioneer of pointillism, a technique that uses small, distinct dots of colour, blended together when viewed from a distance. His masterpiece, "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette" (1884-1886), is a prime example of his meticulous pointillist style, capturing the tranquility of a leisurely Sunday afternoon in Paris.

Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

Vincent van Gogh, while also considered a Post-Impressionist, had a distinctive style characterized by bold, expressive brushwork and vivid colors. His iconic work, "Starry Night" (1889), showcases swirling skies and dynamic stars, which convey a sense of emotional intensity and inner turmoil.  It is not ‘fine’ art, it’s bulky and a bit abstract.  But brings richness and vibrancy – and mostly a sense of movement, long, long before motion graphics were a thing.  Combined these elements make light a living breathing thing that can actually be captured in the work.

Paul Cézanne (1839-1906)

Cézanne didn't paint things exactly as they appeared from just one angle. Instead, he would paint an object, like a mountain, as if he was looking at it from various positions at once.  "Mont Sainte-Victoire" (1902-1904) demonstrates his fascination with the geometric structure of landscapes and his desire to represent objects from multiple viewpoints.  For Cézanne doing this was a bit revolutionary.

Post-Impressionism & Pixelation: A Connection

In these three examples we have Seurat's pointillism, Van Gogh's swirls and Cézanne's linear geometry. In digital art, we take similar tiny dots, and geometry to show light and colour on a pixel by pixel basis – and also similarly, we use these pixel shapes by bringing them together to create the impression of something larger.  In both cases of post-impressionist and digital artist, we break down images into discrete units to create a cohesive whole when viewed from a distance.

The Digital Artist

There are, to me, two distinct types of digital art.  There are those who use digital tools to create real world pieces, and there are those who create art to be enjoyed within the digital dimension.  Wars currently rage across social media about whether the flood of AI art generators realistically fall into either of these, or are just forgeries, but that is a discussion for another time!  In the two camps I've mentioned though, art and ability can't be denied.  

Computer based art itself is very deeply steeped in producing art by algorithms.  Therefore although this article is about the similarities between taking tiny dots of colour and combining them, many works by computer based artists are actually abstract pieces focusing on shape, immersion, or the message behind the piece.  So they don't actually come together to make anything like a finished 'fine art' piece.  That now said, it is the digital artist (and not the computer based artist) that I find closely related to the post-impressionist movement.  Because both focus so heavily on meticulous detail, dimensions & movement, or light through colour, and whether that canvas is digital or ..well...canvas, these goals remain the same.  Additionally, like post-impressionists of their time, digital artists today still have that same spirit of boundary breaking experimentation not only in colour and to produce it, but how to immerse us further by it.

The Call

God moves and is about movement and motion.  He is about the endeavour of light, dynamism, colour, beauty and progress.  This is demonstrated in, and all around us. So when I look at these disciplines specifically, I see how we as humans have also persevered to try and replicate, hone and master such techniques. 

I want to be really candid about something else I've seen too though.  I really wonder where Christian artists are in all this.  While I am grateful for what I've learnt from artists as fellow humans, I think, personally, we are missing out on something if we don't give a stronger voice to our fellow believers, especially in this digital art sphere.

There just aren't many Christian digital artists out there that are well known right now.  But what we do see, unsurprisingly then, is a multitude of talented artists creating art that reflects life without God.  When we look at digital art today, there are a lot of dark themes out there. Life without God is dark.  But if the subject of these schools is dimension & motion, and light & colour, then we're only getting half the story if this is reflected back to us in dark themes and shades. 

I hope we can change that.  I believe we should.  So much so that I hope Cheerful can help give a voice - our collective voice as Christian artists - to such movements.  Not to pretend challenges and sorrow don't impact us as humans, but to reflect a fuller, and therefore more honest, reflection of the vigor & vitality art offers the world.  For this reason I would both encourage, and challenge, Christian artists to share their work as part of this generation.  To show the world what our own inspiration is all about. I truly believe this would be a welcome thing, and certainly, some good news!  In the meantime, here are some great digital, and computer based artists as examples.