Valerie Seelye

Not more than a year ago I viewed traditional and digital materials as two different realms. Like oil and water, they couldn’t mix. If you ask a traditional painter with this mindset about their creative process, they will probably talk about a physical canvas. If you ask a graphic designer about their creative process, they will probably talk about digital art boards on a screen. After studying graphic design and working in the field for a few years, I realized I didn’t want to mindlessly sit at a computer and just push pixels around anymore. I like working with my hands and teaching. I decided I wanted to go back to school to teach art, but I believed I would have to leave all my digital tools behind and start a “new art life” with paint brushes and charcoal sticks. While I was excited to teach, I was sad I spent so much time learning a skill I wouldn’t use. “Learning and Digital Media” (ARTT 2372/5372) at Texas State University proved me wrong. It bridged the gap between digital and traditional art – and I believe this type of learning can help future students explore different types of art more fluidly.

My “digital” artwork (above) in comparison to my “traditional” artwork (below). I kept the style very different as I believed digital and traditional art are different; one was made for work while I viewed the other more of just a hobby. I did not combine digital and traditional art mediums.

Upper Geyser Basin | Yellowstone | watercolor and ink, 2020

I think students are already trying to use digital tools in combination with traditional materials, but some teachers hold them back. During my short time at Texas State, I have noticed students are starting to bring their tablets to traditional art classes and requesting to use them instead of a sketchbook. One of my art teachers told a girl she could not do her sketches digitally. I smirked because a sketchbook was on the required materials list, of course you can’t use a tablet… but then I thought, why not? As digital technology becomes more integrated in our lives, what is wrong with using it?

As Resnick (2017) states, “Computers were not a replacement for the teacher but a new medium of expression, a new tool for making things,” (p. 37).

One way to learn in the digital age is to make room to accept when a student wants to use technology as a tool if it is relevant to the task. If students aren’t allowed to explore and experiment with digital technology within learning, they may start to feel restricted and only work for extrinsic motivation (grades and teacher rewards).

Stephen & Edwards (2018) says, “Technologies are attractive to young children. Young children frequently observe adults, older children, and siblings using technologies and quite reasonably wish to engage with them as well,” (p. 62).

Isn’t it slightly ironic to take digital technology away from children as they are watching us use it all day? They want to be a part of a digital society. Allowing children to experiment with tools supports intrinsic motivation, just as it did when I used my new drawing tablet to explore Net Art. Google’s “Chimera Painter” program asks, “What can we create when we start thinking about machine learning as a paintbrush?” Here is the link to make your own Net Art artificial intelligence creature and ponder on that question: https://storage.googleapis.com/chimera-painter/index.html.

“What can we create

when we start thinking about machine learning as a paintbrush?”

In my first inquiry to learn with digital media in ARTT5372, I played around with artificial intelligence in the realm of Net Art. I was intrinsically motivated and passionate about what I was doing for the chance to use my new digital drawing tablet.

Intrinsic motivation such as this helped me power through problem solving that I otherwise would have not put effort into. In 2015, I studied code to make websites and databases. I did not see this as artmaking. We were given explicit instructions of each character to type into our code, so we didn’t experiment or play.

Resnick (2017) makes a valid point, stating, “The children seem to work out, quite rationally, that if a teacher shows them one particular way to do something, that must be the right technique, and there’s no point in trying something new, (p. 111).”

I did not see this as artmaking.

2015: *“Interactive Web Design I” and “Database SQL.” These classes taught coding but did not allow for much intrinsic motivation.*

Screenshot of original SQL database coding assignment from 2015. I was to insert the exact information, line by line, into the shell (database tool).

It was so dull that I chose not to continue - I thought my learning ended there. However this year I learned a different type of code (block code) that allowed me to experiment, have fun, and use in combination with other materials. This was when I first started making connections between my former graphic design practice and art teacher journey. I went from dreading making divs on a web layout to making an interactive story about cacti (https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/642467425/) and a game about zombie bees (https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/653244150/), as well as experimenting with connecting construction paper elements to electrical circuits to coded stories on my computer. I was having so much fun learning code on Scratch that I didn’t notice how hard I was working to debug issues.

As Bers (2021) says, “It is often the most complex concepts that are learned this way.” My experience also supports Resnick’s (2017) statement that, “Their passion and motivation make them more likely to connect with new ideas and develop new ways of thinking,” (p. 68).

Students in the digital age seem to be more likely to develop intrinsic motivation and new ideas when the teacher is less restrictive.

Side note: Personally, I don’t understand why this idea of playing with digital code has not been more widely taught - as this concept is over 50 years old. Papert & Soloman (1971) wrote about how to use computer code as a form of play long before I was born.

Alone in the desert

Interact here: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/642467425/

*In 2022 I found myself coding again - this time with Scratch. I realized that I could use my graphic design skills along with what I was learning.*

During my time at the after-school club at Crockett Elementary, I did my best to support what materials students wanted to explore by avoiding telling them, “no,” (as long as they were safe). One child asked if they could use their cardboard house with the MakeyMakey and Scratch. One of my peers said, “no.” I interjected and said, “Wait, why not? I think that is fine.” I was starting to see traditional art materials be used in combination with digital tools. This was a turning point for me bridging the gap between the digital art I formally studied and how to combine those skills with paper, pencils, and paint.

During the Crockett after-school club, we worked with fourth and fifth graders - teaching them coding with Scratch and making structures with cardboard. Then we combined the digital and traditional materials with the MakeyMakey.

Digital cardboard space dog

This child didn’t completely learn how traditional tools worked with the digital realm (they had an incomplete circuit). But they are far ahead of me at that age.

There is one big gap between digital and traditional art materials that might not be bridged, but there are workarounds. Traditional art tools seem to be a bit more accessible to anybody – the local dollar store is sure to have a paint brush and pencils. Digital tools have more restraints, such as price, compatibility, and some finite restrictions on their use. Children will best learn with access to digital tools that are low floor (easily accessible and usable) and high ceiling (are open-ended), otherwise their intrinsic motivation will eventually get dominated with frustration.

As Donohue (2017) says, “The very best kinds of playthings are open-ended, those that a child can make conform to his or her unique fantasies and feelings. If most of their playthings are ‘single-action’ toys, their play tends to be limited, as if they're following the "formula" of what the manufacturer determined, (p. 43).”

In 2015 I was also learning digital model making and animation with Maya Autodesk. This is probably the closest to the experimentation I did in Digital Learning this year but there was one problem – the program we were using was extremely high floor, meaning it was hard to access (expensive and incredibly complicated to use)...but it was open-ended and fun. The difficulty to experiment and learn eventually dominated the fun experience – and I never used it again.

I modeled and animated the Princess Bubblegum character (above) and broken record video (below) around 2016. Bubblegum eventually got 3D printed, but every line and point had to be exactly in place. The animation took even more time. The program constantly crashed and it was so incredibly hard to learn. You can't just open AutoDesk Maya and know how to use it.

Creating a painting robot was perhaps the project that ultimately made me realize I can use both digital and traditional artmaking tools together. I used code, but not in a restrictive way. I played, experimented, and was intrinsically motivated. I used both a computer and tempera paint. I had no idea this was possible! Suddenly I no longer had to lay my studies in digital art to rest, as I formerly assumed. Instead, my knowledge of art materials exponentially expanded.

Bridging the gap

With a little experimentation, I combined digital and traditional tools.

Interact

Not only does this painting robot include digital and traditional art tools, he interacts based on sound loudness.

This is the code that allows the painting robot to work. This code was downloaded into a Micro:Bit, which then disconnects from the computer and works independently. I connected a sound sensor and two servo motors to turn his brushes.

“Imagine

the expansion of learning possibilities when children are enabled to experience a multimodal way of artmaking rather than segregating digital and traditional art materials.”

We live in a digital age where children naturally want to use digital tools. Students shouldn’t be separated into who wants to paint on paper and who wants to use a computer. The role of an art teacher should be to present students with both options interchangeably as I experienced in digital learning. There should be no gap between traditional and digital art materials to begin with; this only limits students, as it limited me to believing I would have to give up graphic design to teach art. Learning in the digital age requires less restriction and more experimentation. Imagine the expansion of learning possibilities when children are enabled to experience a multimodal way of artmaking rather than segregating digital and traditional art materials.

References

Bers, M. U. (2021). Coding as a playground: Programming and computational thinking in the early childhood classroom, 2nd edition. Routledge.

Donohue, C. (Ed.) (2017). Family engagement in the digital age. Routledge.

Papert, S., & Solomon, C. (1971). Twenty Things to Do with a Computer. MIT AI Lab.

Resnick, M. (2017). Lifelong kindergarten: Cultivating creativity through projects, passion peers, and play. The MIT Press.

Stephen, C. & Edwards, S. (2018). Young children playing and learning in a digital age. Routledge.

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Bridging the gap between digital and traditional art