Digital Art: Painting with Pixels

Miller, Ron. Digital Art: Painting with Pixels. Minneapolis, MN : Twenty-First Century Books, 2008.

Plot: A title with an in-depth of digital arts, techniques, history, and philosophy. The question of digital productions as art finds discussion in the first chapter. The following chapters skim over the first examples of digital art. Eventually, the book reviews various styles and uses of computer-assisted images in the modern media, including animation, advertisements, and movies.

Genre: Art

Reading Level: Grades 5-10

Similar Titles: Digital Art Revolution: Creating Fine Art with Photoshop, Pixel World

Personal Thoughts: Questionable visuals plague the text-heavy title. Unfortunately, most of the pictures look more like student assignments rather than professional art. While this is understandable, since high-quality illustrations are expensive, it is also unacceptable for an image-based concept like digital art. Even more troubling, some of the illustrations, such as the one used in the citation of Jurassic Park, do not actually include digital art (the image shows models used in the movie). Additionally, the work reads like a textbook. Established artists seeking further information will find it useful, but tweens will likely find the text daunting or boring.