11 Ways to Make Art Online
Step away from social media and pick up a digital paintbrush.
For some, the internet could be viewed as a gigantic piece of performance art, but the web has its own artistic corners, of course. Famed artists have embraced Instagram, Google has an eminently explorable catalog of works from over 1,200 institutions, and VR experiences like Dreams of Dali push the bounds of your own consciousness.
Art’s great gift is inspiration. But if you’ve found yourself scrolling the same social media accounts over and over looking for a new hit of content, why not create something yourself instead? The sites below let you alter images, spray paint public walls, and collaborate with AI, all without having to invest in supplies or run from the cops.
Simplify.thatsh.it takes any image and turns it into modern art; just drag an image on the page and download your new creation. The program, developed by the Universalscene collective, uses AI to strip things down to their most basic shapes.
DeepArt can take your photos and turn them into the works of the great masters (or any other artist) using AI. You upload two images — one that is the basis for the art you’re going to create and another that will dictate the style applied to that image. So for instance, you can upload a photo of yourself, then a van Gogh painting and end up with something as striking as his many self-portraits. Deep Art works using a neural network-based algorithm designed to mimic artistic style.
If street art is your game, you’re probably familiar with dodging the authorities. But for those moments when you’d rather not risk arrest, Street Art Creator lets you graffiti trains, walls, and rolling gates with virtual spray paint in the gritty style that graced NYC subways in the 80s. For more options, like roller paints and stickers, the Tate has a street art game that gives you a wall to tag.
Despite its name, the National Gallery of Art’s NGAkids Art Zone is not just for younger artists; it’s intended as an interactive introduction to art and art history. Create seascapes, landscapes, abstracts, or a still life. Or edit photos, create a collage, and decorate a 17th century dollhouse. One caveat: you need to install Shockwave for it to work on the web; iPad users can avoid that with this app.
Repetitive, symmetrical images are inherently soothing, as is creating them. Silk takes each stroke you make and turns it into what looks like a light-based piece of art. It has a very tech vibe, so save what you’ve made and use it for wallpapers across all your devices. There’s also an iOS app.
Abstract art can evoke “I can do that” responses from critics, but it’s not as simple as it looks. Bomomo offers a dynamic set of shapes with which to fill a blank canvas.
There are no rules in art. But there are rules with the Mondrimat. To replicate the neoplastic style of Piet Mondrian, you start with a blank canvas and then click according to the instructions to divvy it up with color blocks.
A picture is worth a thousand words, but an artfully done sketch can be worth a thousand dollars. If drawing is beyond your skillset but you have a photograph that would look better in pen and ink, upload it to Free Picture Stencil Maker. You can download the result and print and frame it or use it as a stencil for a craft project.
Creativity is one of the things that separates man from machines. Or is it? On Random Art, you let the computer do the work. Like a modern-day Andy Warhol with his Factory system, you type in a word and the program, from mathematics professor Andrej Bauer, turns it into a formula that generates an image.
If pixels are your idea of beauty, Make Pixel Art is your canvas. It’s from the software design company XOXCO, which is behind Pixel Pix, an app that pixelates photos.
For those just looking for a place to sketch, paint, or color, there’s Sketchpad, which has lots of tools to help in the art of creation.
Read more: “Google AutoDraw Turns Doodles Into Art”
Originally published at www.pcmag.com.
