Tech tools for artists

Somewhere there is a sunset waiting for you to interpret it. There's a flower that needs a second look, or a street scene that wants some color. You and your trusty brush, camera, clay, hot glue gun or digital pen are pressed into service. A host of Web and tech tools are at your command to help you along on your journey to creating art.

Find Your Digital Art Aura

You might already have an affinity for a certain art form, or you may be ready to explore the far edges of digital art. Painters and drawing aficionados may naturally gravitate toward software programs like Adobe Illustrator and Corel Painter. Photographers can get a lot done with the industry standard Adobe Photoshop. If you want to dabble with photo and image manipulation and don't have the budget for the more expensive software, try out the free open source GIMPshop. Online photo editing software Picnik is handy for working from anywhere with a Web browser. It features a heaping helping of special effects you can apply to your photos or images.

Digital Art Palette

Digital art tools look a little bit different from the usual brushes, paints, pencils and film cameras. Painting with your mouse in a paint software program can be a frustrating experience. For more control, look to a graphics tablet. With a tablet, you wield a pen-style stylus, and what you draw on the pad is mirrored on your computer screen. To really open up the possibilities, check into adding an airbrush drawing tablet pen to digitally mimic the output of a real airbrush. Tablet PCs and specialized tablet screens designed for artists give you the option of drawing directly onto a surface. These can be powerful tools for digital artists on the go who need to make quick sketches.

Gallery Show

It's opening night. You have butterflies in your stomach. You're about to show your latest collection of personal masterpieces to the world. You hit the button and your new gallery opens--online. Flickr is a familiar hot spot for photographers to showcase their work, but it can also be used to share other visual art creations.

Check out these other sites for displaying or selling your work online:

• deviantART is a massive community of artists from a huge variety of disciplines. Basic accounts are free and let you create a gallery, manage a journal, connect with other artists and find fans. The deviantART Shop lets you sell your art on items like mugs, mouse pads and canvasses.
• Etsy is a hotspot for artists in a lot of different mediums to sell their wares. Jewelry, fashion, crafts and visual arts are particularly well represented, but just about anything goes so long as it's handmade. Artists can sign up for a free shop, list items and pay small fees based on listings and sales.
• Foundmyself runs on the honor system. Artists who find the forums, galleries and art selling tools useful are encourage to donate towards the upkeep of the site.
• MosaicGlobe: A free account with MosaicGlobe will get you 1GB of storage with 25 images per gallery and a variety of premade themes to work from to customize the look. Paid accounts give you more flexibility. The whole site is designed with artists in mind to get you up and running with a Web gallery of your work quickly.

Visit Cutting Edge

Digital art can be an exercise in breaking boundaries. Take One Million Masterpiece, for example. It's the world's largest collaborative arts project, bringing thousands of artists from around the globe together to make their personal artistic contribution to a larger piece. The only boundaries on your digital art endeavors are the ones you place on yourself. Whether you're a photographer, digital painter or experimental programmer, the world awaits you online.