On digital art

We live in blessed times where we can finally create our unique digital art that's in our minds inside our digital spaces.

Years ago I remember forcing myself to read creative coding books and feeling completely overwhelmed going through all the math equations, facing the skill gap I had and understanding the enormous amount of knowledge required to bring the vision in my head to digital life. It felt impossible.

Was it a skill issue on my end, not being willing to push through and learn all the math required? Fearing math is fearing life? Short answer - yes?

But on the other hand, I thought: isn’t art, for the sake of art, supposed to bring joy to the artist?

I enjoyed drawing for the sake of drawing. Did I get better at drawing after my academic classes? Yes. Did I enjoy drawing more after them? No, not really. I just understood some techniques better.

So right now it feels liberating not needing the process of making art to become another source of struggle, especially now that I have my trusty smart robots to assist me. I can describe the vision I have, and even when I cannot describe it properly, I can start experimenting with it. And through trial and error, as I did in my academic classes, I try, and fail, and learn, because I have peers and sidekicks explaining to me how things are done.

So today, in 2026, I am learning about shaders, rendering, animation, and how computers produce these images, without putting pressure on myself that I have to learn this or that. I just do, for the sake of doing. For the sake of the joy of creating with my mind, and conveying what's in my mind in a realm I feel closely connected to. Digital. 01010101.

In a sense, I am able to learn how to create art through the act of creating art. The only way of learning that has ever felt meaningful to me.

And before all you mathbros jump me - I am not saying that mathematics is not art. Even though I have a primal fear and lack of interest in math, it is fundamental to everything digital. What I am saying is that, back then, digital art was gated by the limitations of my skills and understanding, and I couldn't offload the gaps in my knowledge to an assistant to teach me while exploring ideas myself.

Now that's gone. And it makes me feel joyful.