With the turn of the 20thCentury, art began to take a turn away from what was considered "traditional". Artists were discovering new processes and tools to make art- many of which involved new technologies of the era.

In 1962, Andy Warhol began to use silk-screening as a means of applying paint to canvas. While silk-screening was a process many had used prior to Andy Warhol, he was using it in a new way. Warhol would silkscreen a photographic image directly onto his canvas, replacing the need for a paintbrush. Warhol was not only making art of mass-produced subjects, such as his Campbell's soup cans, but he was mass producing the art itself through screen-printing. He proceeded to work on this signature style and slowly eliminated the handmade from his artistic process. Warhol wanted to be a machine.

In 1963, Warhol said "Paintings are too hard. The things I want to show are mechanical. Machines have less problems. I'd like to be a machine, wouldn't you?" 1 Warhol frequently used silk-screening and his later drawings were traced from slide projections. He even had a team of assistants who, following his directions would create variations of his images for him at his studio, the Factory. Warhol's artistic process was very mechanic.

In 1985 Warhol had a new technology at his fingertips: the Amiga, a computer that was being used as a creative tool, something that had yet to be seen. The computer was no longer a machine for technicians and mathematicians but a tool that artists could manipulate for creative output. On July 23rd 1985 Andy Warhol demonstrated the Amiga's artistic ability in front of thousands at the New York Lincoln Centre2. Warhol used the Amiga to create a portrait of pop singer Debbie Harry while still maintaining his own style. "The thing that I like most about doing this kind of art on the Amiga is that it looks like my work"3, commented Warhol as he altered the colors of his image on the computer screen. With the Amiga, Warhol "finished in ten minutes what would have taken weeks in the studio".4

In an interview between Warhol, Glenn Suokko, and Guy Wright5, Warhol revealed his belief that the computer has no "limiting effect"6 on the artist. There is nothing he didn't like about the Amiga; he loved "the machine"7. Warhol revealed his plans to have an Amiga in his own studio, and how much time he could save by using it.

While Warhol found using the mouse instead of the paintbrush a little awkward, he was happy to hear of the light pen available, a replacement for the mouse that is "just like a pencil"8 with the ability to trace over a picture. This technique could be a alternative for using carbon paper to trace and transfer an image. When asked if he "missed getting his hands in the paint", Warhol replied "No. No. It's really great not to get your hands in paint. They always say that plastic paint is bad for you. Is this bad for you?"9 With this headdresses some of the health risks artists take when working with chemicals and traditional media. This use of digital media and the Amiga can bypass the medical risks and allow the artist to create result similar to traditional media.

With a printer, an artist is able to produce the image that appears on the monitor onto a tangible surface such as paper or canvas. Warhol expressed his delight and desire for a printer that was capable of printing "twenty by thirty or thirty by forty"10 inches. Today, such printers exist. Warhol also expressed a want for a touch screen which would allow the artist to draw directly on the screen with a light pen11. This would give the artist more ease and accuracy when working with the computer. Tablets and Tablet PCs are tools many artists and designers use today.

Andy Warhol passed away before he could truly witness the marvels of computer graphics. While he was able to take part in the early years and early milestones of digital media, Warhol could not have dreamt of the array of graphic programs and tools available to artists today. 


 
 
 
1. "Art Quotations by Andy Warhol". The Painter's Keys. Retrieved 22 Oct. 2006
           <http://www.painterskeys.com/auth_search.asp?name=Andy%20Warhol>
 2. "Lost Warhol to Premiere at Museum of New Art". Artdaily.com. Retrieved 22 Oct. 2006
           <http://www.artdaily.com/section/news/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=18091>
 3. Wright, G. & Glenn Suokko. "Andy Warhol: An Artist and His Amiga." AmigaWorld Magazine.
           January/February 1986: p20.
 4. Ibid, p19.
 5. Ibid, pp17-21.
 6. Ibid, p19.
 7. Ibid, p19.
 8. Ibid, p20.
 9. Ibid, p20.
 10. Ibid, p18.
 11. Ibid, p21.