Painting with pixels

Abstract

Two decades ago the subject of computer graphics was regarded as pure science fiction, more within the realms of Star Trek fantasy than of everyday use, but today it is difficult to avoid its influence. Television programmes abound with slick moving, twisting, distorting images, the printing media throws colourful shapes and forms off the page at you, and computer games explode noisily into our living rooms. In a very short space of time computer graphics have risen from being a toy of the affluent minority to a working tool of the cost-conscious majority. Even the most purist of artists have realized that in order to survive in an increasingly competitive world they must inevitably take the plunge into the world of electronic imagery.