The presence of Gothic digital art is illustrated here by feminine characters shrouded in mystery, full of seduction, in a mystical and mournful setting, inspired by ‘horror art‘ from the Gothic subculture.
Paris is the main focus of Gothic Art, which, through its brilliance, is spreading throughout Europe. I will not continue talking about the “Gothic Art” that appeared in the 12th century and which manifested itself mainly in Architecture, then in sculpture, painting, decorative arts, furniture, stained glass, and textiles.
Instead, I will talk here about the sources of inspiration and the characteristic elements of Gothic digital art, expressed in works of art and digital photography. In digital painting and photography, the Gothic style is inspired by ”The Goth subculture”. The goth subculture manifests itself gradually in all branches of culture, from literature, film, music, painting, and sculpture to fashion, makeup, and digital art. Of these, the most important sources of inspiration for digital gothic art, described below, are literature, film, and music.
Gothic literature – appeared in the 18th century, sometimes called ”gothic horror”, is cultivated genre of fiction which combines classical romance with dark elements of decoration, clothing or emotion, to produce mystery, horror, and supernatural. The action takes place in strange places like castles haunted by ghosts, gloomy and claustrophobic churches, sinister cemeteries, etc. Along with typical characters such as one of the parents, father or mother, full of cruelty towards his children, the dangerous priest, the child with magical powers, or the helpless heroine, supernatural figures such as demons, vampires, ghosts and monsters also appear.
In the Gothic film – appeared in the 19th century, we meet scenes inspired by Gothic literature, with the same type of actions and effects but with the advantage that everything is represented here by pictures, sounds, and special effects. All these elements further contribute to the creation of a gothic atmosphere of fear and nightmare that will satisfy the adrenaline need of the public. The Gothic spectacle thus becomes even more complete. The characters, the Goth scene and the atmosphere of “horror” from movies or literature are a true inspiration for digital and photographic art.
Gothic music appeared in the second half of the ’70s and early ’80s in England, along with the Goth Music Movement. The Goth movement has spread to Western Europe and the US, contributing to the development of Rock music by posing from the Post-Punk type. Preferred rock styles in the Goth subculture include gothic rock, deathrock, post-punk, corner wave, darkwave, and ethereal wave. The sober behavior of the Bands, the romantic music, rhythmic and engaging, the simplicity of the scenic presence, but especially the black clothing with mystical accessories, the makeup and the Punk hairstyle, represented for the digital art inexhaustible sources of inspiration.
Digital Art For Inspiration
Looking at the Gothic art from a digital point of view, most of the valuable works that I have encountered on the Internet are relatively recent, that is, starting with 2008 and continuing until now. Gothic-inspired works of art are made by digital artists using Photoshop. They use two working methods, namely Photo manipulation and Cosplay.
Photo Manipulation is a modern digital method realized by combining a stock of images with characters, decor, and elements characteristic of the art scene that we want to reproduce in digital artwork in our case Gothic art. The characters from the Gothic themes most often represented by artists are single women or young girls, vampires, elves, demons, or angels. Gothic art scenes occur at night, in the moonlight, at the seashore, in the cemetery, at the edge of the forest, or in other places where light and darkness create a sinister image.
Of particular importance is the style of punk clothing, with dark shades, sometimes morbid and also makeup, with colored eyes in black lines, hair and nails painted in black and pale skin. As for Goth accessories, you can meet silver jewelry commonly worn or as ”piercing”.
Other gothic elements used by artists are birds such as crows, bats, eagles or owls, animals like cats, dogs, wolves, or leopards. All black! To complete a gothic theme, artists can create works with mystical shades. That is why Judeo-Christian religious symbols such as the Crucifixes and the Star of David, etc. appear very often.
Cosplay technique is another method that can be applied, in addition to Photo manipulation, to obtain gothic works of art. This process involves photographing a character dressed in Gothic clothes, placed in a suitable setting, and fitting to ordinary or colored light. The resulting photos can then be modified or retouched with Photoshop or similar soft.
Below are the most beautiful and successful digital works of Gothic inspiration. I invite you to watch them and appreciate how inspirational they are. Enjoy art!
Inspirational Images
