Bekir Baba
Master’s Thesis – Gazi University / Institute of Fine Arts / Department of Painting / Division of Painting – Advisor: Prof. Dr. Alaybey Karoğlu
Baba, B. (2019). Investigative investigation of images related to sky concept in modern Turkish painting (Thesis No. 588874) [Master’s thesis, Gazi University, Institute of Fine Arts]. Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center.
This study, which examines the structural transformation generated by digital technologies in art production practices with a specific focus on "digital painting," centers on a contemporary art environment in which technology has evolved from being a passive tool into a constitutive component of aesthetic construction. Conducted within the framework of classical qualitative research, the study has been structured and expanded in alignment with Practice-Based Research, which positions the artist's own production experience as the primary data source. The research process has been carried out along two interrelated and mutually nourishing axes: theoretical grounding and artistic practice. In the first axis, the historical origins of digital painting, pixel-based aesthetics, and human-computer interaction have been analyzed through relevant literature. In the second main axis, 10 original digital painting works produced by the researcher using Adobe Fresco (version 5.70) have been evaluated through qualitative content analysis regarding technical proficiency, layer structure, and surface simulation. Throughout this process, the stages of creation—from the preliminary sketch to the final design—have been systematically recorded to make the artist's relationship with the digital interface visible. The research findings demonstrate that the material, compositional, and expressive conventions of traditional painting discipline give rise to a hybrid aesthetic model intertwined with the affordances of the digital environment, such as undo, iterative variation, layer management, and AI-assisted tools. This flexibility offered by the digital interface transforms the artist's perception of time and space, converting the artwork from a "finished object" into an updatable data form that can be revised and regenerated throughout the creative process. In this thesis, digital painting practice is therefore positioned not merely as a technological innovation, but as an autonomous, process-driven field of expression that reopens discussions on the ontology of contemporary art and the viewer's experience.
Abstract
This study, which examines the structural transformation generated by digital technologies in art production practices with a specific focus on "digital painting," centers on a contemporary art environment in which technology has evolved from being a passive tool into a constitutive component of aesthetic construction. Conducted within the framework of classical qualitative research, the study has been structured and expanded in alignment with Practice-Based Research, which positions the artist's own production experience as the primary data source. The research process has been carried out along two interrelated and mutually nourishing axes: theoretical grounding and artistic practice. In the first axis, the historical origins of digital painting, pixel-based aesthetics, and human-computer interaction have been analyzed through relevant literature. In the second main axis, 10 original digital painting works produced by the researcher using Adobe Fresco (version 5.70) have been evaluated through qualitative content analysis regarding technical proficiency, layer structure, and surface simulation. Throughout this process, the stages of creation—from the preliminary sketch to the final design—have been systematically recorded to make the artist's relationship with the digital interface visible. The research findings demonstrate that the material, compositional, and expressive conventions of traditional painting discipline give rise to a hybrid aesthetic model intertwined with the affordances of the digital environment, such as undo, iterative variation, layer management, and AI-assisted tools. This flexibility offered by the digital interface transforms the artist's perception of time and space, converting the artwork from a "finished object" into an updatable data form that can be revised and regenerated throughout the creative process. In this thesis, digital painting practice is therefore positioned not merely as a technological innovation, but as an autonomous, process-driven field of expression that reopens discussions on the ontology of contemporary art and the viewer's experience.
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