Digital | Computer Art Therapy

http://gingerpoole.com/index.php

Photo Therapy:

http://www.phototherapy-centre.com/home.htm

Video Art:

http://www.videoart.net/home/index.cfm

more coming soon…

Her work using The Sims virtual environment for role play scenarios coming soon…

coming soon…

coming soon…

application: a computer program that performs useful work not related to the computer itself. Examples include word processors, spreadsheets, art and music programs.

bitmap: a binary representation in which a bit or set of bits corresponds to some part of an object such as an image or font. A bitmap is usually associated with graphics objects, in which the bits are a direct representation of the picture image.

blending mode: In Adobe Photoshop, the blending mode controls how pre-existing images or image layers are affected by a painting or editing tool.

clone stamp: a tool that allows the user to duplicate areas. The clone tool can be used to create a crowd out of a small group of people, cover a gap left by deleting an area, or put a third eye on someone’s forehead.

dialog boxes: Secondary windows that appear when the user activates a particular action in a primary or secondary window. They inform users on different aspects: error conditions, warnings, success, or information. The message states the problem and offers a solution so the user can proceed without outside assistance. These boxes/windows disappear from the screen when the user triggers a task-related action (e.g. clicks “OK” or “Cancel”).

digital: representing information as electrical signals that correspond to binary digits and can be stored in computer memory. Digital signals have two advantages: they can be copied exactly, without even the slightest loss of quality, and they can be further processed by computers.

eyedropper: a tool that allows the user to match a color in the existing picture, and cause it to become the active or selected color.

filter: in paint and photopaint programs, a tool for modifying the image to mimic real-world materials, lighting, or textures.
interface: the way a piece of software interacts with the human being who is using it.

keyboard shortcut: a series of keyboard keystrokes that equates with a computer application command or function. They are a faster way to access a command without having to use the mouse to select it from a menu. (e.g. Ctrl + S is the keyboard shortcut to save a document.)

layer mask: allows the user to obscure an entire layer or layer set, or just a selected part of it. You can also edit a layer mask to add or subtract from the masked region. A layer mask is a grayscale image, so what you paint in black will be hidden, what you paint in white will show, and what you paint in gray shades will show in various levels of transparency.

magic wand: in Adobe Photoshop, the magic wand tool lets you select a consistently colored area (e.g. a red flower or a white background) without having to trace its outline.

modeling: to build a 3D computer object.

overlay: a blending mode in Adobe Photoshop which multiplies or screens the colors, depending on the existing color or image. Patterns or colors overlay the existing pixels while preserving the highlights and shadows of the base color/image. The base color is not replaced but is mixed with the blend color to reflect the lightness or darkness of the original color.

palette: in computer graphics, a range of colors used for display and printing, or a collection of on-screen painting tools, or a toolbar that contains a set of functions for any kind of application.

paint bucket: in Adobe Photoshop, the paint bucket tool fills adjacent pixels that are similar in color value to the pixels you click.

paint program: one type of program for drawing pictures on a personal computer. The user draws with a pointing device and tools are provided for drawing circles, lines, rectangles, and other shapes, as well as drawing freehand and choosing colors.
photopaint program: a type of bitmap editing program with special tools and filters for manipulating photographs. In many ways, photopaint programs are the professional versions of the limited paint programs that come bundled with operating systems.

pixel: stands for picture element. It is one of the individual dots that make up a graphical image and is the smallest part of every image you see on the monitor.

resolution: the measure of the amount of detail that can be shown in the images produced by a printer or screen. For printers, resolution is expressed as the number of dots per inch (dpi) (e.g. 300 dpi means 300×300, or 90,000 dpi). The resolution of a screen or image is given as the total number of pixels in each direction (e.g. 640×480 pixels across the whole screen).

rigging: the process of preparing a 3D character model for animation, including setting up an underlying skeleton, complete with constraints, controllers and kinematic systems, and linking it to the mesh of the character model.

stock images: royalty-free photographs or illustrations that are often compiled in CD/digital or print catalogs.

stylus: a pen-shaped instrument that is used to “draw” images or point to menus within a computer interface.

undo: a command that allows the computer user to reverse the effects of the most recent operation(s) or action(s).

WYSIWYG: acronym for “What You See Is What You Get.” This means that the appearance of the screen is supposedly an exact picture of how the document or image will look when printed.

zoom: To change from a distant view to a more close-up view (zoom in) and vice versa (zoom out). An application may provide fixed or variable levels of zoom.

McNiff, S. (1999). “The Virtual Art Therapy Studio.” Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 16(4), 197-200.

Canter, D. S. (1987). “The Therapeutic Effects of Combining Apple Macintosh Computers and Creativity Software in Art Therapy Sessions.” Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 4(1), 17-26.

Freedman, K. (1989). “Microcomputers and the Dynamics of Image Making and Social Life in Three Art Classrooms.” Journal of Research on Computing in Education, 21(3), 290-298.

Freedman, K. (1991). “Possibilities of Interactive Computer Graphics for Art Instruction: A Summary of Research.” Art Education, 44(3), 41-47.

Freedman, K. (1997). “Visual Art/Virtual Art: Teaching Technology for Meaning.” Art Education, 50(4), 6-12.

Greh, D. (1986). “Using Computers in Secondary Art Education.” Art Education, 39(6), 4-9.

Hartwich, P., & Brandecker, R. (1997). “Computer-based art therapy with inpatients: Acute and chronic schizophrenics and borderline cases.” The Arts in Psychotherapy, 24(4), 367-373.

Hubbard, G., & Greh, D. (1991). “Integrating Computing into Art Education.” Art Education, 44(3), 18-24.

Johnson, R. G. (1987). “Using Computer Art in Counseling Children.” Elementary School Guidance and Counseling, 21(4), 262-265.

Kleiman, G. M., & Humphrey, M. M. (1984). “Computers Make Special Education More Effective and Fun.” Creative Computing, 96-101.

Levenson, P. M., & Signer, B. (1985). “Using Computers to Help Children Cope with Chronic Illness.” Children’s Health Care, 14(2), 76-82.

McLeod, C. (1999) “Empowering Creativity with Computer-assisted Art Therapy: An Introduction to Available Programs and Techniques.” Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association 16(4), 201-205.

Parker-Bell, B. (1999). “Embracing a future with computers and art therapy.” Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 16(4), 180-185.

Thong, S. A. (2007). “Redefining the Tools of Art Therapy.” Art Therapy: Journal of the American Art Therapy Association, 24(2), 52-58.

Canter, D. S. (1989). “Art therapy and computers.” In H. Wadeson, J. Durkin, & D. Perach (Eds.), Advances in Art Therapy (pp. 296-316). New York: Wiley.

Johnson, R. G. (2002). “High Tech Play Therapy.” In C. E. Schaefer & D. Cangelosi (Eds.), Play Therapy Techniques (2nd ed., pp. 365-371). Northvale, NJ: Jason Aronson, Inc.

Malchiodi, C. A. (2000). Art Therapy and Computer Technology: A Virtual Studio of Possibilities. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Riley, S. (1999). Contemporary Art Therapy with Adolescents. Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Rubin, J. A. (1984). The art of art therapy. New York: Brunner/Mazel.

Photoshop is the market leader for commercial bitmap image manipulation but has the disadvantage of a high price. This has allowed competing programs such as Jasc Software’s Paint Shop Pro to become popular. To capture this lost market share, Adobe has introduced a much less expensive program called Photoshop Elements that consists of Photoshop minus some of the high-end output capabilities.

Photoshop Elements

Now easier to use, this all-in-one home photo solution, provides powerful photo editing functionality plus intuitive organizing and sharing capabilities. Organize your photos the way you want using new tagging, searching , and viewing options. Make your photos look their best by clicking away red-eye, cropping and rotating, and brushing away flaws. Artistically enhance photos by converting to sepia or black and white, applying various effects, and simulate painting. Photoshop Elements is available online for $88 to $100.

Photoshop CS (Creative Suite)

Used by graphic and web designers, photographers, and video professionals alike, Photoshop’s key features include: a full assortment of painting, drawing, and retouching tools; professional color-correction tools; enhanced layer control and layer compositions; improved File Browser; advanced web capabilities; the Healing Brush; special effects filters; advanced type control; customizable workspace; and automated production tasks. Photoshop CS is available online for $450 to $650.

Created by Dassault Systèmes, a world leader in the development of 3D design software, Cosmic Blobs may be the most powerful 3D graphics software ever invented for kids. Recommended for children ages 7 to 14, the program allows the user to quickly design and build high quality 3D creations. Although the interface is childlike, resembling a colorful chemistry lab, I believe that the 3D modeling techniques would engage the older adolescent and adult as well. In the lab, users intuitively apply 3D sculpting processes like stretching, squeezing, and rotating. The completed Blob can have elegant lines and any of hundreds of possible colors and textures. Later, the Blobs can be animated, e-mailed to friends, printed, or imported into other applications. Cosmic Blobs is available online for $40 to $45 but occasionally goes on sale for $30 to $35.

People Putty is a tool that allows you to make your very own interactive 3D talking head by altering the pre-made faces and shapes available in the program, or by loading an image from your digital camera, scanner or hard drive. In the Texture palette, you can add wrinkles, makeup, hair, change teeth, eyes, as well as add tattoos or wounds. In the Shapes palette, you can mold your character like putty or choose from many shapes that resemble animals and objects. In the Personality palette, you can give your character a range of emotions from broken hearted to raging mad. The Accessories palette houses items such as earrings, glasses, wigs, hairs, and neck wear. Finally, the Theatre palette is where everything comes together. When you record your own voice (or use the available sound clips), your character instantly lip syncs to your words. Additional animation features allow you to send your character moving across the screen, changing shape, and change expression over time. People Putty is available online for $55.

Primarily a stamp and draw application, Flying Colors is advertised to be appropriate for ages 8 through adult. While the savvy computer artist might find this program too childlike, the available stamps, backgrounds, and vivid moving colors will engage most users. Some of the palettes encompassed within the application are: colors, patterns, gradients, a Stamp tool and browser, Eraser, Mover, Zoom, Eyedropper, Polygon tool, Oval tool, Rectangle tool, Bucket fill, Line tool, Spray can, Brush, Text, Symmetry, and Stencil. Parker-Bell’s primary complaint in 1999 was that “there is no racial or age variety in available figures. Human figure stamps are limited to blond and blue-eyed Caucasians in one adult age range and few poses” (p. 182). Although Flying Colors 2 has made an effort to expand the variety of their human stamps, they are still fairly stereotyped. However, as I demonstrated in Julian’s case study, the artist is not limited to the prepackaged stamps. Personal customization is possible by cutting and pasting desirable photographs into the Stamp browser. Flying Colors is available online for $29.

A child oriented painting program, Kid Pix has several applications including drawing, painting, stamp art, slide show production, and animation. The various versions, Kid Pix Studio Deluxe, Kid Pix Studio 3, and Kid Pix Studio 4 can be found online for $3 to $40. Malchiodi (2000) found:

The program seems popular with elementary-school-age children and is mainly suited for that age group or developmental level. Children who have access to a computer at home or in school are often familiar with the program. This is an added benefit to the therapist when time is of the essence in settings such as a hospital bedside where there can be interruptions for vital signs, family visits, or doctor’s rounds. (p. 40)

“Software, like computers, changes frequently, and it is difficult to provide a critique of something that may not be available in a year or two” (Malchiodi, 2000, p. 39). Image processing generally includes retouching or enhancement of photographs, computer vision, and creation of works of art. The programs necessary to execute this type of imaging include 2D paint and photopaint applications, 3D software, and stock-image resource libraries or CDs. This section details the programs and resources illustrated throughout this paper as well as others that look promising in terms of digital imaging.

Preinstalled Applications

Some kind of creativity, art making, or photo editing software usually comes preinstalled on computers as part of a package. Although these applications are fairly limited in terms of art making tools, they are adequate in lieu of supplementary programs that can be purchased separately.

Microsoft Paint

Windows compatible PCs come with Microsoft (MS) Paint, a drawing tool you can use to create simple or elaborate drawings. Microsoft Paint comes with the following options in its Tool Box: Free-Form Select, Select, Eraser/Color Eraser, Fill With Color, Pick Color, Magnifier, Pencil, Brush, Airbrush, Text, Line, Curve, Rectangle, Polygon, Ellipse, and Rounded Rectangle. However, MS Paint does not have the ability to create color gradients. The images can be either black-and-white or color, and can be opened and saved as Windows bitmap, JPEG, GIF, PNG, and TIFF formats. The finished images can be printed, used as your desktop background, or pasted it into another document. Somewhat more difficult to do convincingly, Paint can be used to view and edit scanned photographs.

iPhoto

Made by Apple Computer, iPhoto is designed to help manage the digital photos of the user. iPhoto allows users to organize, view and share their digital photos with friends and family at home and over the web. Photos can be organized into “albums” by the user, for easy referencing. The program has some basic editing capabilities including red eye reduction, brightness and contrast adjustments, cropping, resizing, and conversion to black and white, among others. It will also present an “album” of pictures as customizable slideshows, adding selected music and transitional effects.

“For most people, choosing a printer entails balancing price, speed, and print quality” (Cekan, n.d., ¶1). Speed is rated by number of pages printed per minute but usually does not include the time it takes the computer to send the job to the printer. The additional features that help determine price and print quality are the cost per page and resolution. With any comparison of resolution, higher numbers equal better print quality, particularly when printing photographs. Calculating the printer’s cost is not as simple as finding the printer’s actual sticker price. Ink cartridges can cost from $12 to $38 and yield 300 to 800 pages per cartridge while laser toners average between $100 and $300 but yield an astounding 6,000 to 12,000 pages.

Laserjet vs. Inkjet Printers

The bottom line is that inkjets print great photos and lasers excel at text. However, since you cannot get both in one printer, you will have to compromise. Inkjets are ideal for home users who need to print text pages, color graphics, and color photos. Inkjet printers that use letter or legal sized paper have a price of $40 to $340. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that the manufacturers do not make money on the printer but on the ink it requires. On the other hand, color laser printers give you the cleanest and sharpest results. So if you need the highest quality color pages, spending the extra money for a color laser printer makes sense. Becoming more affordable every day, these printers currently start at $400.

The art therapist who is fluent in digital imaging and makes the most of the medium may handle a larger number of prints than the art therapist who occasionally uses the computer as an imaging tool. Personally, when I upgraded to a color laser printer, I was more than pleased. My primary reason for making the switch was that I found myself having to constantly replace my ink jet printers. Using it daily to print photographs, computer art, and text, the ink jet printers I owned were unable to withstand the load and would consistently break down within a couple of years. Since the cost of repairing an ink jet printer is equal to or more expensive than purchasing a new one, I would often opt for the latter. My Okidata C5150 color laser printer prints vivid photographs and crisp text, costs roughly $600, and came equipped with all the toner cartridges. One of the downsides of some color lasers is its inability to print high quality 4”x6” glossy snapshots. However, even though glossy laser paper is hard to obtain, the color toners of most color laser printers give images a glossy sheen even when printed on regular white laser paper.

All in One

Color multifunction printers turn many people’s heads because they claim to do so much – print, scan, fax, and/or copy…. But according to tests by PC World, “none of them does everything splendidly” (McLaughlin, 2003, ¶3). If space restricts the number of devices one can have, it is important to know which features are most important to you and to carefully review the specifications accordingly. If space is not an issue, realize that all-in-one printers are not your only option and often buying separate devices dedicated to printing or scanning is the better choice.

Specialty Photo

“If you always want your pictures right now, and you want them to look like they came out of the processing machine at the photo shop, you’ll need that extra specialized printer” (McLaughlin, 2003, ¶19). These printers range in price from $80 to $700 and almost always have slots for digital camera memory cards. This feature allows you to print directly from the camera without requiring a computer connection.

“The fact is that nobody wants substandard photos after being used to high-quality processing from a local photo shop. At the same time, no one wants to buy more printers than they need” (McLaughlin, 2003, ¶19). The therapist has to determine what kinds of documents she will be printing and how often in order to make a decision about which printer or printers to purchase.

Most scanners today are variations on the desktop (or flatbed) scanner, which analyzes a physical 2D image (such as a photograph, text document, or handwriting) or an object (such as a relief sculpture) and converts it to a digital image. The features to consider when purchasing a scanner are: optical resolution, color depth, the availability of a transparency adapter, the availability of an automatic document feeder (ADF), and the connectivity interface. As with digital cameras, the higher the resolution and color depth of the scanner, the better the output quality.

Transparency adapters and ADFs are additional features that one may or may not need. Transparency adapters allow for scanning slides or film negatives and come with film trays that hold the various media. ADFs are helpful when handling high volumes of optical character recognition scans. However, since it is usually more expensive to buy a scanner separately from an ADF, if you are considering this feature, you will want to find a scanner that includes an ADF at the outset.

The amount of data generated by a scanner can be very large and requires a fast connection with the computer. Some of the interfaces available are parallel, USB, USB2, and Firewire connections. Parallel interfaces transmit data at 70 kilobytes (KB) per second (ps), USB at 1MBps, USB2 at 40MBps, and Firewire at 400MBps. Depending on its features, flatbed scanners can cost from $50 to $700.