Striking examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art in 2025

When people talk about examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art, digital painting is usually the first stop. It’s the closest cousin to traditional painting, but with a very 2025 twist: infinite undos, custom brushes, and canvases that glow instead of crack.

Some of the best examples of digital painting right now blur the line between oil-on-canvas and pixels-on-glass. Think of artists working in Procreate, Photoshop, or Krita, using pressure‑sensitive tablets to build up color like old‑school painters, but with lighting, textures, and scale that would be impossible in a physical studio.

Take Loish (Lois van Baarle), whose character‑driven digital paintings are a staple of contemporary illustration. Her portraits have the softness of gouache and the drama of cinematic lighting, yet they’re built entirely from layers and digital brushes. Or look at Beeple (Mike Winkelmann), whose daily digital paintings helped push digital work into the fine-art spotlight, culminating in that now‑famous Christie’s auction.

Another striking example of painterly digital art is the wave of artists on platforms like ArtStation who build entire fantasy worlds digitally. Many of these artists approach their canvases like 19th‑century landscape painters, but they’re painting alien planets, neon‑lit cities, or speculative climate futures. The brushwork may be virtual, but the sense of atmosphere and light is classic painting language.

These digital painting examples include:

• Concept art for films and games, where artists paint environments and characters directly on tablets.
• Editorial illustrations for magazines and news outlets, created digitally but printed or published online.
• Personal projects—digital sketchbooks that never run out of pages.

If you’re looking for an example of how digital painting is taught seriously now, check out programs at art schools like Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) or School of Visual Arts (SVA), which integrate digital tools right alongside traditional media in their curricula (risd.edu, sva.edu). The message is clear: digital painting isn’t a side hobby; it’s part of the contemporary painting toolkit.

2. AI-assisted art: examples of digital art co-created with algorithms

The last few years have turned AI from a sci‑fi buzzword into an actual collaborator. When people ask for examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art today, AI‑assisted work almost always enters the conversation.

These are not just random “type a prompt, get a picture” moments. The most interesting AI art in 2024–2025 treats the algorithm like a very weird studio assistant: unpredictable, occasionally chaotic, but capable of surprising visual ideas.

Some standout real examples:

• Refik Anadol’s data paintings and installations: Anadol feeds massive datasets—like climate data, urban memories, or even brainwave recordings—into machine‑learning systems, then turns the output into hypnotic visual environments. His piece Unsupervised at the Museum of Modern Art used the museum’s own collection data to generate constantly shifting digital abstractions, like a living painting informed by decades of art history.

• Artists fine‑tuning models on their own work: Instead of relying on generic AI models, some painters train smaller models on their personal archives. The result? AI generations that echo their style, which they then repaint, collage, or edit. The finished artwork becomes a hybrid of human intention and machine suggestion.

• Collaborative zines and online exhibitions: In online communities, artists share prompt recipes, remix AI outputs, and paint over them. You’ll find AI‑generated compositions turned into fully rendered digital paintings, where the AI only provided the skeleton.

Researchers and critics are taking this seriously too. Institutions like MIT and Harvard publish work on AI, creativity, and ethics, framing these pieces not as tech demos but as cultural artifacts (mit.edu, harvard.edu).

In the context of examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art, AI‑assisted pieces stand out because they stretch what we even mean by “artist’s hand.” The painter’s brush might be digital, but now there’s also a model suggesting shapes, patterns, and compositions in the background.

3. Augmented reality murals: examples include street art that only appears on your phone

Now for something more public: digital art that lives out in the world, layered over brick, concrete, and city noise.

One of the most exciting examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art is the rise of augmented reality (AR) murals. These are pieces where the physical wall shows one design, but when you view it through an AR app, the scene comes alive—characters move, colors shift, hidden layers reveal themselves.

Recent real examples include:

• AR‑enhanced city murals in places like Los Angeles, New York, and London, where artists partner with developers to create interactive layers. You might see a static portrait on the wall, but your phone reveals swirling galaxies or animated graffiti tags.

• Festival installations where visitors point their phones at markers on the ground and watch digital sculptures rise up in mixed reality. These are often built in engines like Unity or Unreal and painted with digital textures.

• Museum collaborations, where institutions create AR overlays on historical paintings, letting visitors see alternate color palettes, x‑ray layers, or speculative “what if” scenes. While many museums are still experimenting, this is quickly becoming a tool for education and accessibility, and it’s often discussed in museum studies programs at universities like the University of Washington and NYU (washington.edu, nyu.edu).

In terms of painting styles, AR murals are like digital frescoes. The artist still designs compositions, color harmonies, and visual rhythm, but the final canvas is the intersection of wall + screen + motion. These examples include both highly polished studio productions and gritty indie experiments made by small collectives.

4. Generative art and code-based painting: examples of digital art that never repeat

If traditional painting is about freezing a moment, generative art is about letting the artwork breathe and change over time.

In this corner of contemporary digital art, artists write code that “paints” for them. The rules are defined by the artist, but the specific outcomes are often unpredictable, making each run of the program a fresh example of the underlying concept.

Some of the best examples here:

• Algorithmic abstractions that look like digital Rothkos or Agnes Martin grids, except they’re generated in real time. The artist might use Processing, p5.js, or TouchDesigner to create infinite variations of color fields, lines, or organic forms.

• Generative NFT series where each minted piece is a different output of the same algorithm. While the hype wave around NFTs has calmed since 2021, the underlying practice of generative art has stuck around and matured. Artists now focus more on craft, clarity of concept, and long‑term collections rather than quick flips.

• Interactive installations that react to sound, movement, or weather data. Imagine walking into a gallery and seeing a wall‑sized “painting” that shifts color as people move or as the temperature outside changes.

These are powerful examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art because they turn the idea of painting into a system rather than a single image. The artist is still making formal decisions—palette, composition logic, brush simulation—but the final result might be 10,000 subtle variations instead of one finished canvas.

5. Digital collage and mixed media: examples include glitch, scans, and found pixels

If you’ve ever Frankensteined screenshots, textures, and old photos into a single chaotic masterpiece, you’ve already tasted digital collage.

Contemporary digital collage artists treat the screen like an endless cutting mat. They scan in hand‑painted textures, rip fragments from old magazines, photograph street posters, and then layer everything in software. The result ranges from dreamy surrealism to sharp political commentary.

Real examples of this style include:

• Glitch artists who intentionally corrupt files, distort JPEGs, or abuse compression artifacts to create painterly streaks and warped faces. What used to be a “file error” is now a visual style.

• Photo‑collage painters who start with digital photographs and then paint over them in apps like Procreate, turning everyday scenes into cinematic, color‑soaked narratives.

• Zine and poster designers creating digital collages for music events, activism campaigns, or fashion brands. These images might eventually get printed, but their first life is digital—shared on social feeds, websites, or projections.

In the spectrum of examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art, digital collage stands out because it’s so hybrid. It borrows from painting, photography, graphic design, and even archival research. The “brush” here might be a clone stamp tool, a masking layer, or a scanner bed.

6. Immersive environments: when digital art becomes a room you walk into

Finally, let’s talk about digital art that swallows you whole.

Immersive digital installations have exploded in popularity, with visitors stepping into rooms where every wall, floor, and ceiling becomes part of a living artwork. Think of it as walking inside a digital painting.

A few standout examples include:

• Projection‑mapped environments where animated visuals wash over architecture, synced to sound. These range from subtle, meditative color fields to high‑energy, music‑driven experiences.

• Interactive light rooms where sensors track your movement and trigger changes in color, shape, or motion. Your body becomes part of the composition.

• Research‑driven installations that use scientific or environmental data as raw material. For instance, climate data, public health statistics, or satellite imagery can be transformed into visual experiences that feel like abstract paintings in motion. Universities and labs sometimes collaborate with artists to communicate complex data visually—an intersection you’ll see discussed in research from institutions like Stanford and UC Berkeley (stanford.edu, berkeley.edu).

These immersive works are powerful examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art because they expand the idea of painting beyond the frame. Color, line, and form still matter—but so do sound, movement, and the viewer’s physical presence.

How these examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art are shaping contemporary painting

Pulling all of this together, what do these examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art actually say about painting styles today?

First, they show that “painting” is no longer tied to a specific material. Whether it’s a Procreate canvas, an AR mural, or a generative screen, the core painterly questions—composition, light, color, texture—are still driving decisions. The medium has shifted; the thinking hasn’t.

Second, these examples include a wide spectrum of authorship models: solo painters at their tablets, coders writing visual systems, collectives building AR layers, and artists in dialogue with AI models. That variety is part of what makes contemporary digital art so interesting.

Third, they highlight how digital art is taught, archived, and discussed alongside traditional media. Art schools, museums, and universities are no longer treating digital work as an afterthought. You’ll find courses on digital painting, generative art, and interactive installation sitting right next to figure drawing and printmaking in many curricula.

And finally, they remind us that screens are not the enemy of “real art.” They’re just another surface—one that happens to glow, animate, and occasionally talk back.

FAQ: Real examples and practical questions about digital art

Q1: What are some real examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art I can study online?
Look at digital paintings and concept art on platforms like ArtStation and Behance, AI‑assisted projects by artists such as Refik Anadol, AR murals documented on city art festival websites, generative art projects in online galleries, digital collages shared by contemporary illustrators, and immersive installations posted by museums and new media centers. Together, these give you a broad sense of how wide the field really is.

Q2: Can these examples of digital art be considered “real painting”?
Many contemporary artists and educators would say yes. The tools are different, but the core painterly decisions—color, light, composition, rhythm—are the same. Art schools and museum exhibitions increasingly show digital paintings alongside oils and acrylics, treating them as part of the same conversation.

Q3: What is one example of a simple way to start creating digital art at home?
A straightforward example of getting started is using a tablet (even an entry‑level one) with a free or low‑cost painting app. Begin by copying a favorite traditional painting digitally, focusing on matching colors and lighting. This gives you hands‑on practice with brushes, layers, and blending modes without needing a full studio setup.

Q4: Are AI‑generated artworks replacing human digital artists?
So far, the most interesting work comes from artists using AI as a tool, not a replacement. Human artists still decide what to train, which outputs to keep, how to edit them, and what the artwork ultimately means. The best examples of AI‑assisted art look less like automation and more like a new kind of sketchbook.

Q5: Do these examples of 3 captivating examples of digital art have value in the art market?
Yes. Digital artworks sell as prints, commissions, NFTs, installations, and licensing deals for games, films, and brands. While markets fluctuate—especially around NFTs—collectors, galleries, and institutions are now actively acquiring digital work, and many artists make a living from these practices.