Digital Paintings Make Picture Walls Pop

Digitally-printed paintings are as vibrant and colorful as the originals.

If walls could talk, mine would yell: We need art!

That's why I've been browsing the modern-digital-canvas gallery, or m-dc, an online source for bold, colorful art, which – like costume jewelry – can give you the same effect as the real thing.

While an original painting done with acrylic paint on canvas might cost thousands, m-dc images are digitally printed on canvas with archival ink -- similar to the way fabric is created. Each of the 165 styles has a name and comes in three sizes: small (34" x 25") for $199, medium (46" x 34") for $279 and jumbo (58" x 43") for $379. The largest is nearly five-feet long, big enough to make a statement on almost any wall. The canvases are professionally stretched on wood frames and shipped ready to hang. Plus, shipping is free.

A few images are realistic, like black-and-white tree branches or a seascape on a misty day. But most offer bright colors with abstract shapes or lines. A few resemble the work of famous 20th century artists like Willem de Kooning (Springs) or Mondrian (Amsterdam). No ancestor portraits here.

Technically, these are multiples on canvas, no different than prints or posters even though they look like paintings. I see them as a great color boost in a neutral room, or a way to create a series of images on a long wall without expensive framing. That's something to talk about.