Jorge Colombo is a Portuguese artist living in the U.S. who has been getting much attention lately for this week’s cover of The New Yorker, which he “fingerpainted” on his iPhone using a painting application called “Brushes“.
The app lets you record the painting process and play it back, and the New Yorker article linked above includes a time laps video of his process.
I say “fingerpainted” because unlike other small mobile computing platforms, the iPhone and iPod touch is a touch-screen interface, meant to be used without a stylus, so your finger becomes the “brush”. This seems a little ungainly compared to stylus based small screen painting applicaitons, but the results indicate that you can do some interesting work with it.
Colombo did his sketch in about an hour while standing outside Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum in Times Square.
On Colombo’s web site you will find some of his iPhone sketches, along with other done in pencil and colored digitally. He is also offering prints of some of the iPhone work.
In addition, there is a section of video and press coverage of his New Yorker iPhone sketch cover.
[Suggestion courtesy of Jack Harris]
David Hockney has been sending iPhone art to friends. I tried it with one of the free apps. I’m not posting a link to my effort (nor am I planning on buying an island with the proceeds from any future sale). Brushes look much much better. There’s definitely potential for some interesting stuff, perhaps because of, rather than in spite of, the inherent limitations.
Art or ephemera?
If this level of work was done on a canvas or any traditional medium…would people make a big deal out of it?
And if people say this is an iPhone painting and argue its limitation of the medium as an advantage, then I say I have seen better.
Regardless of what it was done on or by…I think the work is mediocre…pedestrian to say the least, in my opinion.
I’ll have to agree with what Irene Gallo said, just because it can be done, that doesn’t mean it should be done.
I’m going to go along with the Emperor’s new clothes assessment on this one. Clumsy tools equals clumsy piece in this case.
if thats done on the iphone, then whats next, crazy, i might have to get a iphone myself lol. wow
Illustrators
I own a gallery in Carmel CA if Jorge would care to contact me. I think they are great. Alex Katz look out. BillyEvans
Mr. Colombo is unlikely to see our comment here. You can contact him directly through his web site.