** Admittedly, I'm a late adapter of the Brushes application for iPhone. I didn't see the value until I was recently waiting for a check up at the doctor's office. They don't call them waiting rooms for nothing. After tiring of last years magazines and convincing the receptionist that airplane mode on the cell isn't going to crash their EKG I downloaded the application. I was instantly hooked. The app turned my phone into a mini rendering tablet and I was off and running, er... finger painting; not even griping over the wait.
Pepper in Basket - first attempt with Brushes app
My first attempt was crude but the learning curve was fairly intuitive. My second piece "Fish" (at top) turned out a bit better and gives me a sense of the possibilities in this little app. Of course my self satisfied bubble burst when I decided to visit Flicker to see what everyone else is doing with Brushes.
I've got a ways to go on my finger painting. Still for all those times when I'm trapped in waiting mode without a sketchbook now I can just phone it in.
"A real brush" illustration from artist book in progress - You Are What You Eat - evertson '09
My working method above is a bit like the ink drawing techniques (above) that I learned from friend and mentor Keiji Shinohara. Although Keiji is mainly know for his ukiyo-e style woodcuts, he is also a master of japanese style sumi-e painting. He taught me over the course of a couple of years how to bring the 'color' out of the black ink.
Keiji Shinohara Ukiyo-e woodcut print
The Brushes undo function is able to cover missteps easily and the drawings can maintain the fresh and spontaneous feel of sumi-e. (without years of training) In the Flicker examples you can also find artists working very realistically. The only drawback is that one can have too many irons in the art fire.
7 comments:
that fish painting looks great
from Iphone to sumi-e; that's a fascinating connection to make. Both are forms I hadn't heard of before. Thanks for sharing!
how intriguing and yes what an interesting connection.
ps. I like the fish painting.
Thanks for the visit catwithaxe :)
Thx Art; It most likely naiveté as to the possibilities of the app that makes that connection. There seems to be many ways of approaching a tiny touch screen.
Hi Jaf -Thx also - Spend a lifetime mastering the concentration of the few strokes that make up a sumi-e (esp. the zenga style) drawing, or for $4.99, flick my finger to similar result. I'll have to check if my dog can do as well ;)
Wow, that fish looks amazing, just like an old Japanese block-print! Talk about transforming anxious/boring waits at doc's offices into....artistic excitement! I love it! :)
Hey Bill, I've been really crazy busy between work and trying to get out and about... this is great, I had no idea people could produce art on their cell phones these days... the fish is terrific... show us more !
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