Designers may shrug when they hear the term “iPad art” (or other tablet art). You make digitally-born art all the time, right?
True. But iPad art typically refers more specifically to when an artist successfully engages the tradition of painting — as in, the smearing of oil-based pigment on canvas — on a tablet. And some of the accomplishments to come from this recent art form have been truly staggering.
David Hockney, for example, is a British artist who rose to fame around the Pop Art period. Here is one of his older works, an acrylic painting on canvas:
Photo of David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash (1967), by Ian Burt
At the age of 74, he found sudden, intense inspiration drawing on the iPad, and before long he was exhibiting tablet-based art in major museums. Here is one of his works on the iPad:
David Hockney, Yosemite I, October 16th 2011. iPad drawing printed on paper © David Hockney, 2013
Hockney has received a lion’s share of press because of his preexisting reputation, but in fact there are plenty of emerging artists who are making astonishing work on tablets. Here are a few:
Kyle Lambert
Patricio Villarroel Bórquez
David Kassan
Coreliss Blakely
Seikou Yamaoka
Benjamin Rabe
Mike Miller
Finn Again (making of) from mike miller on Vimeo.
Interested in making art on your tablet? Check out these resources:
Know some other awesome iPad art? Share you favorite artist in the comments!
Cover photo: Kyle Lambert
