When I first got an iPad, I’d sit around the living room every night doodling whatever came into mind or view. After awhile, it occurred to me that I’d developed a prosaic tour of our living room from my sofa vantage, with hubby reading nearby, and a parade of accidental still lifes marching across the coffee table at my feet. None of these efforts is great art, but it was a fun way to gradually hone skills in this new medium.
Welcome to my living room!
With art buddy, Eneida Somarriba, I’m going to teach a 10 week class on making art on the iPad — at the Yellow Barn Studio, Glen Echo, MD, 4 to 6:30 pm on Thursdays, starting September 20, 2012.
If you haven’t tried this fun and revelatory form of finger-painting, you’ve got to do it! David Hockney, a modern master, has focused on the iPad for several years, exhibiting his digital pictures at UK’s Royal Academy and elsewhere.
Arrival of Spring in Worldgate 1, a Hockney iPad Image from Royal Academy Show
After declining a request to paint a portrait of Queen Elizabeth, he changed his mind on the occasion of her recent Jubilee, presenting her an iPad picture of her aboard the Royal Barge during the festive event.
Jubilee Pageant on the Thames: The End of the Regatta
So, whether you want to make colorful stick figures, high art, or anything in between, don’t miss this opportunity to learn iPad art in a structured environment.
In tomorrow’s post I’ll give you a virtual tour of my living room, painted over a couple of weeks as I worked nightly on what I could see from the vantage of my sofa.
The Kensington Armory/Town Hall is the site of my third show over Labor Day weekend. The hours are noon to 4 pm Saturday and Sunday, and 9:30 am to 4:30 pm on Labor Day. There will be a public reception Saturday evening from 6:00-7:30 pm.
For this exhibit, I plan to hang four framed paintings and show 10-12 matted originals and possibly prints of recent iPad images in a nearby rack. The slide show below gives a sense of these works — but they look much better ‘in person’. Come see them!
With a cohort of fellow artists from the Yellow Barn and several family members (including my hubby), I just completed an extremely interesting and fruitful trip to Cuba. We planned to interact with Cuban artists; paint Cuban people, land and cityscapes; soak up the culture; and leave behind art supplies and other items that could be useful.
We began in Pinar del Rio, in western Cuba, exploring the Vinales Valley, with its mysterious mogotes, and other environs. Here is the spectacular view from our little balcony immediately upon arrival.
Vinales Valley, with Mogotes in the Distance
And a photo of fellow artists, also soaking up the beauty.
All Enjoy the Spectacular View
And an ipad sketch I immediately began (using ArtRage3).
iPad Sketch of Vinales Valley
I’ve been spreading the word to artistic friends about the fun of roughing out quick sketches, abstractions, and otherwise getting wild ‘n crazy on an ipad. Here are a few more of images.
The first is a little living room scene – another of my early realistic efforts.
Every Girl Needs a Red Purse -- at least once in her life
And another abstract. I did a whole series, limiting myself to two dominant colors (plus white), accented by a small amount of a third color.
Red White & Blue
And this one was done from the passenger seat of our car as we sped through the Pennsylvania countryside. I loved the colors of the overcast afternoon and decided to try to capture them on the ipad.
Color Note from Car Window
We got an iPad for Christmas and I’ve been having a lot of fun (after a fairly steep learning curve), roughing out realistic ‘drawings’ and abstract images. One of my Yellow Barn teachers said I was undercutting our art, while another (the chairman of the facility) suggested that I hold a workshop at ‘the barn’ on these digital media. A lot of the other students have been very curious about the process and the apps I’ve been using (primarily Art Rage and Sketchbook Pro).
Here are a couple of my works:
a realistic one — a still life on our kitchen table after 4 days without power in mid-winter
What is it with PEPCO?? Inept co!
and an abstract one. Until this past year I’d never tried my hand at abstraction, not having a single clue as to how to approach the task. The iPad apps have let my mind wander and have helped me develop some ideas.
triangles and lines