David Hockney - using technology

Hockney himself said that " technology always has contributed to art. The brush itself is a piece of technology, isn't it?" (Gayford, 2012, p. 62). Hockney sees one aspect of art as being the result of artists "discerning how a novel piece of equipment might enable them to do things that were more difficult or even impossible before" (Gayford, 2012, p. 62) and that it opens up possibilities for creativity that can be exploited and developed in different ways, if desired.

The image above, with a quote by David Hockney, - "It is thought that new technology is taking away the hand (I'm not so sure). If you look around a lot is opening up" - really sums up my feeling on the subject. I love using the iPad to paint as I feel it has opened up a whole new world of creativity for me. I hadn't really done much of my own artwork over the years until I got the iPad in May 2010 and began the MEd course. All of a sudden I had to begin creating artwork for the course, I had to start experimenting. With the iPad all the barriers of time, materials, space and possible failure were taken away and I was enabled. I could paint anywhere and at any time - I didn't need a large area in which to work or have to spend a lot of money to set myself up and find my 'niche'. Neither did I have to set aside large blocks of time which, to be honest, I didn't have - I could paint on the bus, before I went to sleep, in my classroom whilst pupils were working or while waiting for a doctor's appointment.

I love the size and portability of the device, the immediacy of the medium, and the ways in which you can combine it with photography and video work. It is also very easy to try things out and experiment using the undo and redo facility and of course there are endless canvases and materials available. This has really helped to develop my confidence.

Painting on the canvas of the iPad with digital media is just another branch of art - it is neither more nor less important than traditional methods, it is just different. It requires the same creativity, imagination and level of skill to manipulate the media and develop work as does more traditional materials. It is a different media with different nuances, techniques, possibilities and limitations.

Gayford, M., 2012. David Hockney: The Technology of Art. In Royal Academy of Art, 2012. A Bigger Picture. London: RAA

[iPad quote image] 2010 [image online] Available at: < http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23832611-david-hockney-swaps-a-sketch-pad-for-ipad.do > [Accessed January 2012].