For about a year now, as many stories have covered, painter David Hockney’s new medium is the Brushes application on his iPhone. He’s had a gallery show with this work, with more scheduled. He is certainly not the first. For painters he has this advice: use your thumb, not your index finger.

The thing is,” Hockney explains, “if you are using your pointer or other fingers, you actually have to be working from your elbow. Only the thumb has the opposable joint which allows you to move over the screen with maximum speed and agility, and the screen is exactly the right size, you can easily reach every corner with your thumb.

Some video of Hockney’s work, and his thoughts on what is unphotographable.

Hockney has a history of using technology to create artwork. Here he is in 1985 using the Quantel Paintbox to create computer art.

Read the complete interview, David Hockney’s iPhone Passion at The New York Review of Books.

Visit David Hockney’s official site.
Get the work of David Hockney.

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