Classical artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo would never have guessed that one day artists would be painting, not with brushes and paints, but with their fingertips on the screen of a highly advanced piece of technology, the iPhone. The iPhone is a line of smartphones created by the company Apple Inc. The iPhone was first released in 2007, with the latest model being the 6th generation iPhone 5 that is being released in September 2012. The iPhone is popular with creative people because of its advanced camera and sensitive touch screen. The camera allows iPhone users to create artistic photographs with apps like Instagram, and artists can doodle in painting apps like Brushes, an image creation and editing software app that is available for iPhone.
Artist Mike Miller says that at first he simply doodled in the Brushes app, but it soon turned into a hobby for him. The 32-year-old artist from Colorado in the United States says, “”The more I use the application, the more it feels the same as the real thing, physically drawing on the touch screen is the same method I use on pad and paper, except it isn’t messy and fits in my pocket.” In that statement, Miller reveals that in our rushed modern society, most people don’t have the time nor the inclination to set up an easel and paints in order to create art. The iPhone software allows artists to carry an entire art studio in their pockets, which means that they can paint or draw while waiting for transport or while sitting in a coffee shop. Digital art software requires no physical art mediums such as paint or charcoal that will make a mess of a person’s hands, so iPhone artists can “paint” without needing to clean up afterwards. The hobby is becoming so popular with iPhone users that many people are now selling their iPhone art online.
Mike Miller’s Brushes paintings have been featured on websites like My Modern Met, The Daily Mail and iPad and iPhone Art. You can see more iPhone and other art by Mike Miller on his Flickr stream.
