Comments on: Finger painting without the mess

Finger painting without the mess

po — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:34:32 -0800

A collection of sketches drawn on an iPhone using only fingers, by Stef Kardos, an art director for Disney. Rough, jewel-bright, entrancing, could induce further desire for an iPhone.

By: seawallrunner

seawallrunner — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:41:26 -0800

gorgeous.

By: batmonkey

batmonkey — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:56:06 -0800

love! exactly the kind of thing the future should have in it.

By: sdodd

sdodd — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:56:09 -0800

D'ya ever have one of those moments? You know, where you just have to put you head in your hands. Because you see what somebody's done and you just know you'll never have as much talent as them. Damn.

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:04:45 -0800

The stylus would makes it easier, but for my money Sean Philips has him beat, on Nintendo DS. (Cheers Alvy Ampersand)

By: bluefly

bluefly — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:30:25 -0800

Amazing! Never having held an iPhone/iPod Touch in my hands, I have no idea if that platform makes it harder or easier to draw, but regardless of the medium, these paintings are very cool.

By: cmchap

cmchap — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:01:06 -0800

GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY THAT"S DIFFICULT! I just spent the last 5 minutes drawing a simple smiley face. Kardos deserves great respect for that geeky-technoart!

By: RokkitNite

RokkitNite — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:50:23 -0800

Aw man. You should check out the version of Colors for the Nintendo DS. Scrawling barely recognisable images onto a tiny screen has never been so much fun.

By: ryanrs

ryanrs — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 01:53:33 -0800

<img>aardvark with an aardvark</img>

By: scrump

scrump — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:02:13 -0800

D'ya ever have one of those moments?

All the time.Iit's called mescaline. Only way to fly. sorry

By: Effigy2000

Effigy2000 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:06:45 -0800

These aren't bad at all. Thanks pb. I also came across a site today that has 100 (really) beautiful iPhone wallpapers. Between this and your post, I think that a lot of people are gonna be desiring an iPhone more than ever before.

By: Ambrosia Voyeur

Ambrosia Voyeur — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 02:52:36 -0800

i love scrump's new userpic. that is all.

By: hal9k

hal9k — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 03:56:38 -0800

They've finally developed the Etch-A-Sketch killer.

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 04:57:35 -0800

I don't mean to shit on the parade here, but this kind of reminds me of the people that do photorealistic work in MS Paint. I mean, sure, I'm impressed by the talent, but it doesn't make me want to start using Paint to do anything. I can't see anyone spending $200 + the minimum $300 annual pricing plan just because it has a fingerpainting program or pretty wallpaper. If you buy one for other reasons and see this as icing on the cake, more power to you, but if these two things alone make you want one then you're a sucker.

By: kcds

kcds — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:20:26 -0800

I don't mean to shit on the parade here Yes you do

By: rtha

rtha — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:53:04 -0800

I have an iPod Touch (so no annual pricing!) and a sudden desperate desire for this app. All I lack is talent... *goes off to iTunes anyway to stare at app*

By: carbide

carbide — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 05:59:28 -0800

caution live frogs, I'll join you in parade duty. I can only imagine how much skill it takes, but compared to the artist's other work, I just don't get the enthusiasm. Would anyone stop to look at, think about, buy, or [whatever verb you decide represents some of art's value] ANY of them? Choosing a shitty/difficult medium doesn't make something more important or worthwhile, especially when the medium's own values aren't brought into the work.

By: 0xdeadc0de

0xdeadc0de — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:03:35 -0800

Trained artist creates crude finger paintings drawn awkwardly on tiny computer. Product enthusiast tries to sell enthused product. Somewhere, a parade begins to smell.

By: any major dude

any major dude — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:17:04 -0800

I find it cute that Iphone and Blackberry users are just now discovering all the "new" features of handheld devices that have been available for years on Palm devices. The past repackaged as the future. The Beatles and Elvis would be proud. Don't bury Palm yet - it's still the best handheld OS out there and they are going to (finally) unveil a new OS tomorrow.

By: device55

device55 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 06:22:01 -0800

Though it's included in the tags, and in captions under some of the sketches, you may have missed that the name of the application is "Brushes". (gentlemen start your credit cards)

By: fake

fake — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:01:34 -0800

Doesn't make me covet iPhone, Does me covet world-class painting skills.

By: miss lynnster

miss lynnster — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:08:10 -0800

Choosing a shitty/difficult medium doesn't make something more important or worthwhile, especially when the medium's own values aren't brought into the work. Oh, I don't know about that. Sometimes things are just cool solely because someone took the time and effort to create it. Sometimes it's not about an artist fulfilling their potential, but about trying something and seeing what's there.

By: po

po — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:11:36 -0800

Whoops. I didn't even realize the app didn't come with the phone or wasn't a free download. Apologies for that. And I neither own nor desire an iphone. It was more of a disclaimer. I'll shut up now.

By: Potomac Avenue

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:14:52 -0800

The reason its neat is because these are sketches, meaning he was in the place he was drawing while he drew them, and it was easier and faster to use his bloody communication device to get a beautiful workable outline of the place and thing he was looking at than whipping out a big notebook and some pens. It's obviously a creative leap forward. Put your pants back on sir and stop pestering the inflatable floats. Also, I'm sickeningly jealous that anyone would get to be somewhere that looks like this right now.

By: desjardins

desjardins — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:21:50 -0800

I liked 'em. This post was a good start to my morning.

By: alms

alms — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 07:41:53 -0800

Wow.

By: Outlawyr

Outlawyr — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:11:01 -0800

Cool post.

By: device55

device55 — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:11:38 -0800

I just downloaded the app. ($2.99!) - I have to say it's a pretty nice little tool. Surprisingly easy to use and fun to play with. One of the nicest features is the eyedropper...tap and hold on the screen, and an color picker appears under/around your finger - then you can select any color on the screen. The only thing that would make it perfect would be a blender brush (but you can simulate that by selecting a color and making it semi transparent.)

By: filthy light thief

filthy light thief — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 08:37:12 -0800

I really liked sketching on my Palm Pilots, though all I created were black and white images, something similar to these (not my work, just used for example). TealPaint added more fancy tools, though you're still at the MS Paint level of image creation and manipulation. It seems that Brushes adds some more advanced features, which makes it easier to create hazy sunsets. Using your finger is harder than a stylus, so this gallery is more impressive for it. But Stéphane Kardos has real skill beyond the iPhone, and isn't magically gifted thanks to technology. To everyone who thinks they can't do this: take 10-15 minutes to draw each day, if that's all you can spare. If you watch live TV, draw during commercial breaks. Draw from your imagination and from real life. Some people have a better eye for colors and shapes, but a lot of it comes from practice. For example, see the artwork of Mike Krahulik (Gabe) now, a few years ago, back in 2000, and the very beginning. The same can be seen with anyone who draws the same characters or material over time - the content can be similar, but the forms become improved.

By: carbide

carbide — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 09:57:22 -0800

Oh, I don't know about that. Sometimes things are just cool solely because someone took the time and effort to create it. Sometimes it's not about an artist fulfilling their potential, but about trying something and seeing what's there. That model's awesome! Toothpicks offer detail and modules that suit model-making just fine, I think. I didn't mean to suggest there was only one way of doing things or that it should EVER be able Being All That You Can Be, but more that when someone is experimenting with a process and turning out a product that have maybe 2% of the visual skill and delicacy of the same person's work in other media, it baffles me that people get excited about the product itself primarily because of the medium. And people obviously do get excited about it.

By: jayder

jayder — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:05:59 -0800

When he was still actively blogging at links.net, Justin Hall used to post little sketches made on his mobile phone, and I always thought those sketches were cool. They are artistically crude and the subject matter is silly, but they appeal to me greatly. They're kind of like outsider art. I like outsider art because you often see these artists making the best use of crude materials that they can, often resulting in a thing of weird beauty. Stef Kardos' finger paintings appeal to me in the same way.

By: gorgor_balabala

gorgor_balabala — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:53:39 -0800

I don't think the point of all this was to get excited about the software or the medium, but rather to marvel at someone's ability to make use of its limited usability in a seemingly impossible way -- i.e., to make gorgeous paintings with it.

By: caution live frogs

caution live frogs — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:47:26 -0800

Potomac Avenue wrote "it was easier and faster to use his bloody communication device to get a beautiful workable outline of the place and thing he was looking at than whipping out a big notebook and some pens." Well yes, but wouldn't it have been much more easy and much, much faster to just use the camera built into the iPhone? It looks to me that he did it with Brushes because he apparently liked the challenge, not because it was an elegant solution to a problem in composition.

By: kliuless

kliuless — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:44:36 -0800

kristin gundred from grand ole party has a banshee wail that will curdle your soul! and melt your face off auf deutsch :P

By: jayder

jayder — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:35:11 -0800

What's amazing to me is the subtlety of the light in this painting.