iPad Art Is Here To Stay....Critics Take Note

I visited with my cousin over the holidays - he had traveled in from San Francisco where he now lives. Among other topics, I started talking about what wonderful art can be created on an iPad. More specifically, I was describing my new fascination with the ArtStudio app, which is like having Photoshop on your iPad. ...all for $4.95

My cousin then informed me that there was an artist - David Hockney - currently on display at the DeYoung Museum in San Francisco for the art he created with an iPad. (see http://hockney.famsf.org/hockney-about for more info ) I was really surprised to hear it and it really affirmed to me the value of this kind of digital work.

Digital work often gets devalued by critics and/or purists - mainly because the hand-made factor is not as strong and there are countless filters one can use at the click of a button that require no artistic skill.

While this has some truth in it, there is another aspect about digital art that often gets overlooked. And that is the sheer number of tools set in front of a digital artist. The number of possible choices and decisions given for any piece is staggering. So there is an inherent improvisation and focus needed in digital work that often gets overlooked or devalued.

And now the iPad brings the focus back around to the hand-made aspect. The pad itself makes it harder for critics to claim that the hand-made element is lacking merely because it is digital art. It Must be hand-drawn on the iPad. There is no other way. So scream about the digital filters all you want - the hand-made aspect is clear with the iPad and it is here to stay.