The New Yorker June 2009 Cover
The iPhone as an artistic tool just got some real cred. The cover for the June 1, 2009, edition of The New Yorker was created using the Brushes ($4.99) iPhone app. The artist, Jorge Colombo, has been experimenting with using the iPhone for art since February 2009. Colombo enjoys the spontaneousness the iPhone’s mobility affords him, telling ABCNews.com “I like to have my studio in my pocket.”
Another Jorge Columbo iSketch
Brushes simulates painting using your finger, offering several realistic brush styles. A zoom feature lets you do detailed work by zooming in using the pinch gesture. An undo feature lets you correct any mistakes.
The app also comes with a “brush stroke recorder” that records each brush stroke and lets you replay your paintings like a movie and export them at high resolutions to your computer using Brushes View, a free Mac OSX application.
Check out the app in action in the video below:
Brushes has been a success for its developer Steve Sprang, who says the app has been downloaded around 40,000 times so far. Sprang is a former Apple employee who is an amateur artist himself and wanted to create something fun but useful for fellow artists.
Brushes has its own Twitter account (name: BrushesApp) and a popular Flickr group with over 2,000 drawings so far where artists can share their creations.
Update: Watch Jorge Columbo paint The New Yorker cover:
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