iPhone-generated artwork featured on cover of The New Yorker
By Joseph L. Flatley 
posted May 25th 2009 10:16AM
posted May 25th 2009 10:16AM
Well, what do you know? It looks like our favorite fingerpainter is really making a name for himself with his handset artwork. Like his other New York City-scapes, Jorge Colombo's cover for the June 1, 2009 issue of The New Yorker was composed entirely in the Brushes iPhone app. And it looks like the artist's switch to a digital format is no gimmick -- he tells The New York Times that the device allows him to work "without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me." And he can work in anonymity -- to complete the cover he spent about an hour on 42nd Street, with no interruptions (try doing that with a canvas, an easel, and a full compliment of art supplies). Mr. Colombo, if you're out there: we'd like to add you to our Mafia Wars family. Drop us an email.
A very talented individual indeed, I have trouble painting a wall...
You mean I'm not the only one?
haha a wall is easy, i have the problem off keeping the paint from going anywhere else...
But that's a picture taken with the iPhone camera!
Why not take a picture and work the image from your studio if you are worried about being bothered?
Why then not use a laptop? They do come in small sizes (to avoid attention) with touch screen abilities...
Granted there is talent to make the image, but its a gimmick how he made the image.
Silly rabbit, tricks are for kids...
M
thatz a fxxking gimmick. ever heard of tablet pc? the ones that give you at least 12'' of screen real estate and 256 touch sensitive and the most advanced painting softwares and the ability to carry around and actually work as artistic devices?
If he is a serious artist-I doubt that judging from his moronic choice-he would've dump the cell phone and actually tried to paint some artwork. There're million's AMAZING digital paintings composed by tablet PCs and cg artists out there and no mainstream media ever gave a shit and they suddenly hyping some crappy makeshift images dont by a phone?
his rationalization is just a coverup for his ignorance and thats just sad. And shame on you New Yorker, yet another apple fanboy action and total publicity stunt.
I thought it was just me!
Very impressive, don't know how he managed to pull that off.
What's very impressive is that the iPhone's battery lasted a whole hour.
hahahaha... oh wait that wasnt funny, you were just being a deuche bag
Painting the town with new shades of red.
damn. now thats impressive. thats like using microsoft paint
Way more impressive stuff done in MS Paint, but still pretty nice.
lets see you do THAT on your blackberry or zune
blackberry != microsoft
??????
@Mike, we actually call that a "fail", technically TRS performed an "epic fail".
There are actually some really nice drawing apps for Windows Mobile, and the stylus input would most likely produce a smoother picture. But, sure lets go pick on the two devices without touch screens.
im just saying apple iphone > blackberry > zune
and there is no pre even yet.
even without the 80 gigs of memory i need on iphone it still owns
@ Mike
1. Go to apple store
2. Buy an iPhone
3. ???????
4. Profit
@TRS
Stage four dosn't count if the profit isn't yours.
@ Mike
Your a troll, you can't compliment the artist because he uses the iPhone... it's iPhone related so you HAVE to hate it. You are an anti-iPhone fanatic and you should kill yourself!
@TRS
Fixed:
4. Profit for Apple and AT&T.
How does this look on the proper (full resolution) cover? Is there any pixellation going on? I would have thought so, or are you able to zoom in on Brushes?
I have no idea about the app too, but i'm guessing it was a png format that stretched rather gracefully.
I'm pretty sure it wasn't that difficult to stretch given the nature of the image isn't exactaly photographic quality to begin with.
Wow that's very impressive. I Need to go download Brushes on the App Store.
I don't think it looks all that great, especially the linked ones. What's this guy's regular (not-on-iPhone) style?
Hasn't he heard of tablet PCs? A 12" tablet is a hell of a lot more capable artistic device than an iPhone.
yeah I was thinking the same...based on this he's probably good with still life/figure drawing.
Yeah. Cause we all know 12 inch tablets fit inside jeans pockets, boot up in less than 10 seconds and have battery that last longer than 3 hours.
Agreed, a tablet would be almost as discreet (certainly moreso than a canvas and paints), as well as allow for more artistic freedom.
I find the image unappealing, and it's unfortunate the only reason it's on the New Yore cover is because of the hype with the iPhone. Digital art has been around for so damn long, it's ridiculous for anyone to try to claim its origin with the introduction of the iPhone.
Even if a portable device is needed, that work is not really impressive.
You want impressive, go here.
http://www.cgtalk.com
http://www.deviantart.com
*New Yorker
@tikiwk
that's sooo true if this was just a simple watercolor painting, for instance, it def wouldn't have made the cover
all hail the first ever touch capable device ever...smh
"...it's unfortunate the only reason it's on the New Yore cover is because of the hype with the iPhone." tikiwk
Well, that's NOT the only reason it's on the cover. It's part of it, yes, but not solely the reason its there. This artist uses this technique, and this artist is who they chose to use for the cover. This is the nature of 'The New Yorker" cover - it moves with the ebb and flow of culture here in NYC, and the backstory of the cover art is part of it as well... Keep in mind it's only a quick blip, one week out of 52. Next week will be another inside story or joke. Each week can be a quick commentary of what's up in the city. I think it makes a lot of sense if you consider the amount of iPhones the average New Yorker sees. All of the deviantart links in the world that might be better quality still may not be as pertinent to what the magazine is trying to say about the iPhone and New York by using Jorge Colombo's artwork.
The application the artist used, Brushes, offers one of the best painting experience I've found for the iPhone platform so far:
http://brushesapp.com/features/
wow, it is some thing difference & unique,
Just like your name.
Who is this Colombo and WOW that's some work of art but how will he sell it? Digi dist?
Can I be a part of your Mafia Wars family. (love the nonchalant Facebook reference)
couldn't this be done with a laptop... why so special with an iPhone?
Haha, see, the iPhone has the best mobile OS in the planet. The world's most brilliant minds uses OSX. Even WinMo, Blackberry, Symbian, WebOS and other crap that is out there can't match OSX.
I'm up-ranking you for making me picture Stephen Hawking using a Mac. You sir, have made my day. Thank you.
Who cares? No really. What the hell does this have to do with gadgets? If this was created on any other device it wouldn't have been even a blip on Engadget's radar. But since it is the o so holy iCrap. Lets report on it. Again this deserves to be on TUAW. where anything Apple should be. Not here.
iFart got so much coverage and it was just playing audio files.
Are you surprised?
I really have started to enjoy reading comments from guys like you - it's like the grumpy o.g. haters from The Muppet Show up in the balcony. You're always gonna take shots at Apple, so I've just learned to enjoy watching the vitriolic wheel-spinning.
why hold back, just tell us how you really feel.
I'm thorughfully impressed that the artist managed to work with such a small screen as the one in a smartphone.
BTW, you can also do this with Colors on the DS - I know of at least one artist who turns out the most jaw droppingly amazing works on his NintendoDS using this program. It's also available for the iPhone.
Capacitive screens with no pressure sensitivity make little artists weep. For something like art, remarkably, a WinMo phone with resistive screen, stylus, and PocketArtist or similar is a far, far superior choice.
Maybe, if the drawing app is good like 'Brushes' is, and the artist likes the OS as much as using an iPhone. I liked the sketching on my older P800 using a stylus, but the 'Brushes' app is more powerful with more options, despite not having a stylus. So it's a trade-off.
Oh yeah? Well where's your NYer cover?
Why not do it on a laptop, why not do it with a stylis, why not do it with a different phone, why do art at all, why not just take a photo...
WAH-WAH-WAAAAH....
Why R we such Haters??
"without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me"
What kind of artist will choose the Iphone for medium over real pens and brushes... At least a tablet would have give him better controls and resolution.
Pretty wannabe if you ask me.
See here;
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=137&t=200355&highlight=tablet
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=137&t=750049
photoshop or painter + tablet would be a better option for a serious digital painter.
"What kind of artist will choose the Iphone for medium over real pens and brushes... At least a tablet would have give him better controls and resolution."
The kind who is reckless thriving!
The kind who is unafraid to experiment with new mediums.
The kind who gets chosen by the New Yorker to get paid for doing what he loves.
"In the beginning the Impressionist painters were nothing but ridiculed by the public. Art critics called the paintings unfinished and declared the artists as madmen. In newspaper cartoons pregnant women were warned not to enter an Impressionist art exhibition because of the danger of a miscarriage. In other caricatures it was proposed to fend off the Prussian enemy, who was marching towards Paris in 1870, by showing them Impressionist paintings.
It took nearly 20 years until Impressionism was finally recognized and appreciated in France."
"without having to carry all my pens and brushes and notepads with me"
What kind of artist will choose the Iphone for medium over real pens and brushes... At least a tablet would have give him better controls and resolution.
Pretty wannabe if you ask me.
See here;
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=137&t=200355&highlight=tablet
http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?f=137&t=750049
photoshop or painter + tablet would be a better option for a serious digital painter.
>>What kind of artist will choose the Iphone for medium over real pens and brushes... At least a tablet would have give him better controls and resolution.
Missed the point entirely, and it sounds like you'll never understand.
>>What kind of artist will choose the Iphone for medium over real pens and brushes... At least a tablet would have give him better controls and resolution.
Apple product used for creative process? Shocker, ain't it O?
I bet the small print in his iphone contract says all original work becomes property of apple and AT&T, haha sucker!
Artists finger-paint on the iPhone for the same reason artists finger-paint traditionally. Because THEY CAN!
What an amazing accomplishment. Congratulations to the artist. Also, it's quite an honor to have his work, created on the iPhone, brandishing the very cover of The New Yorker. I can already envision the hundreds of Microsoft WinMo reps and managers furiously calling every contact on their Outlook address book to persuade some poor sap to duplicate this feat on a WinMo device. After all, this is Microsoft, the biggest "me too" company on the planet. They must show to the world that their WinMo devices are capable of this to.
And if Microsoft had done this first (I doubt they will do anything about this anyway), or if someone had done something similar on a Microsoft based phone, it would be a fruitless attempt to garner attention or an attempted "me-too" (somehow?), right? You're such a tard, Jubei. That is exactly the way you would have looked at it. Double standards FTL.
@Mr Clickerson, who used to be Zues God, but no more how sad. :-( = FAIL!!!!
Accept the fact that this is an amazing accomplishment. Of which no WinMo device has ever accomplished to date.
My goodness. Can you not debate without personal attacks? Each and every time you do so you FAIL! :-)
Hehehe,
This had to come from Portugal!!!
The man rules!!!
I trust and hope and assume and wish and pray and am-only-content-with that ONLY apple buys his stuff.
Don't tell me it is otherwise because I already have so little trust in humanity.
Yes, you could use a tablet pc, or a Mac Pro - or a BOXX workstation with 8 cores, for that matter. Or maybe even a Palm III. Why choose a piece of graphite over a set of Rapidograph pens - they're simply different tools, and a good artist can make art with whichever tool is available to him/her.
The point is, as someone else mentioned, that the New Yorker features culturally current and significant stories (ie. iPhone apps), which is partly why this made the cover. The other obvious reason, is that it's a nice piece of art.