Finger painting without the mess

January 6, 2009 11:34 PM

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.
posted by po (34 comments total)

gorgeous.
posted by seawallrunner at 11:41 PM on January 6, 2009

love! exactly the kind of thing the future should have in it.
posted by batmonkey at 11:56 PM on January 6, 2009

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.
posted by sdodd at 11:56 PM on January 6, 2009

The stylus would makes it easier, but for my money Sean Philips has him beat, on Nintendo DS. (Cheers Alvy Ampersand)
posted by Artw at 12:04 AM on January 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

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.
posted by bluefly at 12:30 AM on January 7, 2009

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!
posted by cmchap at 1:01 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by RokkitNite at 1:50 AM on January 7, 2009

<img>aardvark with an aardvark</img>
posted by ryanrs at 1:53 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

D'ya ever have one of those moments?

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

sorry
posted by scrump at 2:02 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by Effigy2000 at 2:06 AM on January 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

i love scrump's new userpic. that is all.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:52 AM on January 7, 2009

They've finally developed the Etch-A-Sketch killer.
posted by hal9k at 3:56 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

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.
posted by caution live frogs at 4:57 AM on January 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

I don't mean to shit on the parade here

Yes you do
posted by kcds at 5:20 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

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*
posted by rtha at 5:53 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by carbide at 5:59 AM on January 7, 2009

Trained artist creates crude finger paintings drawn awkwardly on tiny computer.
Product enthusiast tries to sell enthused product.

Somewhere, a parade begins to smell.
posted by 0xdeadc0de at 6:03 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by any major dude at 6:17 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

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)
posted by device55 at 6:22 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

Doesn't make me covet iPhone,

Does me covet world-class painting skills.
posted by fake at 7:01 AM on January 7, 2009 [2 favorites]

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.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:08 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

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.
posted by po at 7:11 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:14 AM on January 7, 2009

I liked 'em. This post was a good start to my morning.
posted by desjardins at 7:21 AM on January 7, 2009

Wow.
posted by alms at 7:41 AM on January 7, 2009

Cool post.
posted by Outlawyr at 8:11 AM on January 7, 2009

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.)
posted by device55 at 8:11 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:37 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by carbide at 9:57 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by jayder at 11:05 AM on January 7, 2009

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.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 11:53 AM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

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.
posted by caution live frogs at 12:47 PM on January 7, 2009 [1 favorite]

kristin gundred from grand ole party has a banshee wail that will curdle your soul! and melt your face off auf deutsch :P
posted by kliuless at 4:44 PM on January 7, 2009

What's amazing to me is the subtlety of the light in this painting.
posted by jayder at 9:35 PM on January 7, 2009