JP at the Jazz

Back in June I promised to publish some more sketches done on my Apple iPod Touch using the Jackson Pollock App.

During the Marlborough Jazz Festival in July I did dozens of sketches in more traditional media; pencil and brush pen, trying to capture the energy of the musicians and the excitement of their performances. Based on these sketches I have now created a series of images drawn with my forefinger on the touch sensitive screen of my iPod using the JP App.

The Jackson Pollock App simulates the drip painting technique of the eponymous abstract expressionist painter. There is no "undo" function so you can't correct any mistakes. You have to respond to marks already made just as Jackson Pollock did in real life. This makes for quick, gestural drawings, which encourage you to work quickly to capture the moment.

The colour options I opted for, echo I think, the spirit of jazz and the buzz of live performance. You can see a selection of these iPod sketches by clicking on my flickr image library site and judge for yourselves.

Jackson Pollock lives....

... again, at least on the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch. I've just downloaded the "Jackson Pollock" program or App as it is known in Apple land onto my iPod Touch and I am already very taken by its creative possibilities.

The program allows use to create your own drip paintings in true Jackson Pollock style using your finger(s) as brushes on the screen. If you dwell too long the paints pools and runs and you can create very gestural marks depending on the speed and weight of your touch as evidenced by this early attempt on your left. You can save your efforts as you go and continue to work over your work using a random palette or a selection of colour-keyed palettes.

It has been well received by the Apple iPhone/Ipod Touch community although some commments by users on the iStore web-site have requested an 'undo' facility. I think that runs rather counter to the whole philosophy behind Jackson Pollock's drip painting process. He couldn't lift the drips and splodges off his own canvases. He had to accept the marks he made and respond to them with more layers on top. So I hope that this is a suggestion which the program's creator, Milton Manetas, decides to reject.

I am still messing about with this brilliant program on my Ipod and hope to post some of my creations in the coming weeks.

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Image © Gordon Aitcheson 2009