Untitled No. 468, from A Bigger Book: Art Edition C

Untitled No. 468 is a digital print on archival paper of an iPad drawing, executed by David Hockney in 2010. Here a potted leafy plant in a terracotta pot sits atop a black table. Positioned in the corner of a room, the background details have been executed somewhat hastily, the digital pen marks skating across the page. As digital tools are unquestionably more mobile, the medium enables Hockney to quickly sketch what is before him: representing his everyday environments. Hockney works in vector-based, rather than pixel-based images. This enables a maximisation of sharpness, colour and saturation, which are then rendered more easily into large-scale prints for the clearer display of his details. Hockney favors digital mediums for their capacity for greater trial and error: “the iPhone makes you bold”, Hockney confesses, as one can go back at any time and ‘undo’ a brush stroke. Thus all possibilities, instincts and impulses can be explored without regret.