Jennifer Noxon

I just have to share this bit of news about a software application for the iPhone called Brushes. It allows you to literally create a painting on the screen. The luddite in me shrank a little and whispered, "Oh no, is this the beginning of the end of handwork and 'sketching' as we know it?" The voyeur in me squeeled with childlike wonder, "I wanna try it, show me more!" The paintings looked fantastic online.....the detail amazing considering they are done on a small screen. It fits in your pocket. You can use it anytime, anywhere. You can draw in the dark AND there's no clean up. In fact, this month's cover of The New Yorker magazine displays an iPhone painting by Jorge Colombo. To get an idea of how flexible the tool is take a look at American artist Susan Murtaugh's work.

Also, you can open your .brushes paintings in Brushes Viewer, a free application for Mac OS X. Brushes Viewer allows you to replay your paintings stroke for stroke, export them at very high resolutions (up to 1920 x 2880), and even export them as QuickTime movies.

I couldn't give up on pushing around paint altogether. I like the dip, paint, push rhythm of painting but wow. I've thought of quite a few reasons to get an iPhone but none good enough to send me running to the store. It looks like things are about to change.