Many people complain that the iPhone doesn’t take very good photos in low light. I disagree.
I do have to concede, however, that the iphone doesn’t take very good pictures in the dark.
There’s a health club in the park land opposite my house. Once, I imagine, one of England’s Stately Homes, it has an imposing presence. Now summer’s here it’s invisible by day, hidden by trees. Come night, it blazes into life. I gaze at it, lighted up there in the distance, rapt, when I go to draw my bedroom curtains.
Alas, an iPhone photo of this magical palace of light yielded nothing but a black screen with one or two pin pricks of grey discernible at 500% magnification.
Instead of taking a photograph, I tried painting my impression of the scene with the iphone app Brushes.
You do of course have the advantage of an illuminated canvas when sketching in the dark on an iphone or ipod.
All the same, your actual sketch faces the same difficulties as my iphone camera had encountered. Pictures being made of light, you’re at a bit of disadvantage when there isn’t any.
Dark, Distant and Painted on my iPhone
Luckily I discovered that the photographic iphone app Photogene does almost as well as Photoshop in reviving the colours. Maybe a bit over-enthusiastically. I think now that I might have done better to make the lights brighter in the darker forest, but it’s high time I posted this, so it stays for now…
Palace in the Woods
Tags: brushes, creative, DRAWING OR PAINTING ON APPLE OR ANDROID, iphone apps, Iphone Painting, photography
COME ALONG NOW, PUT YOUR WORST FACE FORWARD!
PAINTER 12 BRUSHES
Painting on a screen is so different than on paper or other media. You have to almost think backwards when it comes to how light is handled. It is part of the magic for me and part of the frustration when it comes to transferring one media to another.
I always miss the stained-glass kind of glow you get from a screen image when I transfer it to paper.
Quite a difference in color saturation there. You do these paintings very well
Anita
Yes, Anita, thanks for commenting – there is a big difference. I didn’t think the photo apps on the iphone itself would be any good, but this isn’t bad.
Thanks for your comment Ellen! I do enjoy painting on my iphone.
I don’t know much about Etsy. Maybe yes I should start a gallery or try selling through Etsy. I’ve sometimes thought of designing some things for Cafe Press too. Meanwhile I’ll persevere with my blog – hoping to post more frequently now.
I love it!! The colors are wonderful and the depth you achieved in the small painting is amazing. The idea of such small paintings made with a finger on a phone is very endearing to me.
I bet you could sell prints of your paintings on Etsy, if you were interested.
Love this little piece of art. I downloaded Photogene, but I’ve never tried it. High time I do it. What do you do with your little gems when you are finished? Transfer to computer? print out larger? Lovely job, Karol
Glad you like it Karol. Thanks so much for commenting.
What do I do with my iPhone paintings? Maybe I should start a gallery. At the moment I just keep them in iPhoto on my Mac and in Adobe Bridge, hanging them about with lots of keywords so I can find them as needed.