GWIZ MOBILE ART – ‘Sketched with my finger on my iPhone’

Some of my latest personal art has been created on my iPhone using the app ‘Sketchbook Mobile’. I picked up the free version of the app late in 2010, & soon started posting quick caricatures of friends & celebs on my Facebook page. Once again I have to give props to Apple CEO, Steve Jobs for providing a tool which allows me to… ‘Draw Different!’ (Oh… and of course Autodesk… The devolopers of the Sketchbook app!) I discovered there’s an entire community of artists creating fantastic art on mobile devices including iPads. So here’s my contribution… All created with my finger against the glass of my iPhone. No Tricks! People have told me that my postings of my iPhone art using Sketchbook made the app ‘look easy’!when they bought it thinking that they could do it, or that I’m somehow ‘cheating’…
This isn’t an ‘Etch A Sketch’ and there’s no ‘Tracing’ involved! This is just me doing what I’ve always done with a new tool to create with.

… Enjoy… More to come for sure!
*Click on image to enlarge*

Barack Obama by Gwiz

One of my first iPhone Sketchbook experiments was a very loose caricature of President Obama done on my old iPhone 3… I Later updated & added color on my iPhone 4.

Roberta Flack by Gwiz

Another early iPhone 3 sketchbook later colorized on iPhone 4 of Vocalist Roberta Flack who I’ve worked with for many years & still consider my friend.

Dr. Martin Luther King by Gwiz

I originally posted this iphone sketch of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on my Facebook page for his birthday. I think it’s received the most comments and ‘likes’ out of all of my recent sketches.

Jimi Hendrix by Gwiz

Another birthday tribute to the legendary guitarist, Jimi Hendrix originally posted on Facebook. This is one of my favorite of my early iPhone sketches. I love the looseness of it, & didn’t feel it necessary to colorize it as I did with some of the others.

Malcolm X by Gwiz

‘I Am Malcolm X!‘

Chick Corea by Gwiz

Composer, & keyboardist, Chick Corea has been a hero of mine since I was in High School. A true innovator who (like Herbie Hancock) has followed in the footsteps of Miles Davis. Incorporating electric synthesizers into complex Jazz/Rock compositions. Genius!

 

Herbie Hancock by Gwiz

Another of my musical inspirations since I was the age of 13! Pianist, Herbie Hancock had just turned 71 when I originally sketched this portrait of him on my iPhone.

Miles Davis by Gwiz

Like the musicians who had been associated with him, Miles Davis was, and still is an inspiring symbol of art, innovation, and doing it your own way. Consistently redefining himself, as well as the sounds he created. He was a cool visual artist as well.

Steve Jobs By Gwiz

I mentioned above about giving kudos to Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. I’ve been an Apple user since around 1987… First computer: SE30. Since then my Apple gear from my Quadra 840AV to my iPhone 4 has aided me in my Music production as well as my Art. I could never have done as much as I’ve done creatively on a Windows PC. I see Steve Jobs as an artist..who has delivered tools to other artists. Thank you Steve Jobs!

Jay Leno by Gwiz

I grew up watching the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, & Carson is one of my comic heroes. Since then I’ve been fascinated with the ‘Late Night Wars’. Jay Leno may have proven himself not to be much of a nice guy after pulling the Tonight show rug out from under Conan O’Brian, & his rivalry with Letterman is legendary. His reign as the king of late night finally ended in 2014.

Alonzo Bodden ‘He Had Me At Black’ by Gwiz

Stand-up comic Alonzo Bodden has been a buddy of mine since we were kids growing up in St. Albans, Queens way back in the day. Since then he’s won T.V’s ‘Last Comic Standing’, done several comedy specials, USO tours, and his own comedy CD’s. So after I’d surprised him on his Facebook page with a Gwiz caricature for his birthday, Alonzo called me, and asked me to do the cover of his CD project, ‘He Had Me At Black’. I’m not sure,.. but I like to think that this is one of the first CD covers created on an iPhone. You can find the CD on iTunes, Amazon, and on ‘Laughing Hyena Records’ website.

Thea Vidal ‘Bitches Brew’ by Gwiz

As a result of the Alonzo Bodden CD project, Laughing Hyena Records asked me to do another cover for another one of their artists, Thea Vidal. Her CD ‘Bitches Brew’ was also created entirely on an iPhone with Sketchbook mobile. I spoke to Thea on the phone about what she wanted for the image, and told her, ‘I hope you’re aware… Miles Davis made a record with the same title’. Thankfully, she knew.

You can see more of my latest iPhone sketches on my Flickr page https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamaicafunk/sets/72157628748877889/