Category: Uncategorized

This painting was created live, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation at a Google fundraising holiday event in support of a women’s shelter in Palo Alto. As I painted my iPad screen was displayed on two large screens along the wall plus two ceiling mounted LED panels so everyone at the event could enjoy watching the creative process unfold. Guests were fascinated by what I was doing and came over and asked lots of questions. The music you hear playing in the background is the first movement from Brandenburg Concerto No.3 by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by the Magical Heart Strings trio (Ilana, Gretchen and Julia).

After the event I produced for the client a magnificent 64″ x 36″ pigment ink print on canvas of the final artwork, hand embellished with acrylic glazing, paint and varnish.

Huge thanks to Dawn and her team for being such a pleasure to work with!

“Patience and John”, 2017, iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Procreate app

This painting was created live, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation at Patience’s “Patience in Wonderland” birthday party. Congratulations and happy birthday to Patience!

Here’s the replay video, which you can also see via AR overlayed on the original artwork.

Here are a couple of other portraits from that evening.

Caroline

Joen and Julie

Twitter, 2017
16″ x 30″, dye sublimation on aluminum

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of the headquarters of Twitter in San Francisco. Twitter, founded in 2006, became a crucial communication medium of the smallsmartscreen-age thumb-generation era, playing critical roles in revolutions, uprisings, wars, news and politics, besides being part of the fabric of day-to-day social media. It is the embodiment of the transition from the roots of Silicon Valley being in the development of hardware and physical products (made with silicon…) to the ascent of software and coding, and the enabling of interaction through other companies’ devices.

The numbers are astounding. According to Wikipedia “in 2012, the service handled an average of 1.6 billion search queries per day, and in 2016, had more than 319 million monthly active users.”

Spearheading the efforts to improve the Mid-Market area of San Francisco, Twitter’s move in 2012 to relocate their headquarters into a magnificent 1937 Art Deco building on Market Street, former home of the Western Furniture Exchange and Merchandise Mart, was a crucial step in the invigoration of the area. Twitter helped stretch the northern tip of “Silicon Valley” all the way up the valley to the City by the Bay, San Francisco.

This shows me drawing the Twitter building on a rainy evening, from the shelter of the Starbucks across the road!

This video shows how the artwork evolved brush stroke by brush stroke.

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

Facebook Thumbs Up, 2017
20″ x 20″, dye sublimation on aluminum

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of the Facebook Thumbs Up Sign (on the reverse side of the old Sun Microsystems sign) at their corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, located at the famous street address: 1 Hacker Way. Facebook, co-founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, now has approaching 2 billion users out of a world population just short of 8 billion people. That means almost 1 in 4 humans on the planet have used Facebook. Facebook is part of the realm of the “newer wave” of Silicon Valley internet companies, alongside other giants like Google, Twitter and Wikipedia, that impact human experience and interaction worldwide on a daily basis.

Sitting there drawing the sign, watching a continuous stream of people pose in front of the sign with their thumbs up, made me reflect on how much change has happened in the course of my own lifetime. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was a student at Oxford spending a summer working in America (at Varian in Palo Alto), and staying only a short distance away from where I was now sitting in Menlo Park. It was actually 1982 in an era that now seems so pre-everything….pre-smartphone, pre-Mac, pre-internet, pre-everything we now take for granted.

This time-lapse replay video shares the creative process, brush stroke by brush stroke. See all the elements that went into the background…

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

Google Bikes, 2017
20″ x 20″, dye sublimation on aluminum

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of a group of colorful Google bikes parked outside building 42 of the main Google Mountain View campus, known as the Googleplex. As I painted this, Googlers were continually dropping off, and cycling away on, the bikes, thus making for an interesting ever-changing scene!

The site where this artwork was painted was once the headquarters of Silicon Graphics (SGI). When I lived in Palo Alto in the late 1980s / early 1990s I remember visiting SGI computer graphics programmer Paul Haeberli and drawing a digital portrait of him in his office using a new prototype graphics engine he was working on.

Google was co-founded by Sergey Brin and Larry Page in 1998 in Menlo Park, coming out of their research at Stanford University into a way to use machine intelligence (complex algorithms) to produce a faster and more relevant search result and ranking of web pages on the then relatively-new world wide web. Brin and Page continued two traditions rooted in the history of Silicon Valley (kicked off by Hewlett and Packard in 1939): they came out of Stanford University, and they started working out of a garage. As Wikipedia explains, “Google’s co-founders rented a garage, along with three rooms inside the house, from Susan Wojcicki while they were still living in the dorms at Stanford, less than two miles away. The duo spent the winter of 1998 building the tech company that would change search and the Internet forever. Google now owns the house.” From that modest beginning, Google.com became the world’s most visited web site. I used to live in downtown Palo Alto in the ’90s and recall when Google opened one of their first offices there on University Avenue.

Recently, when my 17 year old nephew visited from Brighton, UK, his top request was to visit Google!

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of Apple Park (a.k.a. “The Spaceship”), the new corporate headquarters of Apple in Cupertino.

Within this painting are many subtle layers of imagery, including the original Apple Computer partnership agreement (signed on April Fools Day, April 1st, 1976); the original one page Apple Marketing Philosophy typed out by investor and second Apple CEO Mark Markkula; the historic photo of Apple co-founders Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs working in Steve’s garage; the layout sketch of one of their first office plans; and the circuit board diagram of one of their first personal computers, the Apple I; and Steve Jobs’ slide of the intersection of the Technology and Liberal Arts signs. It was the great combination of Steve Wozniak’s technical genius and Steve Jobs’ futuristic vision that allowed them to realize the dream of a computer on every desk and then go far beyond that dream, more than delivering on their “promise of a synergistic increase in individual efficiency”, as explained in the 1981 Inc. Magazine feature article on Steve Jobs.

Besides creating this artwork using Apple products, Apple has played a crucial role in my journey as a digital painter, starting in 1991 with my first personal computer, the Macintosh IIfx, which I bought specifically to explore digital paint.

Apple Park, 2017
60″ x 32″, acrylic and pigment ink on canvas

Recently, at an author talk in Kepler’s Bookstore, Menlo Park, I heard Walter Isaacson explain how artist, inventor, scientist, architect and all-round Renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci, continually drew from (and contributed to) all fields of learning. Da Vinci’s cross-disciplinary approach reminded Isaacson of Steve Jobs standing in front of his slide of the two intersecting street signs, “Technology” and “Liberal Arts”, explaining: “Technology alone is not enough. It is Technology married with Liberal Arts, married with the Humanities, that yields us the result that makes our heart sing.” Isaacson also pointed out how important the flow of water was for da Vinci, connecting with the flow of blood in our veins and the ripples of time through space, sounding very much like Jobs’ description of the role he saw for post-PC devices in our lives “where the software and hardware and applications intertwine in an even more seamless way.”

We’re living in an exciting era where, with amazing digital paint tools at our fingertips, such as the iPad pro and Apple Pencil I used for this painting, we can experience creative flow that will, as Jobs put it, “make your heart sing”. It’s that flow, the seamless symbiosis of art process and tech tools, that is at the core of what I do and what I teach, and is what I appreciate about the way the two Steves, and Apple, have transformed our lives.

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

Xerox Parc, 2017
30″ x 24″, dye sublimation on aluminium

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of the Xerox company’s Palo Alto Research Center, now known as PARC, a Xerox company,, a “blue sky thinking” crucible for innovation and new ideas. PARC played a vital role in the development of the personal computer, especially with regard to the graphical user interface and mouse, both originating with Doug Engelbart (see the SRI painting in this series) and his Augmentation Research Center, from which PARC drew a number of employees. PARC’s technology and their Alto computer served as inspiration to Steve Jobs for what became the Macintosh computer (there is much written about this subject – Walter Isaacson’s book “The Innovators” gives a very lucid summary of the evolution of the digital age, including the role of PARC and key PARC staff like Alan Kay).

It was a little like a time warp walking back into PARC. In the late ‘80s / early ‘90s, I used to visit as a representative of Oxford Instruments selling superconducting magnets and cryogenic research equipment. Definitely a case of déjà vu! 🙂

This time-lapse replay video shares the creative process, brush stroke by brush stroke. See all the elements that went into the background…

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:
The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

Intel, 2017
30″ x 24″, dye sublimation on aluminium

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of the headquarters of Intel in Santa Clara, CA (the Robert N. Noyce Building in which there is an excellent Intel Museum well worth visiting). Intel was co-founded in 1968 by Gordon L. Moore of “Moore’s Law” fame, and Robert N. Noyce, co-inventor of the integrated circuit (I.C.), two of the Shockley “Traitorous Eight” who left Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in 1957 to found Fairchild Semiconductor (thus making Intel one of the “Fairchildren” spin-off companies spawned from Fairchild employees). They were joined from day one by fellow Fairchild alumnus Andy Grove, and went onto create the first commercially available microprocessor (Intel 4004, an photo of which is included in this painting) in 1971 and one of the first microcomputers in 1972. Moore, Noyce and Groves are all represented in this painting.

The Intel story is part of the reason Silicon Valley has silicon in the name! As a nod to the vital role of silicon in their product, Intel have sandpits with games in front of their headquarters (which you can see at the bottom of this painting), sand being made largely of silicon dioxide, and sandpits representing the prototyping, testing and bootstrapping of innovative technology. As I sat and drew this artwork visiting groups on Silicon Valley tours would come and literally play in the sand (as well as take selfies in front of the Intel sign).

This video shows all the elements that went into the background that relate to the history of Intel, and the time-lapse replay of the artwork evolving brush stroke by brush stroke.

On a personal note, much of my own journey into digital painting, starting in 1991 on an Apple Macintosh IIfx computer, has been using devices with Intel chips inside.

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

SRI International, 2017
30″ x 16″, dye sublimation on aluminum

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of the headquarters of SRI International in Menlo Park. SRI was originally established by the trustees of Stanford University in 1946 (just celebrated it’s 70th anniversary and hence the banners with “70” that you see in this painting) as the Stanford Research Institute, a center of innovation to support and create “world-changing solutions to make people safer, healthier, and more productive”. Amongst the many inventions and innovations, ranging from the Arpanet, the predecessor of the internet, to Siri, that have emerged from SRI over the last 70 years, one that heralded the digital revolution is Doug Engelbart’s seminal work on human-computer interaction and how to best augment human capabilities, introducing the concepts and first prototypes of the graphical user interface and the mouse, as shown in his “Mother of All Demos” in 1968.

This video starts with me painting outside the magnificent columned SRI entrance and then shows a time-lapse replay of the brush stroke by brush stroke creative process. You can see all the elements that went into the background that relate to the history of SRI.

A few years ago I had the great pleasure of seeing Doug Engelbart talk about his life and technology at a special event at Stanford University, and then, on another occasion, had a chance to chat with him in downtown Palo Alto. He was a wonderful gentleman and amazing visionary.

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)

The Garage, 2017
20″ x 40″, dye sublimation on aluminum

The painting being viewed with AR in my studio. Please note that this image is now AR enabled using the Artivive app (HP Reveal no longer exists). See my AR page for more info.

This painting was created, using an iPad Pro, Apple Pencil and Procreate app, from direct observation of the historic garage in Palo Alto where Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard worked side by side in 1938 to produce their first product, an audio oscillator. The business they founded together, Hewlett Packard, was one of the early tech companies in what later became known as “Silicon Valley”. In that sense this garage represents the birth of Silicon Valley, though, as Bill Hewlett modestly pointed out: “We weren’t the first (in the Valley), and we didn’t use silicon (in their early products)”.

In 1989 this garage was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and the plaque that now stands in the front garden of the property reads:
BIRTHPLACE OF “SILICON VALLEY”
This garage is the birthplace of the world’s first high-technology region, “Silicon valley”. The idea for such a region originated with Dr. Frederick Terman, a Stanford University Professor who encouraged his students to start up their own electronics companies in the area instead of joining established firms in the east. The first two students to follow his advice were William R. Hewlett and David Packard, who, in 1938, began developing their first product, an audio oscillator, in this garage.

If you watch the time-lapse stroke-by-stroke replay in this video you’ll notice how I initially paint the garage doors closed and then open. As I was sitting drawing the door were opened for a visiting tour and I just kept painting what I saw!

Within this painting are many subtle layers of imagery, including photos of the original audio oscillator prototype, an advertisement for that first product, an old map of Palo Alto, the National Register plaque, and an article in the San Jose Mercury News from 1989 reporting on the celebration of the garage being listed as an historic structure. The music I chose for this video, “Begin the Beguine” by Artie Shaw and his Orchestra, was written and performed in 1938, the same year Bill and Dave were working away in this garage, and may well have been playing on their radio as they tinckered on that oscillator!!

This painting is part of my Iconic Places of Silicon Valley series of plein air iPad paintings:

The Hewlett Packard Garage, Palo Alto (1939)

SRI International, Menlo Park (1946)

Intel, Santa Clara (1968)

Xerox PARC, Palo Alto (1970)

Apple Park, “The Spaceship”, Cupertino (1976)

Google Bikes, “Googleplex”, Mountain View (1998)

Facebook Thumbs Up Sign, Menlo Park (2004)

Twitter, San Francisco (2006)