My Parents

The original was created using oil on canvas.

One of the most influential British artists of the 20thcentury, David Hockney was a leading figure of the 1960s Pop Art movement. Hockney has experimented with many techniques including painting, drawing, printmaking, watercolors, photography, and even unconventional mediums like Photoshop, paper pulp, and even iPad drawings! His subjects include portraiture, landscapes, and still-life paintings.

One of Hockney’s most famous portraits is his piece, My Parents. Here he vividly captures the essence of his parents employing bright, playful colors. His mom sits upright in her chair directly sharing her sweet gaze with the viewer, while his dad slumps down in his chair, attentive rather to the book he is reading. What do you think this says about his relationship with each?

In his portraits, Hockney aims to reveal the usually close, personal relationship he shares with the sitter. Painted a year before his father’s death, My Parents becomes a study of human behavior.

When Hockney bought his first iPhone in 2009 he began doodling with his thumbs directly on its touchscreen. Always interested in new technology, once the iPad was introduced the following year he began experimenting with the Brushes App using a stylus on touchscreen to create beautifully linear and typically bright-colored artworks. On this new digital medium, the artist explains, 

"There was a great advantage in this medium because it’s backlit and I could  draw in the dark. I didn’t ever have to get out of bed."

Open the web link below to see a very relevant piece Hockney drew on his iPad. This untitled piece depicts the view outside his bedroom window. As we shelter in place, do you find yourself looking out your windows more often? Grab the piece of technology you like to use – iPad, iPhone, laptop, desktop – and play around in the drawing program. No technology, no problem! A pen, pencil, or crayon on paper will do! Try using Hockney’s linear style to describe what you see outside.

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/david-hockney-windows-book-1716369

*pop art – Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the 1950s and flourished in the 1960s in America and Britain, drawing inspiration from sources in popular and commercial culture. 

*medium – The materials used to create a work of art, and the categorization of art based on the materials used. For example, painting is a medium, and water color paint is a more specific medium.

linear style – An artistic style that obtains its effects through line rather than color or light and in which the edges of forms and planes are sharply defined.