The Arrival of Spring by David Hockney

I have recently been spending time looking at The Arrival of Spring by David Hockney. It is a remarkable collection of drawings created entirely on an iPad using the Brushes app.

Hockney has an excuberant use of colour and he captures the subtle changes in light, weather and season. He doesn't aim for photographic realism but instead uses colour to evoke a feeling of being immersed in the landscape.

Relative to my own series of photographs of the same tree over time, I enjoy Hockney's repeated drawings of the same locations over time too. The smallest changes become significant, the first hints of blossom, the thickening of the foliage and while each picture can stand alone, together they tell a story of spring's gradual arrival.

Perhaps the most inspiring element for me, however, is Hockney's treatment of grasses. Although the grasses that he depicts are very different form the sea grasses that form the focus of my own work, I am very drawn to the way that he creates them. Layered marks, varied line work and a rich range of colours convey an unmistakeable sense of wind passing through them creating rhythm and energy across the landscape.

This is something that I would love to explore further in my own work. Capturing movement is one of my biggest challenges in depicting sea grasses and Hockney has shown me that the movement doesn't always have to come from dramatic gesture but can also come from a careful accumulation of marks, colours and subtle shifts in direction.

My iPad drawings attached below: