David Hockney exhibition in Bilbao

Last month we went to the Guggenheim in Bilbao to see the David Hockney exhibition which had transferred from the Royal Academy. We were so lucky; instead of having to confront heaving crowds of people, it felt as though we had the place to ourselves! And that's just what you need to see the huge landscapes he's been painting.

I was just bowled over by the intensity of the colours he uses, but also the range of different palettes he employs for the different seasons or light conditions.

In the video documentary he talks about how everyone's perception of a place or a view is literally coloured by their memories. Interesting that many of these works are painted in the studio, from charcoal sketches and photographs. And so the colours he's choosing are quite personal. I'm sure I could sense that emotional connection he has with the places he's painting.

I'm also drawn to his use of multiple canvasses with slightly different viewpoints which together make up one image, but with a slightly broken-up, patchwork quality which reflects how we take in and perceive places.

And the exhibition went on and on...watercolours, sketchbooks, smaller scale works done on the iPad.


Then there was the iPad stage by stage construction of a couple of his works. You could see how he started, what he added when, how he changed the format half way through and then the final work.
I must practice a bit more with our iPad... I mess around on the iPod with the Doodle Buddy app, which is a much simplified version. Somehow limited choice means you can't get too fussy, which makes for clearer, simpler images. I wonder whether having so much more choice about everything on Brushes will muddy the outcome - it will certainly freak me out!