Christopher Madden

iPad art

  • Drawing from the imagination – ship with legs sketch

    drawing from the imagination - ship with legs
    drawing from the imagination - ship with legs
    drawing from the imagination - ship with legs

    Drawing from the imagination – ship with legs

    Digital drawing (Procreate on iPad). 8th January 2025

    A sketch from the imagination depicting a ship with legs.

    The ship looks as though it may be based on a historical wooden sailing ship. The masts resemble crosses for some reason, each having only one horizontal member (or yard). This is probably just for simplification and clarity (and laziness) rather than it being some sort of profound allusion to Christianity. Feel free to find a profound allusion though. The legs are very long and spindly, which is probably linked to the long-legged surreal birds that I’ve drawn on and off over the years, starting about fifty years ago in the 1970s.

    The sketch was drawn on an iPad in Procreate. I see from the metadata that it’s got 318 strokes and it took 12 minutes.

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  • Black spheres, red sphere

    contemporary abstract art black spheres red sphere

    Black spheres, red sphere

    Digital. December 2023

    An abstract image created using Procreate on an iPad

    The black spheroid forms seem to be holding the smaller red spherical form in suspension between them. The proximity of the black spheres gives the small gap between them the feeling of some form of concentrated energy.

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  • Contemporary abstract art – Red Disc, Yellow Rim

    contemporary abstract geometric art red circle

    Contemporary abstract geometric art: Red disk, yellow rim

    Digital. May 2023

    A geometric abstract painting produced using Procreate on an iPad with an Apple Pencil. This is a particularly useful way to create artwork, as the combination of tools lend themselves to particularly intuitive and spontaneous creations.

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  • Drawing from the imagination: Strange clothes, strange propulsion

    Drawing from the imagination

    Drawing from the imagination: Strange clothes, strange propulsion

    Digital sketch. 16th July 2023

    A quick sketch from the imagination drawn using Procreate on an iPad with an Apple Pencil.

    I find that drawing quick sketches with no particular end in mind is an excellent way to open up to new possibilities. Obviously the same themes and styles keep cropping up, but often with minor variations that move the sketches off into different and new directions. That’s the nature of evolution of course – small changes over time gradually end up creating something new.

    I’ve drawn quite a few sketches of people or strange creatures that seem to have a wheel instead of legs. Haven’t managed to work out why yet.

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  • Stilt Walker

    stilt walker - contemporary art sketch

    Stilt Walker

    Digital. 2023

    A digital sketch of a person on stilts. The stilts have wheels.

    Stilt walkers have been an occasionally recurring theme in my work since about 1975.

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  • Surreal sea creature. Drawing from the imagination.

    contemporary art surreal dada bizarre sea creature

    A surreal sea creature drawn from the imagination.

    Digital image. 6th May 2023

    A bizarre sea creature created digitally in Procreate on an iPad. The shape of the sea creature is based on the number six, as the image was created as part of an exercise in which I sketched several images on my iPad based on the numbers between zero and nine. The concept behind the exercise was that by having to take into account the restraints of including a number in each image I would be forced to work with forms or shapes that I might not think up straight from my imagination.

    When creating the sketch I was attempting to produce a bizarre, weird and sinister image. The result looks as though it owes a debt to surrealism, dada and the symbolists.

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  • Striding figure

    contemporary art striding figure

    Striding figure

    Digital sketch April 2023

    A monochrome sketch, created using Procreate on an iPad, depicting a striding figure.

    The work is from the imagination and was created spontaneously with no specific concept in mind.

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  • Number Two in a series

    Contemporary art print usinng Procreate

    Number Two in a Series

    Digital print. Drawn in Procreate. March 2023

    Titled Number Two in a Series, this is part of a series of prints based on images of numbers drawn in Procreate on an iPad.

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  • Abstract digital art created on iPad

    abstract contemporary digital art in Procreate

    Digital abstract painting

    Painted in Procreate. March 2023

    This is an example of digital abstract art, created in Procreate on an iPad using an Apple Pencil.

    The brushes in software such as Procreate and Adobe Fresco are getting better all the time, allowing for much more spontaneous and expressive work than was ever possible in the past. The expressiveness of the medium is now such that I think that the results can legitimately be classed as paintings rather than just digital art.

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  • Stilt man

    Stilt man

    Digital sketch. 6th November 2022

    A quick sketch of a man on stilts. He has a stilt fastened to each leg and is holding two further stilts.

    I’ve been drawing people on stilts on and off for a long time. I think my first one was about fifty years ago.

    It’s drawn on an iPad.

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  • Environmental art – Sinking Time

    Contemporary environmental art sea level storm

    Sinking Time. Environmental art.

    Digital sketch. October 2023.

    A digital sketch or painting that reflects my concerns about environmental issues, showing a watch sinking in a stormy sea.

    The watch or clock is a metaphor for time (as usual). The watch is being buffeted by a stormy sea and is in the process of sinking. The sea is a metaphor for climate change, global warming and other environmental concerns, both generally and specifically as they apply to the sea. The fact that the clock or watch is sinking is a sign that we are running out of time. The clock is not just a metaphor for time, it is also a metaphor for civilisation and the technology on which we rely ( A clock being an elaborate piece of highly sophisticated engineering). The fact that it is impossible for a watch to float in the first place may be a factor to consider too.

    The theme of this sketch reflects my interest in creating environmental art because of my concerns about the state of the planet due to climate change, environmental degradation and other aspects of environmentalism (which has been a concern of mine since the 1960s).

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