Painting in the dark

What’s most interesting for me about The iPad and iPhone is that they made painting in the dark possible. It was something I dreamed about many times when I painted plein air in the afternoon and the light kept changing until night came and everything went black.

Many artists in the past have painted night scenes but most of these where recreated in the studio based on notes and observations. From sketches drawn in the day time and long exposure photographs taken at night, the artist can recreate a night scene. But very few painted the actual painting at night because of the lack of a light source to illuminate the painting without altering the scene, and this is exactly what the iPad and iPhone can do.