Living in Color: Thank You Mr. Hockney
On June 12th, the art world lost a true visionary with the passing of David Hockney. The global art community now remembers a master of contemporary art. For me Hockney wasn’t just an artist I admired from afar; his work has been a foundational influence on my own artistic identity, like many aritists.
David Hockney shaped how I see my own paintings, my confidence in using color, and how I look at the “everyday” around me.
He Was A Perspective Rule Breaker
Traditional art training often boxes vanishing points into rules. Hockney helped ease the breaking free of that constraint for me. Through his famous photo collages and expansive landscapes, he proved that human vision is dynamic and alive. He opened space with color. He taught me that a flat surface can hold multiple vantage points at once, and sometimes the perspective can take a back shadow to the feeling of the painting. He’s influenced my own work to slowly shift away from rigid realism, allowing for distortion, emotional depth, and freer compositions.
Radical Color and Flat Planes of Light
Before encountering Hockney’s iconic California pool series, I often felt restricted to realism. Seeing his saturated turquoises, bright pinks, and sharp, clean lines created a mind escape for me to summer days and simple momments. He captured the intense, baking heat of a midday sun by flattening shapes and using unexpected, high-contrast palettes. Color does not need to copy real life to create atmosphere for the viewer. Pushing my palette boundaries, using bold, unexpected hues and shapes to captures space rather than just imitating it.
His Fearless Exploration of New Mediums
Perhaps Hockney's greatest gift to creators was his curiosity. From traditional oil paints and watercolors to stage design, photocopies, and ultimately digital painting on iPads, he proved that a true artist's vision transcends their tools. He showed the creative world to never stay in one lane and mediums outside of the traditional offered experimentation not threat. Watching a master in his 70s and 80s enthusiastically adopt digital tech gave me the courage to jump between different painting styles and tools without feeling like I was losing my artistic respect.
A Lasting Creative Blueprint
David Hockney once said, "I paint what I want, when I want, where I want." That absolute dedication to personal freedom is his ultimate legacy. He taught me to look closer, love color fiercely, and remain a lifelong fan of what most would see as ordinary. His physical presence is gone, but every time I mix a bright, unapologetic hue on my palette, I’ll think to myself as well “I’ll paint what I want, when I want, where I want.”
