About

Since late 2021, I’ve done daily drawings in my iPhone’s Notes app, sharing them to social media under the hashtag #notesArt.

In many ways, my #notesArt work is a project uniquely shaped to the contours of my life: a product of the iPhone Era’s pervasive convenience, extended to drawing. I live in an apartment and work a regular job, so it’s harder for me to make the time and space required by traditional artistic media. Like most people my age, my phone is always with me; over time, it’s worked its way into every corner of my life. I do everything else on my phone, so it was inevitable that at some point, I’d start drawing on it.

#notesArt is a style formed by the limitations of the medium. I draw with my finger on a screen the size of a 3-by-5 card, using drawing tools that were designed for annotating documents, not making artwork. Similar to an app, each work is minimalist and limited in scope. The simple nature of the tool allows me to focus on the essence of each piece; perhaps a strange thing to be able to do on a device known primarily for providing distraction.

I explore a wide variety of themes in #notesArt: alienation, technology, internet culture, and the overall sense of being adrift in an alien world. As a web and graphic designer, icons, symbols, and emoji often play a role in my work.

I did a small video about the project on its one-year anniversary.

Featured on: kottke.org, Atlantic Re:Think, BOMB Magazine, Gallery Afem

Interviews

• I discuss a wide variety of things with Gil Roth on the Virtual Memories Show
• Jen Silverman (yes, that Jen Silverman) and I talk about art, power, and processes
• Cendrine Marrouat interviews me about art and creativity
• Doc Pop and I discuss Notes, creativity, and social networks

About me

I’m Chris Silverman, a designer, artist, and illustrator living in New York’s Hudson Valley. I like traffic lights, night, faces (especially masks and skulls), UFOs, and desolate places.

Follow me on Instagram, Mastodon, or Twitter.

And say hi! I’m always happy to hear about the art other people are making.