Thanks to everyone who came down to our Instant Art event last week, especially those we pressganged into bidding in our impromptu art auction. In order to show off the creative power of the iPad, and recreate the speculative madness of the secondary art market, we had comics artist James Nash draw the event live using the Brushes app, and then sold off the subsequent work to members of the audience (paid in units of our in-house currency, Future Human dollars). It had more in common with the gameshow-cum-seance Deal or No Deal than with Sotheby’s, but no matter.

And here’s what James came up with! Everything from the Book Club’s elegantly decaying brickwork to our master of ceremonies’ laconic demeanour was deftly rendered, and the finished image emailed to everyone in the audience as soon as it was complete. Without wanting to beat the drum too enthusiastically for Steve Jobs, as a sketching tool it’s really intuitive, convenient, and doesn’t compromise your personal visual style; as we said at the event, even if it doesn’t produce masterpieces, it’s going to allow amateur and professional artists to hone their skills, share their work easily, and enhance their appreciation for how great works are composed and conceived.

Remember, our next event is Micro Manufacturing on August 10; for all the information about that and to buy advance tickets, click here.

Art by James Nash