1. Hockney has lived and painted all over the world.

He was born in Bradford in 1937 before moving to London to study Art. Since then, he has lived in New York and Los Angeles in the United States, and Normandy in France. Like many artists, Hockney takes inspiration from his surroundings. He has painted all these places.

2. Hockney paints with lots of bright colours.

This is his signature style. Look at the painting below. See how he uses purple to brighten a tree trunk – or how he uses many shades of green. Colour makes his paintings feel full of joy.

3. Hockney loves to paint people...

including his parents, lovers, friends and famous people like Harry Styles. Paintings of people are called portraits. Sometimes, he paints self-portraits – you can try this using a mirror or a photograph of yourself.

4. ...and he loves to paint his dogs.

Hockney had two daschunds called Stanley and Boodgie, who were his best friends. He has painted lots of pictures of his dogs. You can see a photo of Hockney with the paintings below.

5. Hockney’s most famous painting is called A Bigger Splash.

The painting shows a diving board and a big splash of water in a blue swimming pool in L.A. It took Hockney two weeks to paint the splash.

6. Hockney is famous for his iPad paintings.

He has always been interested in new technology. He uses an app called Brushes to paint. Look at the detail of the leaves on the trees below – can you believe it was painted on an iPad?

7. Hockney is inspired by the changing seasons.

He often returns to the same scene to paint, sitting by the road with his easel. Feeling creative? Think about a spot in your garden and how it would change from Winter to Spring.

8. Hockney’s biggest painting is over 90 metres long.

That’s almost as long as a football pitch! A Year in Normandie is made from lots of iPad paintings stitched together. It shows a whole year in Hockney’s garden in France.

9. Hockney plays with perspective in his art.

Look at the image below. It’s made of hundreds of photographs of the same scene taken from different angles. When it is stitched together (like a collage), it makes the image look 3D – as though we are seeing the scene in real life and not on a 2D page.

10. Hockney has made his art immersive.

With Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away), Hockney has created an immersive experience – where you can watch his paintings come to life through projections on the walls. It feels like you are standing inside his artwork. What do you think he will do next?

David Hockney: Bigger & Closer (not smaller & further away) runs at Aviva Studios from 10 December 2024 to 25 January 2025.