Cell phones are a touchy subject. Etiquette book evaluations of elevator conversations, texting at the table, and Beyonce ringtones run the gauntlet from annoying to outright embarrassing, with lots of “that’s rude” finger waving in between. It’s safe to assume that most public cell phone use is probably a no go, but what happens when it’s in the name of art?

With two New Yorker covers, a weekly blog, and a run of sold out prints on 20×200, Jorge Colombo is making a good argument for some sort of creative license clause in this new book of etiquette. An illustrator, photographer, and graphic designer, he has recently made a name for himself as the smart-phone toting artist.

He painted the June 1 New Yorker cover using the Brushes iPhone app, in an hour, while waiting outside Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. This week, he did it again. Colombo’s dreamy cell phone masterpieces were no drop in quality for the New Yorker. Some say these covers suggest an ever important willingness of old media to embrace new mediums.

The Brushes app’s sales soared with Colombo’s initial breakout, and we imagine it’s just a matter of time before a new generation of iPhone artists comes crawling out of the digital dark spaces. It’s not hard to imagine Edward Munch swirling The Scream while waiting for the F train, and just imagine the things we’d see if Weegee had a TwitPic account. So while any necessary T-Pain-ing is best conducted in private, in the name of art, a little public Pollocking may be okay.

Watch the magic happen in the clip below.