David Hockney will next year exhibit iPad art at the Royal Academy - but Highgate’s own digital artist has been creating pictures on a computer for much longer.

Inspired by a love of technology and a passion for his corner of north London, Klaus Wuttke began creating digital art more than nine years ago.

The artist, who lives and works in Lanchester Road, Highgate, said: “As soon as computers were invented I was interested in connecting art and technology. I had the very first Apple. I like new technology because it gives you a new opportunity to do something different.”

To create his work he takes a photograph of a scene and then transforms it using a technically complex process using a tablet connected to a computer. Some of the digital pictures can take months to create and they cost from �125-600.

The end result is a picture hand-printed at Mr Wuttke’s own studio and works range from postcard size to three metres across.

Mr Wuttke finds inspiration for his bold digital pictures on his doorstep in north London and has created striking digital portraits of Hampstead and Highgate.

Although he admits it is “quite unusual” for an artist to focus on the local area, he has never felt the need to travel further.

“I don’t travel the world I just look around in Highgate and Hampstead and Muswell Hill,” he said. “I just like London so much. There is so much history, colour and life. You don’t have to travel further.”

His digital scenes of Hampstead and Highgate have proved extremely popular, recently selling out at an exhibition in East Finchley.

Favourite scenes are taken from the vistas of Well Walk and Rosslyn Hill in Hampstead, and Pond Square in Highgate.

“People say I like this because I’ve lived around here,” explained the artist. “Rather than hang a painting of Venice on the wall you can have something from where you live.

“People know these areas are quite beautiful, but sometimes we have to point it out to them. It’s trying to discover things and to transfer this to other people so they can participate.”

Mr Wuttke trained at a traditional art school in Berlin and moved to Highgate 30 years ago, where he has seen the digital art revolution take shape.

“People are flabbergasted at how I create my work,” he said. “There is no reference yet, but I think digital art is growing relatively quickly.”

For more information visit www.klauswuttke.com