Neon Lights
Size: 60.96cm by 121.92cm
Acrylic on canvas November, 2017 Exhibition text: Neon Lights is a 4 by 2 acrylic drip paint painting inspired by Jackson Pollock's drip painting and the abstract expressionist movement. It was created to express the harsh pressure young teens are up under and the growing of responsibility that now rest on our shoulder. It is to show the frustration and how hobbies such as painting can be a great stress reliever. |
Inspiration
Jackson Pollock was an american abstract expressionist painter. He had a unique drip/ splash style. Pollock does not use points of emphasis or had shapes that can be identified giving him the ability to work on an unstretched canvas. Pollock never worked well under pressure and this was reflected in his paintings. He created patterns in through the drip style. Viewers can see the same image if the viewer is far away or very close up. This inspired me to create a similar pattern through my painting. I also want to use the same paint style that Pollock did.
“Jackson Pollock and his paintings.” Jackson Pollock Biography, Paintings, and Quotes, 2011, www.jackson-pollock.org/.
“Jackson Pollock American Painter.” The art story modern art insight , 2017, www.theartstory.org/artist-pollock-jackson.htm. “Jackson Pollock.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 28 Apr. 2017, www.biography.com/people/jackson-pollock-9443818. “Jackson Pollock: Paintings have a life of their own.” SFMOMA, www.sfmoma.org/watch/jackson-pollock-paintings-have-a-life-of-their-own/. |
Meaning
As we get older people assume more and more responsibilities. Your life becomes very chaotic if not handled well. Personally I don't work under pressure very well and get frustrated because of it. This painting expresses my frustration towards life and all the pressures that I am under. The harsh movements represents the deep and harsh times that we go through. The ebb and flow of the presser is resembles in the up and down movements in the painting.
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Planning
This plan was to have 3 panels. One pale will be a 4 by 2 the second and 3rd panel would be half of the first panel. The larger panel with a gray background and will have all the colors used in the primary board and in the secondary board. The smaller panel to the left will have a black background with red, blue, and yellow. The 2nd smaller panel will have a white background with orange, green and purple.
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In my first plan I had planned to do three different panels with the first panel was going to have a black background with primary colors, the second panel was going to have a gray background with all the primary and secondary colors. On the third panel it was going to have a white background with secondary colors on it.
In this plan there is only one painting. This painting will be a 4 by 2 and will only have the 3 primary colors on a black background.
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ProcessI first picked out which plan I wanted to go with for my final project. I landed on plan tree because I felt that it would connect better to the theme and to the inspiration. I then needed to stretch and gesso my canvases. From there I did two layers of black paint to make that background. I then poured yellow blue and red into three different cups. I experimented with just using the paint but because I was using acrylic paints they were not as runny as the paints that Jackson pollock used. This was a problem, I had to figure out how to make the paint thinner. I tried water and thinner. I then decided to take the retardant and mix it into the paint. I saw that it made the paint thinner and made it easier to manipulate. Where when I mixed in water I was that it made the paint thinner but it also made the colors lighter and gave it a more watercolor look to it. That was not what I wanted. I chose the thinner to be the best way to make the paint easier to manipulate. I used old dryer paintbrushes of different sizes to help drop the paint onto the canvas. I would also just pour the paint straight from the cup. I saw that the brush created a thinner lines and a glob while using the cup to drop paint mad thicker more controlled lines. I layered all of my paint. There was two layers for each color, because each color was still wet while layering the colors blended on their own to make secondary colors in some spots. I also played with the distance I was dropping the paint from. Just like Pollock I was working over the canvas. So I could move around it to find the place that I wanted to lay the paint. The higher I poured the paint from the more thin and lose the lines where and they had more time to fall and move before they landed. The closes the drops were from the canvas the more controlled it was.
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Process/ Experimentation photos
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Compare and Contrast
Comparing my work to the inspiration there were many similarities and differences. Both me and Pollock worked with the canvas laying on the ground so that we can work above it. I tried to create similar splatter patterns and designs to the inspiration. Pollock and I used similar methods to spread the paint. The differences between my inspiration was the size of the piece itself. We did not use the I chose to use acrylic paint while Pollock is known for using house paints or car paints. I also stretched and painted a background on my canvas before I used the drip paint technique while pollock went right to painting.
Reflection
I enjoyed doing this project and think that it turned out every nicely. It had a good connection to its inspiration and is still different at the same time.Through my research I learned another style of painting with different style and objects to use to apply paint onto a canvas. I found it hard to keep control over the paint as well as giving it the freedom to move and land on its own. I did struggle with finding a way to make the paint more flexible and to make it move easier into the canvas. Through my experimentation I found the best method for what I was looking for. Some things that could have been different when it can to the outcome of the painting. At first the blue looked very vibrant and stood out against the other colors, but as it dried the blue became very dark and kind of blends into the black background. To improve this I could have used a lighter background. I do wish what I would have picked either plan one or two. Looking at my final product I don't feel that it fully connects to my meaning and it is lacking something.
Act Connections
- The inspiration affected my artwork through the different painting style and thought the idea of crazy movements that can be repeated and no matter how close or far away the picture is it look the same.
- My artist inspiration, inspired me to express the levels of stress teens are put under and how we need an outlet for all the tensions and stress.
- When researching my inspiration I came to the conclusion that Jackson Pollock created his images to tell express his emotions and his hatred towards being in the spotlight and being under pressure.
- The central theme around my inspiration was to convey the the emotions that a teen has and the crazy amount of stress they are put under at school and at home.
- The inferences that were made when reading my research was that Jackson Pollock used harsh and strict movements with his paint to create an image that looks the same from any distance.