POP ART PORTRAITSINSPIRED BY THE ART OF ROY

LICHTENSTEIN

Lichtenstein in 1967

BIOGRAPHY: ROY LICHTENSTEIN• ROY FOX LICHTENSTEIN (OCTOBER 27, 1923 – SEPTEMBER 29, 1997) WAS AN

AMERICAN POP ARTIST. DURING THE 1960S, ALONG WITH ANDY WARHOL, JASPER JOHNS, AND JAMES ROSENQUIST AMONG OTHERS, HE BECAME A LEADING FIGURE IN THE NEW ART MOVEMENT. HIS WORK DEFINED THE BASIC PREMISE OF POP (OR POPULAR ART) THROUGH PARODY. FAVORING THE COMIC STRIP AS HIS MAIN INSPIRATION, LICHTENSTEIN PRODUCED HARD-EDGED, PRECISE COMPOSITIONS THAT DOCUMENTED WHILE IT PARODIED OFTEN IN A TONGUE-IN-CHEEK MANNER. HIS WORK WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY BOTH POPULAR ADVERTISING AND THE COMIC BOOK STYLE. HE DESCRIBED POP ART AS "NOT 'AMERICAN' PAINTING BUT ACTUALLY INDUSTRIAL PAINTING.”

WHAAM! BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN

• WHAAM! IS A 1963 DIPTYCH PAINTING BY THE AMERICAN ARTIST ROY LICHTENSTEIN. IT IS ONE OF THE BEST-KNOWN WORKS OF POP ART, AND AMONG LICHTENSTEIN'S MOST IMPORTANT PAINTINGS. THE LEFT-HAND PANEL SHOWS A FIGHTER PLANE FIRING A ROCKET THAT, IN THE RIGHT-HAND PANEL, HITS A SECOND PLANE WHICH EXPLODES IN FLAMES. LICHTENSTEIN CONCEIVED THE IMAGE FROM SEVERAL COMIC-BOOK PANELS. THE PAINTING'S TITLE IS INTEGRAL TO THE ACTION AND IMPACT OF THE PAINTING, AND DISPLAYED IN LARGE ONOMATOPOEIA IN THE RIGHT PANEL.

• LICHTENSTEIN STUDIED AS AN ARTIST BEFORE AND AFTER SERVING IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II. HE PRACTICED ANTI-AIRCRAFT DRILLS DURING BASIC TRAINING, AND HE WAS SENT FOR PILOT TRAINING BUT THE PROGRAM WAS CANCELED BEFORE IT STARTED. AMONG THE TOPICS HE TACKLED AFTER THE WAR WERE ROMANCE AND WAR. HE DEPICTED AERIAL COMBAT IN SEVERAL WORKS. WHAAM! IS PART OF A SERIES ON WAR THAT HE WORKED ON BETWEEN 1962 AND 1964, AND ALONG WITH AS I OPENED FIRE (1964) IS ONE OF HIS TWO LARGE WAR-THEMED PAINTINGS.

DROWNING GIRL BY ROY LICHTENSTEIN

• THE PAINTING SHOWS A TEARY-EYED WOMAN ON A TURBULENT SEA. SHE IS EMOTIONALLY FRAUGHT, SEEMINGLY FROM A ROMANCE. SHE DECLARES THAT SHE WOULD RATHER SINK IN THE OCEAN THAN CALL BRAD. THIS IS REVEALED THROUGH A THOUGHT BUBBLE THAT PROVIDES THE NARRATIVE ELEMENT: "I DON'T CARE! I'D RATHER SINK — THAN CALL BRAD FOR HELP!" THE NARRATIVE ELEMENT HIGHLIGHTS THE CLICHÉD MELODRAMA, WHILE ITS GRAPHICS REITERATE LICHTENSTEIN'S THEME OF PAINTERLY WORK IMITATING MECHANIZED REPRODUCTION. THE WORK IS DERIVED FROM A 1962 DC COMICS PANEL, WHILE ALSO BORROWING FROM HOKUSAI'S THE GREAT WAVE OFF KANAGAWA AND FROM ELEMENTS OF MODERNIST ARTISTS JEAN ARP AND JOAN MIRÓ. IT IS ONE OF SEVERAL LICHTENSTEIN WORKS THAT MENTION A CHARACTER NAMED BRAD WHO IS ABSENT FROM THE PICTURE.

Drowning Girl (also known as Secret Hearts or I Don't Care! I'd Rather Sink) is a 1963 painting in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas by Roy Lichtenstein. Utilizing the conventions of comic book art, a thought bubble conveys the thoughts of the figure, while Ben-Day dots echo the effect of the mechanized printing process. It is one of the most representative paintings of the pop art movement, and part of the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection since 1971. The painting is considered among Lichtenstein's most significant works, perhaps on a par with his acclaimed 1963 diptych Whaam!. Drowning Girl has been described as a "masterpiece of melodrama", and is one of the artist's earliest images depicting women in tragic situations, a theme to which he often returned in the mid-1960s.

ARTISTIC INFLUENCES FOR LICHTENSTEIN’S DROWNING GIRL

Lichtenstein was influenced by many other artists including Hokusai, Arp, and Miro. Can you see any connections between these works, and if so, what are they specifically? Discuss in art table groups.

OH JEFF…I LOVE YOU TOO, BUT…Oh, Jeff...I Love You, Too...But... (sometimes Oh, Jeff) is a 1964 oil and magna (acrylic resin paint) on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. Like many of Lichtenstein's works its title comes from the speech balloon in the painting. This work is among the most famous of his early romance comic derivative works from the period when he was adapting cartoons and advertisements into his style via Ben-Day dots. The work is said to depict the classic romance-comic story line of temporary adversity. This particular example is one of several that is cropped so closely that the hair flows beyond the edges of the canvas. This was painted at the apex of Lichtenstein's use of enlarged dots, cropping and magnification of the original source. The tragic situations of his subjects makes his works a popular draw at museums.

THE BEN DAY PRINTING PROCESS AND THE DOT

The “Ben Day” printing process, named after illustrator and printer Benjamin Henry Day, Jr., (son of 19th Century publisher Benjamin Henry Day) is a technique dating from 1879. Depending on the effect, color and optical illusion needed, small colored dots are closely spaced, widely spaced or overlapping.

WOMAN WITH FLOWERED HAT

PICASSO, 1941 LICHTENSTEIN, 1963

During this time in his career, Lichtenstein noted that "the things that I have apparently parodied I actually admire.” The painting is one of four variations on Picassos that Lichtenstein created during 1962 and 1963.

“There are some changes in this from the Picasso, obviously complete changes all over, but the more obvious ones: I've changed the face-color to the pink dots and the hair-color to the yellow, since all my girls have yellow hair, almost all of them do. And I was curious to see what it would look like with a more pseudo-realistic color, sort of correcting Picasso, as though he had made an error in painting the face blue. And one of the purposes of it is to make what looks like an insensitive reproduction of the Picasso, and changing the color of the face and hair to ones that would be more conventional would be part of that insensitivity, and there is a general change in the shape of the whole position of the head.”

In 2013, the painting sold for $56.1 millionIn 2006,the painting sold for $ $95.2 million

7TH GRADE POP ART SELF PORTRAITS

INSPIRED BY THE ARTWORK OF ROY LICHTENSTEINLEARNING TARGETS:• STUDENTS WILL IDENTIFY DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS OF STYLE

IN THE WORK OF INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS (SPECIFICALLY ROY LICHTENSTEIN) AND ART MOVEMENTS (SPECIFICALLY POP ART). KNOWING & UNDERSTANDING

• STUDENTS WILL SHOW EVIDENCE OF CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING AND REFLECTION IN THEIR VISUAL ARTS PROCESS JOURNALS. KNOWING & UNDERSTANDING, DEVELOPING SKILLS, THINKING CREATIVELY, RESPONDING

• STUDENTS WILL CREATE THEIR OWN SELF PORTRAITS USING A POP ART STYLE, INCLUDING CONVENTIONS SUCH AS USE OF PRIMARY COLORS, BEN DAY DOTS, THOUGHT BUBBLES, ETC. KNOWING & UNDERSTANDING, DEVELOPING SKILLS, THINKING CREATIVELY

• STUDENTS WILL UTILIZE ASPECTS OF THEIR OWN IDENTITIES WHEN CREATING MELODRAMATIC MESSAGES TO AN AUDIENCE VIA VISUAL ART WORKS.

POP ART SELF PORTRAIT PROCESS• Start by taking digital images of yourself and make a

graphite transfer. • Once the photo is taken and printed, outline your

features in graphite pencil. Make the lines thick and dark for a better transfer.

• Tape the picture to another sheet of paper face down. Using a wooden stick, press only the pencil lines to transfer the graphite to the new sheet.

• Peel a corner back to check how well the pencil is transferring. Only press on the pencil lines. When finished peel off.

• The new drawing will be a mirror image of the first, and the pencil will be very light. Go back over the lines with pencil to bring them out again.

• The next step is to draw over the pencil lines with black permanent marker for the cartoon/ comic book style of Roy Lichtenstein. Erase any leftover pencil marks for a clean finish.

POP ART SELF PORTRAIT PROCESS• Next, using marker and a ruler, add ben day dots in a

staggering pattern to recreate the dots that make up printed materials such as magazines and newspapers.

• Some items in your drawing can be solid to create an effect more like Roy’s.

• Ready? Questions? Let’s do it!