‘Yellow Islands 1952’ Photo taken at Tate Modern, March 2014 |
Jackson Pollock
1912-1956
Abstract Expressionist
USA
- Famous for his method of drip painting or action painting
- Use of household paint, rather than artists paints
- Hardened brushes, sticks, trowels, knives, even syringes as application means
- Varied from pouring paint onto the canvas to heavy impasto with sand, broken glass, etc
- Used the whole force of his body to paint
- Wanted to physically be ‘in the painting’
- Pattern – random, swirling, busy patterns; splattered, dripped marks
- Colour – this one is fairly monochrome with only the barest touches of primary colour
- Shape – unrecognisable, abstract shapes integrated within
- Line – from straight drips to rounded lines and shapes
- Negative space – subtle areas of bare canvas helping to make the painting whole, counteracting the crazy shapes and lines
- Composition – no one element seems to stand out except to me there is the dark black dripping at the centre point
- Texture – layers of poured paint
Colour palette:
Here is a breakdown of the palette used in this painting, the colours at the top are the main colours, moving down the scale in use.
This is a new type of blog from me and I’ll be looking at a different style of painter and attempt to break down one of their famous paintings. From Picasso, Miro, Dali, Kandinsky to Bacon, Freud and Pollock.
The formal elements are a great tool to analyse a painting and this blog will show how completely different the painting styles of artists can be. This is also one of the main reasons why I chose Jackson Pollock as my first blog as he was a complete original. In quick bullet points, I also look at the tools and techniques they use, their way of thinking and the colour palette they use.
By breaking it down I hope to provide inspiration to move forward in out own work, however I don’t mean to oversimplify a famous work of art but to provide input for those who want to learn more!
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