pop art inspiration

Pop Art mood board

I have researched pop art in the past and focused on the major artists such as Richard hamilton, Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. For this project I wanted to take it a step further and explore more of the lesser well-known artists of the pop art scene. I researched the British Pop Art scene and discovered  artists such as Allen Jones, Gerald Laing and Patrick Caulfield.

Gerald Laing
I chose to use this illustration by Gerald Laing as it showcases one of the iconic  features of pop art which is the  use of Benday dots. Laing uses Benday dots in the style of Roy Lichtenstein as a way of shading the body of his model. Pop art usually utilises bright, comic strip style colours but I like the more muted, monochrome colours of this illustration. Laing breaks up the negative space of the illustration with a pop of red which suggests the bathing suit. The brush strokes are rough and clearly visible. Warhol was a proponent of this as he wished to show the hand-made, do-it -yourself nature of the work as a way of conveying the idea that anybody could make art.

Eduardo Paolozzi
I included this collage as it showcases another aspect of pop art which  is collage. Artists such as Paolozzi use images ripped out of magazines and posters to incorporate pop culture images with original illusions. The colours are more typical of Pop Art as they are bright and dramatic. Paolozzi uses images of popular icons of his time such as Marilyn Monroe and JFK. I like this composition as it remind me of a pinball machine possibly suggesting that life is just a game. 

Patrick Caulfield
Patrick Caulfield uses commercial objects such as this clock  as a subject for his screen print. Pop artists, such as Andy Warhol believed that these objects were worthy of artistic merit in their own right as they were products and icons of the new consumer society which had emerged since the 1950's. 

Allen Jones
Like most Pop artists, Allen Jones wanted to redefine the perception of what fine art could be. Jones aimed to make art without  any traditional painterly or sculptural techniques, using unconventional subjects. Jones said of his choice of subject,  'The erotic impulse transcends cerebral barriers and demands a direct emotional response. Confronted with an abstract statement people readily defer to an expert; but confronted with an erotic statement everyone is an expert. It seems to me a democratic idea that art should be accessible to everyone on some level, and eroticism in one such level’. I find this image interesting as it seems to be a comment on the culturally-imposed ideal of the female body.

Andy Warhol

 Warhol was interested in mass-produced consumer items. In this silkscreen he uses coca cola bottles as the subject. Warhol also used silk screening,  a mass production technique to produce his prints. Like Many other pop artists he wanted to take the 'painterly techniques' out of the picture and just leave the image of the object to speak for itself.

Anya Hindmarch

Ashley williams

Peter Jenson

inspiration/ final fashion illustation

Inspiration board; I was inspired by the 3D elements of my images, they reminded me of 3D mapping like in the 1980's film Tron. I want my look to be futuristic and minimalist.

Final fashion idea. I need to work on the placement of the pattern on the garment

fashion illustrations

Colouring the traced image using illustrator

incorporating collage and hand drawing

Adding the garments using hand-drawing

shadows and highlights

                                          Looking at the shadows cast by by found objects

I like the way in which the 3D aspect of the object is captured clearly in this photo

defining patterns

Defining Patterns

Original Pattern ideas using illustrator; playing with the 3d element of the image.

Sample laser cut

I like the look of the laser cut however the pattern is too small and fine which has lead to some aspects of the design falling apart. I will try again, omitting some of the finer lines from the pattern.

Taking out too many of the lines takes away from the 3D aspect some what

I like this variation but the 3D aspect is almost lost

I like the effect of the incomplete lines which add interest . I  think the 3D aspect is preserved

Buddhism

Through my research into Buddhism I have discovered many new and different ideas about faith which I have tried to convey through my mood board.  Unlike many religions, Buddhists do not worship Gods or Deities. Buddhists strive for a deep insight into the true nature of life and focus on personal and spiritual development with the aim of reaching Nirvana.

The image of Buddha is synonymous with the Buddhist religion. Buddhists construct shrines and, sculptures and images of Buddha much like other religions do for their Gods but Buddha is not a God. Buddha was a sage whose teachings are the foundation of the Buddhist religion. The name Buddha means 'the enlightened or awakened one' and Buddhists celebrate Buddha as the first awakened human being on earth who shared his insights to end the suffering of others.

The main themes of Buddhism which I wish to convey through this piece are based on the four noble truths which are the basis of the teachings of Buddha. These teachings concern ending the stress caused to a human being through their life such as birth illness, and death and the fear of these processes. Buddha teaches that to end this suffering we must relinquish the idea of 'self.' We must understand that all life is interconnected and we are part of a life cycle. We must also let go of the pursuit of desire and denial of negative experience in order to reach Nirvana. Nirvana is the ultimate state of mind in which you become free of suffering.

I have used photographs which I have taken myself on a trip around Asia a few years ago. While travelling through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Hong Kong I saw many different sculptures and shrines dedicated to Buddha. I like the fact that the image of Buddha is slightly different in each country but always instantly recognisable.

I have used photoshop to arrange my own photographs to create the idea of the Buddha being all-encompassing and important to the Buddhist religion . Buddha is at the top of the mood board and is easy to discern and I have used a posterize effect to make all the different images seem part of one. This is to convey the idea that of all life is connected and part of a like cycle. I have used bright neon colors which tie all the different images together to create the idea of oneness.

I am fairly happy with my mood board but I think that I should have used a wider range of techniques and sources to represent more about the religion.

El Mac

El Mac

El Mac can be considered a street artist as he chooses to create most of his work in public spaces such as on walls and buildings. Born in Los Angeles in 1980 , Mac was inspired at a young age by classic European painters such as Caravaggio, and Vermeer and Art Nouveau symbolists such as Klimt and Mucha.  This was mixed with the more contemporary influences of graffiti and photorealism, as well as as the Chicano & Mexican culture he grew up around. Mac says of himself that he creates art to uplift and inspire people through his renderings of the sublime and the humble. Much of Mac's art has reference to religion or uses styles and symbolism based on religious art.

In June 2013 El Mac painted a mural of entitled 'Our lady of Aalborg' in Aalborg, Denmark The painting is a depiction of the virgin Mary in a photo-realistic style.. The mural is painted in spray paint and acrylic and is rendered in Mac's unique style using repeated contour lines to give a vibrating effect.The painting is three storeys high and painted on the side of a building, opposite a maternity hospital. El Mac says that he was inspired to paint the iconic symbol of motherly love by the location of the piece. I like the fact that the piece uses a traditional religious image and transforms it by using modern techniques such as photo realism and spray painting. I think that this, along with the public location opens up the meaning to a wider audience who may not otherwise be interested in viewing religious art. The size of the piece is also makes it striking and unusual.

 

 While in Aalborg, Mac also painted a triptych entitled 'purity of the heart.' The title of this triptych comes from the popular book by Søren Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart Is to Will One Thing.





"A Providence watches over each man’s wandering through life. It provides him with two guides. The one calls him forward. The other calls him back. They are, however, not in opposition to each other, these two guides, nor do they leave the wanderer standing there in doubt, confused by the double call. Rather the two are in eternal understanding with each other. For the one beckons forward to the Good, the other calls man back from evil. Nor are they blind guides. Just for that reason there are two of them. For in order to make the journey secure, they must look both forward and backward."

The spiritual aspect of the painting is suggested through the position of the figures who look to be praying with their heads looking up to heaven and their hands crossed over their breast. The highlight of red across the heart is also reminiscent of the sacred heart. The portraits that Mac paints are taken from portraits of real people. Mac says that he likes the idea of normal people, who aren't famous being immortalized in his giants murals.

 

 

In 2009 El Mac teamed up with fellow street artist Retna to create a 44ft high mural of the virgin Mary in salt lake city, Utah. Mac painted the portrait which is a very recognisable image of Our Lady complete with the sacred heart but done again in a photo realistic way using spray paint and acrylic. The script and halo behind is painted by Retna and is written in Latin but in the style more associated with street art and tagging. The text is the start of the prayer, 'Ave Maria'. I think the mix of traditional religious imagery, including the Latin text with their modern style creates a truly interesting an original result.

Much like the other artists I have researched such as KTZ and Damien Hirst, El Mac gains inspiration from traditional religious imagery and transforms and modernises it by using new techniques and materials. I think that this along with the location and size of his pieces make his work appealing to a wide range of people from young to old. Much like Damien Hirst, I think that Mac uses clear and recognisable imagery that would be understood and appeal to a wide range of people. Unlike Damien Hirst, Mac's work is not intended to create controversy but just to uplift and inspire people. 

I like this idea of modernising religious images and making them appealing to a new, wider range of people and plan to use this idea to influence my own work.