Artist Inspired Project: Roy Lichtenstein

By: Mina Gedeon

In my art class for my final project I decided to look over and be inspired by
Roy Lichtenstein who is an amazing artist who not only specializes in pop art but
many other forms as well. He is an amazing artist that will be forever looked up to
and will inspire many artists to come, no one can deny this. Roy Lichtenstein has
put out many amazing pieces of artwork and has had a very amazing and eventful
life. Roy was born on October 27th 1923 in Manhattan, New York, and he died on
September 29th. 1997 in the exact same city he was born in, Manhattan New York.
One of the first pieces of art that really took off for Roy was the Look Mickey that
he painted 1961.
This piece of art pretty much set the tone for his career. This portrait mostly
was consisted of primary colors, it was of a cartoon mouse that introduced
Lichtenstein's deadpan and detached style at a time that introspective Abstract
Expressionism reigned. Some even say that Roy Lichtenstein brought the
commercial art into the art galleries, which is why he is so amazing because some
say he pretty much invented a new form of art style. But before the Look Mickey
piece of art was exposed he of course had to of have an education, which he did.
He studied at Ohio State University but surprisingly around the time he was in
college World War 2 was going on and he went to training to become a pilot but

that ended up not working out. He entered the graduate program at Ohio State and
was hired as an art instructor, a post which he held on and off for the next ten
years. In 1949 from Ohio State Lichtenstein received a Master of Fine Art degree.
He moved around quite a bit in his life from many places in Ohio leading and
making different Exhibits then moving back to New York and moving around in
that State and setting up many Exhibits there as well.
Some artists that inspired Roy were Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso Jasper
Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg. But not only was it these people but also as a
child he was very interested in the bright advertisements and comic strips that he
started to see around the newspapers. Every artist must have some sort of
inspiration maybe not a person but something that really catches their eye and kind
of clicks in the artist's mind. Roy was that thing for some artists nowadays such as
Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, and Takashi Murakami. He also
befriended a very amazing artist Andy Warhol who also worked in the Pop Art
style which is why some people say Andy was influenced by Roy.
Now as I said above Roy Lichtenstein pretty much started the Pop Art
Movement, he was one of the very first to use this kind of drawing and color
scheme style which nowadays has influenced and contributed to many
advertisements and games and many other things today. He used very bright colors
and always tried to make art that stood out to the average persons eyes. He almost

drew his pieces of art as if they were meant to be inside a comic book. It was
amazing what he could do and how he could create something so new that no one
had even thought about before. That is why I consider him to be a creative genius.
He had such a unique way of art form which no one to this day can truly replicate
perfectly which to me is amazing. Some things that he said was I like to pretend
that my art has nothing to do with me and I don't have big anxieties. I wish I did.
I'd be much more interesting. The things that came out of his mouth were truly
inspirational and almost seemed like he was someone who was born in the wrong
lifetime because of how intellectual he was.
Roy had many different but just as amazing artworks throughout his life and
all of them had their own positives and differences but they all pretty much stayed
in the same art style, Pop Art. His most celebrated image is arguably Whaam! one
of the earliest known examples of pop art, adapted from a comic-book panel. The
painting depicts a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane, with a redand-yellow explosion which is almost recognizable anywhere you go. But not only
was Whaam! A success many other pieces are just as noticeable such as Drowning
Girl and Blam and In the Car. So many pieces that he created will forever go down
in history because of the influence he had created.

If I were to analyze and really look and think about one piece of
artwork I would choose his piece the Drowning Girl because that one really
intrigues me. And out of his work this one really stands out to me.
Initial Response: When I first look at it, it really makes me think about how
simple it looks but how much detail he actually put into it, which is something Roy
does with a lot of his art. Also seeing her emotion kind of makes me thinks what he
is really trying to say with this picture, like maybe even if you are surrounded by
problems, their is a way to push through it. I also realized even though she's
drowning it doesn't look like she is wet in any way the only water on her is her
own tears, which starts to make me question the art.
Description: The picture is of what it looks like to be a woman with blue
hair who is engulfed in a wave or body of water with tears coming out of her eyes
as she is saying I dont care! Id rather sink -- Than call Brad for help!. Her face
in a almost scared view and she seems in distress. Her hair is quite short about
down to her shoulders and the entirety of her skin is all in one shade of peach. It
seems that she is naked and is only showing one of her hands. The water around
her seems to be flowing almost in like in a circle. The water is a mix of deep dark
blue and a lighter lavender blue.
Analyze: Their are many principles and elements of art shown in this picture
such as the color, there is quite a lot of blue which kind of makes the face of the

woman stand out a lot more than everything else. The texture of the woman's skin
is almost like a blanket or cloth which shows and makes you feel how Roy wanted
his art to make you feel. The emphasis of the girls face again shows what I
believe Roy wanted you to focus on. Also the movement of the water shows that
the woman is in distress and how she is in danger. And I really think that the water
with her hair brings the entire piece into true Unity.
Interpret: After looking at the artwork for quite a while, even though it
seems like it should be in a comic in the middle of a story, I think it has something
to do with our inner insecurities. Seeing the woman completely surrounded and
helpless by water kind of makes me question what is really going on in the picture.
Like why can't she swim away? Or why is she just sitting their crying and
complaining. When I see these things it makes me think of life and how people get
so frustrated at things with such simple solutions. Even though this piece of art
may have nothing to do with anything from what I just said that is what I really
interpret from it.
Judgement: I think almost all of Roy Lichtenstein's were truly influential
and were successes in the art world. He was amazing and pretty much introduced a
completely new style of art to the modern world. Not only was the artwork
appealing to the eye, it also was a sort of expressionist type of art. Mostly because

the emotion that I think he put into his art which made others feel the same
emotions that he put into it.

Resources:

https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/lichtenstein-drowning-girl-1963
http://www.artsz.org/lichtenstein-pop-art-drowning-girl/