Line 3

Line 3 - Line in Modern Art

Last week we looked at line in ancient art. This week we are looking at art much closer to our time. The two artists we are going to explore began experimenting with their own art styles in the 1950s and 1960s after world War 2 at a time when art was moving away from being mainly figurative (pictures of objects, landscapes or people). Many styles of abstract art (where colour and shape express emotions) were developed at that time. Jackson Pollock is famous for his Abstract Expressionist drip paintings. He placed huge canvases on the ground then almost danced around them letting the paint drip and splash onto the surface in layers. As you will hear in the clip from Khan Academy's smarthistory.org below Jackson Pollock was inspired by cave paintings like those we looked at last week. The clip below that explains Pollock's way of working and how line became important for itself in his work rather than just as outlines for objects.


Have a go at creating your own Pollock inspired artwork. If you have space get an old bed sheet or a very large sheet of paper and put it on the floor (cover the area around it with newspaper) and try dripping paint off the end of a stick or brush onto the surface. Pay attention to your body movements, how does this feel compared to how you usually would paint or draw? Stretch out your arms and try to loosen up. Be sure to walk all around and paint from each side. Try layering a few colours. What do you think? Do you like this type of art? Did the colours mix? Are you in control of what happens? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Why?
If you are working on this in school try it in groups of five or six, each starting from a different spot along the edge and with a different colour. If you have space restrictions you can get the same effect by standing up and dripping paint onto an A3 or A2 page on a desk.
Here are a few more of Jackson Pollock's paintings and some photos of him at work. More have also been added to our Pinterest board here.

Convergence, 1952, Jackson Pollock

Jackson Pollock at work

http://manetas.com/pollock/
Have fun creating your own Jackson Pollock artwork online. Move the mouse around the screen, slowly to get a blob or faster to get a thin line. Click to randomly change the colour. Right-clicking will give you options including Print.

The second artist we are looking at today used line in a much more controlled way. Although it may not look like it she hand-painted each of her images. Bridget Riley became famous for her Op-art images in the 1960s although she would say her art is not about optical illusions, but about nature. What do you think?

Evacuated to Cornwall with her mother and sister during WW2 Bridget Riley had little formal education before going to art college. She graduated with a BA in art in 1955, but became depressed and struggled for a long time to come up with her own style of art. She taught children art and was inspired by this. She worked exclusively in black and white for many years, but after a visit to Egypt in the 1980s she began to experiment with how colours interact with each other, influenced by the colours of  the hieroglyphics. Here are a couple of her coloured line paintings. The video clip below explains how the work of the Great Masters also influenced her. More of Bridget Riley's work can be found on our Pinterest board here.

There are loads of ways to create your own Op-art work. Experiment and see what ways you come up with and remember to share some of your work with us and we will display it on this blog. One way that we will try in our class is to cut a wavy curve from an A4 sheet of card then use the side of it to draw a repeat line pattern on an A4 sheet (or in your sketch book). This can be very effective in black and white or colour. Remember you took notes in week 1 about how different media work on various surfaces? Try using these notes to work out what drawing media would suit this best (there are no right or wrong answers).