Lichtenstein Handout

Name:
Pop-Art ala Roy Lichtenstein
The Pop Art movement began in the early
1960’s as a way to appeal to the masses. Pop
artists believed that art had become too
individualized and hard to understand, so they
used common everyday objects that people
would easily recognize. In Pop Art we see
subject matter taken right from American
popular culture like soup cans, celebrities,
hamburgers, and coke bottles.
The movement forced people to notice the
beauty of the ordinary things around them that they tended to take for
granted. Images were often large and with shiny bold colors that were
impossible to ignore.
Roy Lichtenstein was a well-known Pop artist
who created blown up images from old comic
books. Originally trained as a commercial artist,
Lichtenstein’s paintings mimicked techniques
and processes used in the mass production of
prints. His paintings are composed of bold
outlines, lots of primary colors, and millions of
Benday dots. (Benday dots are named for an
American printer named Benjamin Day. Benday
dots are in all printed images, but are usually too small to be seen by the
naked eye.)
Two things that
Lichtenstein frequently
portrayed in his artwork
were the mindless violence
and stereotyped romance in
comic book imagery.
For this project you will be imitating Lichtenstein’s artistic style. You will
be creating a large image that somehow comments on American popular
culture. You may get inspiration from comic books or comic strips, but I
Handout created by S. Wagner-Marx
will encourage you to alter them somehow. You can add or delete images,
change words, incorporate your self-portrait, etc. Use your creativity and
think carefully about the message your artwork evokes!
First, create thumbnail sketches in the boxes below.
2nd, choose the image that you feel the most strongly about and
transfer it to the large drawing paper. (You should also draw a ½
border all of the way around your paper. This will be removed later
before you mount your artwork onto construction paper.)
3rd, decide on how you will break up the space. Where will you add
dots or stripes? Which areas will be in color? Which areas will be
left white?
4th, using black markers, outline your shapes and add color where
desired.
Lastly, cut the border off of your artwork and glue your drawing onto
a piece of construction paper.
Handout created by S. Wagner-Marx