Art (Art History)

Roy Lichtenstein





Title: In The Car
The date the Artwork was made:1963
Media it was made: Paint
Size of the work:172.00 x 203.50cm canvas
Where it currently lives: National Galleries of Scotland

Roy Lichtenstein is a well-known artist throughout several countries around the world. Lichtenstein devoted his life to drawing and painting. Although Lichtenstein spent some of his early life as a commercial artist; Lichtenstein immediately transitioned into advertisement art. He accomplished a lot of remarkable artworks; some of them are being displayed in different exhibitions in various countries. The artwork by Lichtenstein I am studying is titled "In The Car".

Established in 1963, In the Car was produced on a 172.00 x 203.50cm canvas. It is painted and fits into the category of Pop Art. Lichtenstein's influence towards this piece of artwork is based on a comic book called ‘Girls’ Romances” which debuted in February and ended in October 1971. The symbolism behind his illustrations is also based on adopting war and romance comics as his source on his art. His work is overflowing with colour and emotion. The scene is taken place inside a car where a close-up view of a dark-haired, handsome man, looking at his lovely blonde companion cloaked in a leopard patterned clothing as The background is coloured grey which indicates that Lichtenstein wants us to concentrate on the characters in the art. The black & white coloured stripes symbolise action, although it has multiple amounts of lines, Lichtenstein made it so the lines don’t prevent us from concentrating on the main points or characters. The top and bottom of the art are painted red to signify that the illustration is a comic strip. Lichtenstein excluded the speech bubble above the characters’ head. Despite the number of details, the art style is basic itself by only using primary colours and black and white.

The position of the subjects and graphic details are crucial to have a positive effect on art. In this illustration, he precisely placed several subjects on the canvas. Lichtenstein did a sensational job on putting details in his illustration. Techniques applied in the artwork can also be valuable depending on what the artist’s focused topic. Most of Lichtenstein’s art is comic strips which then means he frequently uses a technique called ‘Benday dots’. Benday dots are commonly used in comic books to add texture on the background. Lichtenstein did not use complicated colours on his art but he did add tones and shadows to make the art pop out. By just adding little details like using black acrylic paint in the hair, he already made the art look astonishing. The gesture and expressions of the characters in the art are also necessary to make the illustration seem interesting. Both characters in this art are odd. Obviously, they look like they are not having a great time based on their facial expression. The face of the man in the car is fierce. While secretly glancing to the young pinked lipped woman; his wild stare began looking like he is seeking to get her attention. Roy Lichtenstein has done a lot more comic strips and other illustrations. This is one of the remarkable art that made him famous. The art itself is filled with intensity due to the facial expressions of the characters.

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The artwork of Roy Lichtenstein strongly connects to my ideas of my artworks. Lichtenstein's works relate to comics, specifically comic strips. His idea is really good for my why or topic as there are so few artists that do their artworks based on religion and apply comic techniques. His ideas on how he uses comic strips as bases of his artwork are where I got my idea from and his idea significantly impacts my folio.

Art (Finished Works 1)

Here are my finished artworks during the construction of my first folio. I was behind on some of my artwork because I kept restarting. I also kept starting a new artwork while I have not finished the other one.

These two artworks work together as they contrast each other. My artwork on the right was supposed to have a cross in the middle of the mountain. They contrast each other in many ways, the cross, and the use of day and night. The use of mountains can also be contrast within these two artworks. They also relate to my why as they both relate to my topic of religion/Christianity by basically placing a cross. I showed my topic and the importance of Christianity by placing a crucifix/cross in different places. I used this symbolism by showing that the cross/Jesus Christ/Christianity is everywhere and is currently alive.

Art (Folio Plan)

Before I started doing the artworks that will go on my folio, I planned everything first, what and how it will look. My folio would have different shapes and sizes. My first folio will mostly have sketches or dry media techniques and my second folio will have the colourful artworks and mostly wet media. On the image, I planned what artworks that will go on the first folio. It will mostly focus on the early life of Jesus Christ and significant events on his life.

Art (Technique Experiment)

I experimented with a different technique and one of them is using dry pastels. I tried different designs and this one is one of them that I did. This is not my final design but it is what I'm expecting on what it will look like. This one image will fit in my folio because it relates to my topic. The technique that I used did not actually fit like a pop art style artwork but it will still fit on my topic and why. This relates to my why by showing what is behind or meaning of my artwork. The meaning of this artwork is that even though the world around you is dark, Jesus will be there. The art style did not fit or relate to the two artists that I pick but I did still plan to place a border so it will still fit into the category of pop art.

Art (Initial Drawings)

These are my practice or initial drawings. They are my first ideas on what I was supposed to put on my folio. The first one is about a dark mountain with a big moon and a cross in the middle. This resembles that Jesus Christ will be there even if it's dark everywhere. This will be appropriate in my folio as it relates to my why. The second artwork is about an angel sharing the good news of Jesus Christ being born. The texture and the technique that I used in the second artwork is based on Roy Lichtenstein. The angel separated the clouds which makes the cloud look like the border of the artwork. The clouds have a texture like the clouds in the comic book as well as the background which will be covered in benday dots. The third one is where Jesus was born. The art will be a simple drawing with a comic like a background.

Art (What and who are your influences?)

My first and main idea of the folio is to use Religion as a topic and transfer it to a comic style art. Every drawing would have a story behind it, specifically about the story of Jesus Christ. Every art piece will be done in different techniques or media. It will also have dialogues or short bubble texts in it so it will have a much more comic vibe. Colours in comics are often used with basic and primary colours. That is my idea in the beginning by colouring the art pieces in a way that it looks like it is from a comic strip. Every art piece will also have comic backgrounds like benday dots. I was going to apply comic structure to my topic of religion in art by doing the art pieces in different sizes and shapes of paper. There would also be borders to make the art piece look more like a comic. two artists that I chose to replicate or base my artworks was Roy Lichtenstein and Dick Frizzel. Both of these artists do Pop Art and do it how I want my folio to look like. Furthermore, Roy Lichtenstein’s artworks are comic strips which is basically the same thing as my idea. Roy Lichtenstein's ideas influenced my artworks as his ideas on creating based comics. Dick Frizzel influenced me on creating my artwork by using unusual characters and transfer them through pop art.

Art (What is my WHY?)

My Why

My why is to show what I am proud of in my religion. I want to show that religion can be a topic on art and it is really an interesting and quite challenging topic to do. Religion is not really that famous as a topic in art. You mostly see art about religion in churches or some museums. So I want to show that religion can be beautiful and appreciated when it is done in art. The art will have much more meaning. My why is focused on creating an art folio based and focused on the life of Jesus Christ. The drawings and paintings that I made are mirrors of the story and background of Jesus Christ. These connect to my why because Christianity is really important to this point of time so I would like to show how it started. Every artwork that I made is connected to the life of Jesus. Every piece of artwork has a meaning and holds a piece of history in Christianity. My folio is focused mainly on the crucifixion and resurrection because this is the most historical and important happenings on Jesus’ life. The use of colours, symbolism, and media techniques also relates and depends if the scene is either dark or full of life.