Drowning Girl Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923–1997) 1963. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 67 5/8 x 66 3/4″ (171.6 x 169.5 cm)
“Roy Lichtenstein grounded his inventive career in imitation, beginning by appropriating images from advertisements and comic books in the early 1960s. The source for his painting, Drowning Girl, is “Run for Love!,” the melodramatic lead story of Secret Love #83, a DC Comics comic book from 1962. In the original illustration, the drowning girl’s boyfriend appears in the background, clinging to a capsized boat. Lichtenstein dramatically cropped the image, removing the boat and the boyfriend so that the girl appears alone and centered, her head circled by a vortex of water. He also shortened the first line in the dialogue balloon, which originally read ‘I don’t care if I have a cramp!’, to the more ambiguous “I don’t care!” In the second line, he changed the boyfriend’s name from ‘Mal’ to ‘Brad.’ Explaining the appeal of comic books, Lichtenstein said, ‘I was very excited about, and interested in, the highly emotional content yet detached, impersonal handling of love, hate, war, etc. in these cartoon images.’” – Moma
Run for Love!, Secret Love #83, a DC Comics 1962
Riff off was originally a jazz term meaning “to borrow and elaborate on” as opposed to rip off which is to steal. To riff off someone’s artwork is to take someone’s idea and run with it.
For today’s creative challenge, riff off of someone’s project. Go through the Instagram #30sal posts and find someone else’s artwork that inspires you to make something new. Tag us with #30sal, and tag the artist you’re borrowing from by typing @username in the description.
As soon as I saw this post by Mimi Tochia Boothby, I wanted to see it without the top section. Here is my riff on Mimi’s monopod:
For those of you who would like to do this challenge but prefer not to use social media, you can do an image search for #30sal on Google. Not all 1,116 images come up, but some!
I look at a lot of art, and I don’t tend to see colored pencil drawings popping up in the mix of esteemed or daring artworks. Oils, pastels, graphite, watercolor, ink, even conte is common in museums and galleries, but colored pencils seem to be a material outgrown as soon as any of the others …
“Some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had occurred at my family’s dinner table.” – Bob Ehrlich A small selection of table settings. Do you have a favorite that isn’t in this collection? Send it to me, or post it here. Bon Appetite!
Art News by Anika D. We all know that abstract art has made a big comeback on the art market, but how many of you know that abstractionism is also the favorite style of the presidential couple Barack and Michelle Obama? Unlike his forbearers, Barack Obama seems to be tired of looking at all those boring …
30SAL Challenge: Riff Off
Roy Lichtenstein
(American, 1923–1997)
1963. Oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 67 5/8 x 66 3/4″ (171.6 x 169.5 cm)
“Roy Lichtenstein grounded his inventive career in imitation, beginning by appropriating images from advertisements and comic books in the early 1960s. The source for his painting, Drowning Girl, is “Run for Love!,” the melodramatic lead story of Secret Love #83, a DC Comics comic book from 1962. In the original illustration, the drowning girl’s boyfriend appears in the background, clinging to a capsized boat. Lichtenstein dramatically cropped the image, removing the boat and the boyfriend so that the girl appears alone and centered, her head circled by a vortex of water. He also shortened the first line in the dialogue balloon, which originally read ‘I don’t care if I have a cramp!’, to the more ambiguous “I don’t care!” In the second line, he changed the boyfriend’s name from ‘Mal’ to ‘Brad.’ Explaining the appeal of comic books, Lichtenstein said, ‘I was very excited about, and interested in, the highly emotional content yet detached, impersonal handling of love, hate, war, etc. in these cartoon images.’” – Moma
Riff off was originally a jazz term meaning “to borrow and elaborate on” as opposed to rip off which is to steal. To riff off someone’s artwork is to take someone’s idea and run with it.
For today’s creative challenge, riff off of someone’s project. Go through the Instagram #30sal posts and find someone else’s artwork that inspires you to make something new. Tag us with #30sal, and tag the artist you’re borrowing from by typing @username in the description.
As soon as I saw this post by Mimi Tochia Boothby, I wanted to see it without the top section. Here is my riff on Mimi’s monopod:
For those of you who would like to do this challenge but prefer not to use social media, you can do an image search for #30sal on Google. Not all 1,116 images come up, but some!
#riffoff #riffoffart #inspiration #appropriation #appropriationart #seattleartistleague #drawing #art #illustration #sketch #artchallenge #drawings #artist #draw #artistsoninstagram #sketchbook #instaart #drawthisinyourstyle #artwork #drawingoftheday #dailydrawing #inkdrawing #drawingsketch #artoftheday #creativity #creativechallenge
Related Posts
Colored Pencil Drawings by Amy Erickson
I look at a lot of art, and I don’t tend to see colored pencil drawings popping up in the mix of esteemed or daring artworks. Oils, pastels, graphite, watercolor, ink, even conte is common in museums and galleries, but colored pencils seem to be a material outgrown as soon as any of the others …
At the Table
“Some of the most important conversations I’ve ever had occurred at my family’s dinner table.” – Bob Ehrlich A small selection of table settings. Do you have a favorite that isn’t in this collection? Send it to me, or post it here. Bon Appetite!
Ben Shahn
Ben Shahn’s “Memories of Many Nights of Love” Seattle Artist League: art school, art classes, painting classes, figure drawing
How Did the Obamas Change the White House with Contemporary Art?
Art News by Anika D. We all know that abstract art has made a big comeback on the art market, but how many of you know that abstractionism is also the favorite style of the presidential couple Barack and Michelle Obama? Unlike his forbearers, Barack Obama seems to be tired of looking at all those boring …