JACKSON POLLOCK & COLOURED PENCILS

 

This is not an attempt at a Pollock painting. This is a digital painting of a ‘frenzied’ (Tasmanian)rock pattern that I recently did to illustrate (once again), that our landscape is full of abstract examples.

I was introduced to the art of Jackson Pollock when I was in high school and immediately loved his work. I didn’t know much about the artist or his work, but I liked what I saw.

 

Today I know about Pollock the man, and his work and I love his art even more.

Jackson Pollock is America’s greatest painter. Not everyone may agree with me, but what we can agree on is that he is America’s most influential painter. It was he who challenged traditional painting to the extent that his impact broke the (long) dominance of European art.

He had many critics who seemed only interested in the work he produced, rarely understanding that for Pollock, the process of painting was (almost) everything. His work was ‘unconscious’, verbalising through his actions (he was a quiet man, troubled, volatile and unpredictable) of painting huge canvasses that were so often intense layer upon layer, upon layer, upon layer of household paint.

Pollock was called ‘Jack the Dripper’, ‘a rebel without a cause’ and ‘the bush-bearded heavyweight champion of Abstract Expressionism’. He was often tense, insecure and explosive, but he was a true ‘action painter’ who showed that art need not be bound by tradition, that expressing one’s deep, inner feelings need not have boundaries.

When we look at a Pollock we always look at the product, never the process. One needs to (attempt) to get inside the head of an artist when viewing their work. This is a very difficult task in Pollock’s case, as few (if any) people really understood him.

What we can say though, is that he has made so many people think about their art and art in general. His work has encouraged so many to dare to be different.

I salute what he achieved in his relatively short lifetime and wish that he had lived to a ripe old age, but I doubt the man who was born with ‘too big an engine on the inside’ would have coped with longevity.

What has Pollock got in common with coloured pencils? Absolutely nothing!

I have no desire to retreat ‘into myself’ and paint a series of ‘drip paintings’ as one would expect has been the case in many art schools over the years. I am very interested in the ‘layering’ and ‘intensity’ of Pollock’s work. I intend to pursue this interest in a coloured pencil painting or two.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Richard