dominic marroquin
Mr. Cleary elective lab
11/24/14
In this painting Pollock poured paint directly onto the canvas, which he had taped to the floor of his studio. Then, he used sticks and hardened paint brushes to actually drip, fling, and splash paint onto the canvas. Although he only used a few different hues, he achieved a very interesting and unique new way of painting.
Through his drip action technique, Pollock would create layers upon layers of paint, created in a chaotic assemblage of drips and splashes. Physicists have studied Pollock’s canvases, such as Lavender Mist, for fractals, which naturally occur out of chaos. Chaos is defined as an irregularity of motion or shape that naturally arises from deterministic forces (such as painting). Some art scientists, such as Richard Taylor, have determined that the more chaotic Pollock’s drippings became, the closer they resembled naturally occurring fractals, and that his chronologically later paintings displayed these characteristics more so than his earlier works, which were less chaotic.
When viewing this painting you can really see the artists self in his painting. You see his personality in the arcs and great sweeping gestures of the paint that he dripped and flung onto the canvas. He also left lateral traces of himself in his paintings from the hand prints that he pressed into his paintings.
Pollock uses mainly green, white, black and in some cases brown to give the painting an earthy appearance, further demonstrating on the idea of textual layers which are clearly presented to the viewer. The elements and principles Pollock uses here are colour, contrast, texture, emphasis and variety. The use of colour contributes to the overall effect of the painting which appears to be very earthy, atmospheric and relatively calm from the light of the whites to the intense streaks of striking black. Contrast is used here to balance the whole picture resulting in a flowing formation which Pollock was most prized and famed for. Texture in this piece is an important factor as well
