Embrace the Mess: Passionate Painting with Pollock
Enjoy this messy and simple splatter art project with Jackson Pollock – the master of the mess. Where spontaneity meets color.
Best to choose a nice sunny day outside or a basement with tile that can be washed off. This gets messy!
Materials:
- Tarp or large paint cloth
- Tempura paints
- Plastic forks
- Toothbrushes
- Paintbrushes
- Large poster paper or sheet of paper
- Paper or plastic plates
The Lesson:
- Lay out a large paint cloth or sheet that can get paint on it.
- Place a large poster sheet of paper across it (preferably 4-6 feet long or more depending)
- Set up plate or plates with various bright colors (we used primarily yellows, blues and greens)
- Dip forks and paint brushes in the piles of paint and “throw” or “splatter” on the paper at various angles and heights.
- To get a more drip look, use the forks for a thin splat look.
- To get a thicker drop/pour look, use the paint brushes.
At the end when most of the paint was gone and everyone was a mess, my creative middle child mixed the remaining globs of paint on the plate and “dumped” or “poured” the paint in swirls over the painting. It looked awesome!
The Result: A Messy Masterpiece!
Resources:
The Art Book for Children – a book full of art through time. Gives great examples of artists – including Pollock. A short and concise explanation with some art examples.
Action Jackson is a fun and short kid-friendly story of Pollock’s creativity and life. It gives a young-audience version of Jackson’s life and how he created his iconic splatter paintings.
Fun Kid Video on Jackson Pollock:
Wild Facts for Older Students:
- Jackson Pollock was a bit of a wild child – he was the youngest of many brothers and misbehaved.
- He got easily bored with anything and everything. Always trying something new.
- One day he dumped paint on a canvas while fixing a light and voila!
- He married a woman who was much older and wealthier to “fund” his creativity.
- He had many illicit affairs with women (that his wife didn’t seem to care about)
- He drank and smoked a lot. He drank so much that he often went into rehab facilities.
- He died young because he got drunk with a mistress and drove over a cliff. Yikes!
While Jackson Pollock paintings are not for all, he was a defining artist of the modern century. His drip and splatter paint style paved the way for many more emerging modern and abstract artists in the years to come.