Make a Jackson Pollock Style Canvas Painting

Jackson Pollock invented a wonderful style of painting that is easy, expressive, fun, and looks very impressive.

Just follow his basic technique and end up with a painting you would be proud to hang on your wall. Work around the canvas from all angles, don't paint with a brush, and let the paint hit the canvas with expression.

Don't be afraid to make a bit of a mess or get paint on you. This is an expression of yourself, so don't let a few paint drips hold you back.

'Action painting' requires you to have the canvas on the ground so that you can work at it from all sides and angles.

This is also a technique with no room for formal brushes; get creative and use spoons, whisks, paint stirrers, and anything else you can find around.

I would recommend practicing with your tools to see the effects they make and what works better for you. After you get a good feel for controlling the paint, then its time to attack the canvas!

You can never go wrong with primary colors. I used black, white, red, yellow, blue and gray. I found all the paints in the discounted mis-tinted area of house paints in Walmart costing around $25. Feel free to experiment with your own choice in colors.

If you don't like how your painting is turning out, just keep working the canvas and creating more layers. Its hard to overwork it and you'll be amazed at how well the effects work together and make you feel like a professional artist! It can be hard to know when to stop, that's mostly up to the artist in you to decide. 

I ended up having more of a loose and active style while my brother ended up focusing more on layering thin ribbons of paint. Both turned out wonderful, so don't be afraid of what you end up with.

Go wild and give it a try, its a great way to let loose and have some fun while creating your own modern art.

Comments

[Frost5541]

Great 'ible! I want to try this for my IGCSE exams for art. can I?

[CrazyClever]

I would be delighted if you used this for your exams. good luck!

[twseeley]

Loved your project. Inspired me to share with my cub scouts.

[CrazyClever]

Thanks for the pictures, their paintings turned out great! It really looks like they had fun (of course its always fun to be allowed to throw paint). I hope they all hung them with pride :)

[foreverdisturbed]

I like how you covered everything around you with plastic. I have painted like this and it gets messy.

[CreativeGeek]

And getting messy is why painting like this is as fun as it is.

[foreverdisturbed]

It's a great way to get rid of some old paint too.

[CreativeGeek]

Use washable paint, like tempera, or acrylic craft paint or puffy paint, or even glitter glue, and it would be an awesome project to get the little ones involved in too, they'd love painting like this. :)

[foreverdisturbed]

My 9 year old and the kids we watch at our at home daycare love when I get the paints out for them. We have a big back yard so we can paint outside and get as messy as they want.

[CreativeGeek]

Epic! :D

[bmohr]

This looks like it was fun to do. The foot and shoe pictures are really great. I would frame them and and call them 'Art by the Foot.' I neat byproduct of the original project.

[CrazyClever]

great idea! Art creates art :)