modern artistic movements of the 20th century. Jackson Pollack’s and his method of action painting

I have to some extent become almost obsessed with Jackson Pollack’s work and his method of action painting, which, much to my surprise I did not anticipate. That is not to say that I am a big fan of this style of drips and splash painting.  Far from it.. Its much more that I did not expect to find that such a degree of control and planning is required in this particular painting technique.  I must admit that I had always seemed to consider that such an apparently simple means of applying paint would be simple and straight forward requiring little skill, thought or consideration.

I had formally believed that such a simplistic approach would on accidental occasions produce work that could be considered of value. However I now understand that to paint in such a way needs control, consideration and planning to produce and execute abstract expressionist paintings that can be fully appreciated and understood. I feel this has enhanced the value that Jackson Pollack and others have added to the modern artistic movements of the 20th century. This movement has produced paintings that we can all realize have redefined modern and abstract art for the benefit of artists and art lovers all over the world.   


I had set myself a challenge with this style of abstract expressionist painting by limiting myself to painting on such a small scale of 9 x 9 inches.  Pollack’s painting are often on a large scale even his early works and sketches are somewhat larger than this, being painted on larger sheets of brown paper like you would use to wrap parcels and such a like.  In these he used limited colours of black, white and ochre’s ( yellow and red) with the occasional use of blue in drips, splashes, smudges and marks. 

Perhaps Jackson used brown paper because it was cheep and plentiful, which might well be true. However the contrasts that such a surface provided, to my mind enhanced these early studies and after some consideration I decided to explore this by using a coloured surface myself. Lacking at the time large sheets of brown paper I chose to pre-paint the area with Yellow ochre mixed with white creating a patchy and broken finish that I could then create my image on. Using w a wooden coffee stirrer  with a mixed black acrylic paint I loosely made a number of marks and drips before making the flicks and twists across the painting. I had made a decision to make these in a linier fashion as an attempt to contrast with the circular motif.  

#26 acrylic paint on paper 9 x 9 inches approx

paint splattered dripped and applied to paper

Like my previous studies in to this particular painting technique ( #21 or #22 ) or with any other style and methods of abstract expressionist painting it is a liberating experience that is as much about self discovery as it is about painting. Freeing the mind and allowing the paint to flow in ways that are difficult to describe. I often feel that as an artist I am left to consider these effects, rather than create them. However this is not the whole truth, as whilst in the act of painting you are making conscious and subconscious decisions about the direction that the piece will follow as does the paint, seemingly by its own volition the paint ends up just where you desired. 

This seemingly random action on reflection is not as random as you might think. That being the case, it poses far deeper questions about the will, purpose and influence that we as individuals can excerpt on the world around us and the paint we flick around.


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