Jackson Pollock lived a very short life, but in that short time he became widely known. In his early works he started with abstract paintings. Trying all different types of medias. Mostly oil painting on canvas. He started his painting career in 1929. He was educated at the Art Student League in New York. Where he was influenced by Mexican muralist painters. He was also influenced my certain aspects of surrealism. It was not until the mid 1940's when Pollock began his study of abstract paintings. Where he started his more famous style of painting; he used the technique of drip painting. But with each artist their is a start to fame and Jackson is no different. He first started working for the government in a program called WPA (work progress administration). With Jackson doing this work for the government he provided with income. But unfortunately some of his paintings were lost over the years. So there are not that many painting for the viewers to see. All the paintings that still remain are influenced my Native Americans. Jackson Pollock painted from myths and his dreams. He was influenced in his early works by Joan Miro and Pablo Picasso. This is where he started his focus on surrealism. But for a long time Jackson was working with Mexican muralist David Alfaro Siquerios. Where Jackson first used a pouring and flinging paint to achieve spontaneous effect. Pollock soon changed his focus to what most people know him for, which is his drip style paintings.
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pollock/
Later- Works
Pollock was the master mind of creating new things. In 1946-47 he moved his canvas from hanging on walls to working on the ground. He made great improvements by doing this because he could really get into the painting. He could get into all four sides. He said that there were no mistakes in his work that everything happened for a reason and was left to be there. Pollock also talked about there being no beginning or no end. He was always in control with his work. Although, it does not seem like he is because of the drip look to his work, but he was. Some of the materials that Jackson used within his paintings was: broken glass, sand, string etc. Jackson felt that his paintings were expressions of feelings rather than impressions. Research has shown that he sand idea came from the Native Americans that he was influenced by within his early works. So although is style has changed greatly over time he still went with first techniques. One of the techniques that Pollock used to control his drip style was to use a stick instead of a brush. Almost all of his paintings were done this way. Pollock felt that the floor was the best canvas because it felt like home rather than work. So to him it was more natural. Pollock also gave himself a very limited palette of: white, black, gold and red. Pollock also did all his work within a barn instead of a studio because of the way that he would fling paint from place to place. He needed an area that he could be comfortable to create his masterpieces. So the barn was the best place for him to accomplish his work. Unfortunately, Jackson Pollock did not live a full life. August 11, 1956 our daring artist was killed in a car accident, due to drinking and driving. Pollock was only 44 years old when he died. So if he was still alive how would his work be today? That is something we will never know, but he did make an impression on many different people all around the world. But he left his fans with an unfinished canvas and lots of questions.
Kassey Decker
http://naples.cc.sunysb.edu/cas/pkhouse.nsf/pages/pollock
