Week --Whatever, I've totally lost track

Today is a beautiful sunny day, and what better way to express my jubilation than sharing with you, my fine fellow classmates, the groovy illustrations of pop-icon Peter Max. I do not consider myself to be "into" tie-dye and the typical psychedelic schemes of 60s art, but somehow bright colors and rainbows pervade my clothing preferences and my artwork, so obviously that inspiration had to come from somewhere. I am usually more drawn to soft watercolors, washy, sketched looking pieces, realism and dreamy, beautiful people in artwork. Perhaps I'm drawn to what I don't really draw. And who knows why I draw why I do, but I have enjoyed Peter Max before and so here is a post exploring his groovyness.

So here is one piece.

And here, is another!



What I DO love about Max is his beautiful versatility. He can approach a flat, iconic, color-by-numbers shaded illustration with equal skill as this free, thick, painterly oil color. Max obviously lover colors and is not inhibited by any artistic "status quo", instead choosing to use all of them as he sees fit. He also uses curvilinear shapes in excess, makes round things even more exaggerated and soft whenever he can. His work is very very detailed, unquestionably over the top, but all working together and toned down just enough by some black spaces (such as the big expanses of clouds in the first piece, or the big circle of the sun in the second). These areas give the viewer a break from the ever moving highly detailed energy found everywhere else in the piece, letting your eyes rest for a moment and providing some much needed balance.