Assignment 5a: Re-imagining Visual Framing

Roy Lichtenstein’s “Drowning Girl” is a beautiful piece. Slightly sarcastic, the picture shows a drowning girl while the thought bubble reads: I don’t care! I’d rather sink -- than call Brad for help! 

I enjoy this pop art piece because of its serious, sad subject matter mixed with the ironic caption. The lines of the water create a lot of movement within the piece. It demands attention from the eyes to follow the lines and land on the face of the drowning woman. The imposing lines create tension in the viewer, who cannot find release until his or her eyes focus on the clear areas of the girl’s face.

The visual intensity of the piece also creates drama. Blues and blacks are the dominating colors, and create affinity within the frame. The extreme contract of the light blue and the black streaks in the water make those specific parts of the composition most pleasing to look at because they are pleasing on the eye. However, all the lines point lead to the girl’s head. The viewer focuses in on the face of the girl because the dark blue and black in her hair are too close in hue and difficult to concentrate on. The girl’s hair also creates a circular shape, and further brings our eye in to focus on the tears leaking from the girl’s eyes.  

I reframed the picture to focus more on the girl’s pain and exclude the ironic thought bubble. However, with the lack of motion in the surrounding water, much of Lichtenstein’s effect is lost. No surprise here that in this artistic race of Lichtenstein vs. me, Lichtenstein wins hands down.