Category Archives: Design

Famous Pop Art Paintings

The pop art movement is something that can be easily identified even though there are no strict definitions as to what a pop art should look like. There are groups whose efforts somehow help sustain the presence of pop art at present, even in the midst digital art and memes. If you are still unfamiliar with how pop art looks like, go over the following famous pop art paintings below.

Flag by Jasper Johns

Flag by Jasper Johns

This encaustic painting was created when Johns was around 24 years old, roughly two years after he came out of the US Army. It is arguably his most famous work. Measuring over a meter in length and around a meter and a half in width, this creation shows the three colors of the flag and 48 white stars (sans Alaska and Hawaii since this was created between 1954-1955). What’s unique about this work is the ambiguity of whether it is a painting of a flag or a painted flag. Johns claims that it is both. The Flag was created using oil paint, encaustic, and newsprint on three separate canvasses. It was among John’s first solo exhibition at the Leo Castelli Gallery in the year 1958.

Still Life #30 by Tom Wesselmann

Still Life by Tom Wesselmann

Still Life #30 is one of the series of mixed media creations of Tom Wesselmann, an American artist associated with pop art. It was created using a combination of painting, sculpture and collage. The collage component of this work is actually made of commercial labels found by Wesselmann on the streets. It features a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln, a red star, television set, and fruits and a pair of wine bottles on a table with blue and white stripes. This work is unmistakably American with its theme and colors.

Campbell’s Soup Cans by Andy Warhol

Campbell’s Soup Cans by Andy Warhol

Also known as 32 Campbell’s Soup Cans, this work by Warhol is currently displayed at the Museum of Modern Art consisting of 32 canvases, It was created using synthetic polymer paint on canvas – one canvas for each can. The painting process used is referred to as a mechanized screen printing process that uses a non-painterly style. With the obvious canned soup subject, this work shouts pop art through and through. At the time this work was released, it initially offended art critics mainly for its commercialism and its apparent intention to insult the philosophy of abstract expressionism.

Three Machines by Wayne Thiebaud

Three Machines by Wayne Thiebaud

Now displayed at De Young Museum, this oil on canvas work exemplifies Thiebaud’s inclination to painting food and sweets in rows using bright colors, as influenced by his experience in working at cake and bread shops during his younger years. It is said that he loved seeing delicious food lined up neatly and perfectly in rows. Three Machines is a painting of three fully loaded gumball machines.

Drowning Girl by Roy Lichtenstein

Drowning Girl by Roy Lichtenstein

Drowning Girl is regarded as one of the foundations of Roy Lichtenstein’s art works. It is also known as “Sacred Hearts” and “I Don’t Care I’d Rather Sink.” Despite looking like a comic page (with the thought bubble and illustration style), this was actually created using oil and synthetic polymer. It is also not comic-sized as its length and width measure 171.6 cm and 169.5 cm respectively. Some have criticized Lichtenstein for doing this kind of work as they mentioned how the artist appears to have just merely copied already existing original work, without even providing attributions or corresponding compensation to the original comic book artists.

Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol

Marilyn Diptych by Andy Warhol

This is a silk screen painting using acrylic on canvas created some weeks after Marilyn Monroe died. It features 50 images of Monroe, all based on one publicity photograph for the 1953 movie Niagara. In the painting, 25 of the images on the left side are brightly colored while the other half to the right are in monochrome. This has been interpreted as a reflection of Marilyn Monroe’s life and death. This painting, according to an article in The Guardian, is said to be the third most influential piece of modern art (based on a survey of 500 artists and art critics).

How To Design Your Home The Easy Way

Home design is not something everyone can do—or at least not something everyone can do properly. Of course any thinking person has the ability to produce designs but these designs are not necessarily useful, practical, and beautiful. Nevertheless, it is possible to learn some guidelines on how to design your home the easy way. Just go over the discussions below.

Home Designing

What You Need to Prepare

Before you can proceed to designing your home, you need to prepare a few things. First, you have to have an idea of what you want. You can get design inspiration by going over ideas and photos online. There are many sites devoted to home designing that can provide useful details and visuals. The next thing to do is to get your home’s measurements. You can’t proceed to creating a realistic design or plan if you don’t have the actual details of your home’s dimensions. Lastly, you have to come up with a budget plan.

How much will you be willing to spend for the project? Obviously, you will need to shell out some considerable amount of money. You can’t just create a design without considering the corresponding expenses. The choice of materials and extent of creativity you are allowed have to be based on a budget plan. You may need to do some research for this. It is possible to do the design first before coming up with a budget to cover the necessary expenses but the consequent need to do adjustments may just become tedious and frustrating. It’s usually better to work on a budget than to adjust designs after realizing that you don’t have enough funds to realize the design you have created.

Using a Design Software

To make the designing process significantly easier, you can use design software tools. In this age of computers, smartphones, and tablets, it only makes sense relying on software in creating home designs easily. There are many software tools readily available for creating home designs. It is also fairly easy to learn how to use them. If you can use the Microsoft Office suite or Adobe’s Photoshop, you should be able to easily learn how to use these software. The following are some great design software great for beginners:

Home Designer Suite – This design software features advanced functions for designing and remodeling entire houses or specific sections like bathrooms, kitchens, decks, or landscapes. There are more than 1,500 sample plans pre-installed with it. It comes with a user-friendly interface and is capable of generating 3D views of projects.

IMSI TurboFLOORPLAN Home and Landscape Pro – This software is great for beginners but it also offers CAD tools and other more powerful functions to serve the needs of more advanced users. It is designed to be easy to learn and use.

Punch – A home design suite, Punch! provides great functions that make it easy to work not only with simple home designs but also complex design needs such as those of electricity and plumbing.

SketchUp – A freeware created by Google, SketchUp is a light 3D design and modeling software tool. It may take some time learning how to use it and to adequately familiarize with the interface and functions, but it is certainly worth it.

DesignWorkshop Lite – This is another free home design software. It enables the creation of 3D models of buildings and landscapes. It also comes with tutorials and sample building models to guide those who may have a hard time figuring out its functions.

Aside from these desktop software, there are also smartphone and tablet apps for home design. These mobile applications can provide the advantage of being usable anywhere. Some even include the option to take photos that can be integrated with the design. Some of these apps are Home Design: Dream House, My Dream Home Interior Design, Houzz Interior Design Ideas, and Homestyle Interior Design. There are many other apps you can find in the Google Play store and Apple app store (iTunes) so be sure to check them out to get the right design app for your needs.

Reminders

Designing your own home is not something you can just do whimsically. You also have to follow some safety standards, especially as you design the placement of electric wirings. Inquire about building safety regulations in your city. Bear in mind that you are designing the place where you will live. You certainly don’t want to make that place somewhere unsafe for you and your family. Also, if you are not confident with the design you come up with, ask for insights and advice from experts. Moreover, be sure to carefully choose the software you will be using. The home design software is your key to quickly and easily creating a design plan so pick something that is comfortable to use, intuitive, and preferably free.