Robert Indiana
Iconic Pop Artist
"Some people like to paint trees," he said.
"I like to paint love. I find it more
meaningful than painting trees.”
Robert Indiana The Rainbow HOPE
Silkscreen on Canvas, 2009
Robert Indiana HOPE (Red/Violet)
Painted Aluminum sculpture, 2008
Robert Indiana. He was a painter, sculptor, and graphic design artist.
He was born Robert Clark in New Castle, Indiana on September 13th, 1928. He
loved everyday symbols along roadside America that he saw as a child growing
up in Indianapolis. Examples like “Route 66”, “EAT” at roadside diners, gas
station signs, etc. inspired him in his later art work.
He created geometric art like the examples you see here. Robert Clark
adopted the name of his native state and became known as Robert Indiana.
His art work gave new meaning to familiar everyday words such as eat, love,
and hope.
Since our Onomatopoeia project was based on Pop art, you can probably
identify Indiana is a Pop artist.
Let’s review… Pop art was and is an art movement that emerged in the 1950s.
Pop art was and is characterized by themes and techniques drawn from
popular mass culture, such as advertising, comic books, everyday objects, and
popular people.
COULD YOU GUESS THAT . . .
…Robert Indiana was born in Indiana? His parents' last name was "Clark." When he
changed his name, Robert Indiana was finding another way to show how important words
are to him.
…a lot of his childhood was spent along busy highways? Indiana remembers the neon signs
and game machines from the roadside restaurants where his mother worked, and he puts
their shapes into his artwork. He also likes to use the colors of his father's gasoline-company
truck—red and green—with the blue and white of the sky and clouds behind it.
…he found some old brass letter stencils when he moved his art studio into an old
warehouse? The stencils inspired him to use words in his paintings, and he likes painting
letters that look as if they've been printed.
…Robert Indiana thinks that most people never stop to think about how beautiful words
and numbers are? He said that he thinks his job as an artist is "…to make words and
numbers very, very special."
Love, NYC, 1966
We will be creating a small painting using water color in the style of Robert Indiana
The Main Objective or WHY are we creating this painting?
To appreciate the creation and style of art through history
AND….
To learn the following concepts of COLOR THEORY.
TINT
SHADE
TONE
COMPLEMENTARY
TINT - a tint is the mixture of a color with
white, which increases lightness
PURE COLOR
WHITE
TINT
SHADE - a shade is the mixture of a color
with black, which increases darkness
PURE COLOR
Black
SHADE
TONE – a tone is the mixture of a color with
grey.
PURE COLOR
Grey
(mixture of white
and black)
Tone
Let’s Begin!
Thumbnail….
1. Decide your WORD from this list - Life, Hope, Love, Calm, Luck, Live
2. On your thumbnail paper, using a ruler create SQUARES.
3. Practice drawing your letters in Clarendon Condensed font style to FILL squares.
4. Get approval and help from Ms. Strattan AFTER all your letters for your chosen word are
drawn and represent your best effort.
Final Draft…
1. Get Watercolor Paper from Ms. Strattan and WRITE YOUR NAME ON IT.
2. Find the middle (@4 ½ Inches) and draw a line both ways. You must make multiple
measurements to be sure your line is straight and boxes are equal.
3. Draw your letters LIGHTLY with pencil
4. Decide which color scheme will go where…visualize it first!
5. One the back, label each quad with color scheme. I will check this to see if you painted
it correctly.
Color Schemes
TINT – 1 Color + Tint
SHADE – 1 Color+ Shade
TONE – 1 Color + Tone
Complementary – Red and Green, Blue and Orange, Violet and Yellow
Examples: PAY ATTENTION TO SPACING! If you need a different letter reference,
please get one! The font style is Clarendon Condensed in BOLD
Note Equal
space on both
sides of letter
C EP
AFKL
M IV H U
Note Equal
space on both
sides of letter