apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've seen similar work by Claes Oldenburg. However, they would cost many thousands of dollars. You may just want to take a Japanese brush class and make your own similar paintings in the spirit of DIY month.

I couldn't tell you who painted these- but I would recommend that you just buy some black paint and do it yourself!

This would be a super-easy DIY project.
1. Buy some really cool paper with a ragged edge. Or go really simple and cut off large pieces of white butcher paper (this has a cool sheen to it anyhow)
2. Buy simple poster frames (in this case, with a black edge)
3. Buy cream or neutral colored matting (a full sheet) to fit exactly into the frames.
4. Buy black acrylic paint. You may want to thin it a bit to achieve all of the smearing.
5. Cut your paper to the correct size- should be several inches smaller on all sides than the frame. These paintings have a diagonal edge at the bottom.
4. Have at it with the paint- use a brush, your hands, splatter it, have fun.
5. Allow it to dry, then mount it to the matt board using double sided tape (or better yet, those styrofoam-ish squares that stick on both sides- they're used for scrapbooking, and would "lift" the painting off the matt a bit). Mount it only at the top so that it hangs at the bottom. Just make sure that you measure first so that it's centered correctly.
6. Put it in your frame.
7. Hang it, and enjoy the cheapest art ever.

it looks a little bit like Franz Kline (American abstract expressionist, from the 40's and 50's)

I agree that it's an easy DIY - but I'd use rice paper and traditional indigo ink and chinese or japanese calligraphy brushes.

You could even get a stamp "Chop" made and stamp the bottom corner in red ink and your friends might think it was a piece of rare Asian art!

you people sound really uneducated: "take a japanese/chinese calligraphy class and voila! you got instant art on par with the "asian paintings" (as if ALL of asian art looks the same)" would you say the same thing about a western artist?

I was thinkinf Franz Kline, too...
It's an easy DIY if you're artistically inclined, but not everyone is. That's like looking at abstract art and saying "my 5 year old could do that!".

Uuugh thats pretty much what my sister felt about an Andrew Laporte painting hanging in my office worth at least $10K, she said "Oh I could paint that?" and I said "Really? and sell it for 30K as well?"

The funny thing is, is as "basic" as it looks, there is so much more to it that people with an untrained eye do not see. I hate to get all art-critic-lame but its the use of color and shape and context and contrast etc etc etc to convey emotion and to bring out a response from the viewer that frankly not just anyone especially someone who is not an artist, can do.

But that doesn't mean spending a fortune on art either. I have my eye on a painting that is $400 by a very new emerging artist who just landed gallery representation for the first time, fresh out of art school and his work is incredible.

Andrie, not Andrew.

I should also mention that most of the art in my own residence is my own, so I am very much a DIY person, but I don't try to replicate a master, its just not going to work.

oh, I've heard many people say "all those impressionists/cubists/abstract expressionists etc. look the same."

that said, there's no evidence these are asian at all. while black ink brush stroke work does have a long history in japan and china, and that technique may have inspired these, they're clearly modern works that could have been made anywhere in the world.

if you want to try it yourself I would recommend using india ink (inexpensive in any art store, starts very opaque and glossy but can be thinned with water for some transparency, and dries quickly). however, I would reallly not fake a stamp. innocent though your intentions may be, that's pretty insulting and culturally insensitive. would you fake a picasso signature on your child's artwork because you think they look the same? sign it youself instead and be proud of what you made!

sorry - i can't ID the artist.

agree with not faking the stamp. but let your inner artist out and at least give it a try. start with the artwork and if you like how it turns out - buy frames.

I too thought of Franz Kline, although there are a LOT of local artists messing with the same basic concept, and even David Bromstad on Color Splash once did a canvas that way on tv, so it is really hard to tell who did these.

I have to say, though, even though I have an undergrad degree in art and I have been trained to be more educated than some folks about what constitutes "worthwhile" art, I tend to agree that some categories like this one and Jackson Pollock and other valued and expensive collectible artists -- can be mimiced successfully by amateurs. (Frankly, there is a whole category of art I might argue is one big conceptual joke!) (My opinion, only, of course!) So if you want to DIY this type of non-representational art, why not try.

That said, my Mom once yammered at me about "any kid could do that", so I gave her a watercolor set (stacking the deck -- watercolor is the most difficult paint to control!) and let her try -- she got real quiet about abstract art after she tried to prove HER point! (Yes, I was a brat!)

And calligraphy really IS something that depends on brush handling and skill -- amateur brushwork doesn't have the lyrical thick and thin quality of skilled craftsmanship. It is easy to tell the difference.

Sherry that is really funny about your mom, you are sort of evil...I like!

Wow, I am really surprised by the negative response to my suggestion and austinjohn's- Isn't this DIY month?

I have a fine arts education and have worked in the art world- I resent the implication that I'm an untrained eye or an idiot for suggesting the obvious here. Clearly very few of us can be artists by profession- and we certainly can't imitate the works of the masters.

However, these are very simple works, and I don't see any evidence to suggest that they are by an Asian calligrapher. If you want something to be emotionally evocative- make a memory and make it yourself if you're able.

Expensive, well-known art (in the abstract vein of the one this post shows) reminds me of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Emperor's New Clothes". Consumers of this type of art must defend that it is in fact special and difficult to reproduce to convince themselves that the high cost is justified. Sorry Basel wanna-bes, the emperor is totally nude, and the jokes on you.

So mradula should follow shockthebourgeois's GREAT directions and get creating!!!! And definitly put your signature on it, be pround of the ART you made.

Whenever people I'm with say "I could have done that!", I say, "Why didn't you?"

Franz Kline. You should be able to find reproductions. DIY would also be fun. No need to copy. Calligraphy brushes come in different widths, India ink has a luscious quality, just put on some music you enjoy and play.

regarding whether or not abstract art can be replicated: so much of art is about timing. many things the average person can make, (for example, painting a canvas black like "carre noir"), if they're only going for vague aethetic similarities for their decor. but often, what is perceived as 'simple' art was revolutionary because of the period and context in which is was made. obviously a black square or a signed urinal wouldn't have the same impact on the art world today. and yes, some art does have a lot of subtlety that's very difficult to reproduce without a great amount of technical skill, but not all art does, so others may be able to easily make their own version. whether this version is 'lesser' is certainly a matter of opinion.

the real question is: what defines an artist? you said, msjessie, that someone who is not an artist just can't do some things, which negates the idea that anyone who creates art is an artist. so what does make an artist? is it intent? skill level? notariety?

what is sadly often the case is that people try to read much more into pieces when they recognize a name, sometimes to the point of seeing things that aren't there, and refusing to make the same effort for an unknown artist, potentially missing some of the intended depth. (example: someone assuming 'asian' brushstroke art is simplistic because they're unfamiliar with it, but drooling over the complexity of a rothko because they know they 'should'.) just because a piece of art is 'amateur' doesn't mean it's worthless, and likewise, just because it has a name attached doesn't mean it's unique.

the main point is to have art in your house that you personally enjoy. if you see a lot of depth in it, even if you made it yourself, that's great. if you could care less about art theory, that's fine, too. buy/make art that satisfies what is important to you.

(and similarly, nazrd, I usually reply, "But you didn't.")

i love the way how all of these home/ interior design/ lifestyle websites have discussions about art...it really is hilarious!!!

i love the "lay-art" person!!! pure comedy!!!!

I have this image in my inspiration folder as well and I'd be interested to know who the artist is. Even though I have trained as a painter and made other kinds of work for my own home, I wouldn't attempt to DIY this kind of ink drawing myself. All art snobbery aside, it really is quite sophisticated and difficult.

Good quality large deckle edge paper is expensive ($30-40 per sheet, if I recall correctly) and ink (as opposed to just any old 'black paint') is one of the least forgiving media. Brush technique to get that dimensional quality made by varying pressure and those haphazard seeming drips and splatters takes years to master, not to mention the talent and eye to know when mastery has been achieved. So I'm going to practice on newsprint with charcoal to see if I can evoke some of the feeling and energy of these pieces. It's less expensive and I can erase when I make a mistake.

In the end, I hope I will take the inspiration from these drawings (or 'marks' as my drawing teacher would say) and make something of my own that means more to me, and perhaps to other observers, than an attractive way to fill up some wall space.

I think this is one of the funniest post ever. I have a two Rauschenberg's and yes doing a colage is quit easy but it just never looks or comes close to my Rauschenbergs.

Maybe the poster would really like to know who the artist is because she likes the work and wants to check out other pieces or maybe she is interested in buying a piece. Or she maybe naive that this is real art and it will cost a lot but I think suggesting taking some markers and doing it yourself is very funny.

Just because you can type the same words as, say, Hemingway doesn't make you a writer.

Just because you can drag a brush across a cavvas doesn't make you Franz Kline.

Just because you can paint a canvas white doesn't make you Malevich.

Miles Davis once said that anyone can make a single note sound sound good, but only a musician can make two notes sing.

Abstract artists aren't difficult to copy, the difference is Kline and Rauschenberg and Rothko were original. Coming up with something original is the challenge - but if you don't care about that, go at it, no one is going to mistake your diy for a priceless masterpiece anyways, you're making art to match your decor. Sumi ink is what I would recommend to get this effect.

I used to get so mad at Trading Spaces when, like, Frank would make "abstract art" out of some copper pipes and chicken stamps or whatever, now I find it hilarious. You'll be happiest with your result if you keep it simple. (And don't mush your colours together like so many TS home "artists".)

"but if you don't care about that, go at it, no one is going to mistake your diy for a priceless masterpiece anyways, you're making art to match your decor"

Now that is even funnier.. this just keeps getting better.

waaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh go cry about it...

Those are really good paintings. Are you sure they are Klines?

I don't think any Japanese person would say they could mimic a calligraphy master just because they could pick up a brush and write a character. Good art, but especially abstract art, requires great skill to make, and a connoisseur's eye to appreciate.