Rorschach in art: Meet Alexander Warhol
Do you see what I see?
Two kissing sea horses?
or
The bodice of a designer dress?
What do you see?
Leave it to Andy Warhol to take the Rorschach test and turn it into a series of paintings. Leave it to Andy to command high prices for these simple, simplistic paintings. Hardly works of art, really. Or were they? Are they?
Analyze this!
In 1984, Warhol created this series specifically so that the paintings could be analyzed. "I was trying to do these to actually read into them and write about them, but I never really had the time to do that. So I was going to hire somebody to read into them, to pretend it was me, so that they'd be a little more . . . interesting."*
A bit bizarre, no?
Well, Rorschach painting is fun and entertaining. Kids of all ages love it. They love to see what a few strategically dots and smears will turn into. Alexander loves to paint, but easily gets frustrated because he can't draw anything decipherable and he tires easily of painting his random abstract object.
This afternoon he wanted to paint. He painted one picture and got bored. I always spend 20 minutes setting the art supplies up, only to have them used for less than 5 minutes. I then remembered the "Butterfly Painting" that Rebecca and I used to do when she was little. We called this "Butterfly Painting" because she always though her creations looked like colorful butterflies.
Two kissing sea horses?
or
The bodice of a designer dress?
What do you see?
Rorschach painting, Andy Warhol, 1984
Leave it to Andy Warhol to take the Rorschach test and turn it into a series of paintings. Leave it to Andy to command high prices for these simple, simplistic paintings. Hardly works of art, really. Or were they? Are they?
Analyze this!
In 1984, Warhol created this series specifically so that the paintings could be analyzed. "I was trying to do these to actually read into them and write about them, but I never really had the time to do that. So I was going to hire somebody to read into them, to pretend it was me, so that they'd be a little more . . . interesting."*
A bit bizarre, no?
Well, Rorschach painting is fun and entertaining. Kids of all ages love it. They love to see what a few strategically dots and smears will turn into. Alexander loves to paint, but easily gets frustrated because he can't draw anything decipherable and he tires easily of painting his random abstract object.
This afternoon he wanted to paint. He painted one picture and got bored. I always spend 20 minutes setting the art supplies up, only to have them used for less than 5 minutes. I then remembered the "Butterfly Painting" that Rebecca and I used to do when she was little. We called this "Butterfly Painting" because she always though her creations looked like colorful butterflies.
Artist's Supplies...
Alexander used these today, a Christmas gift from his aunt Jennifer.
Alexander's first painting...
Poodle in a Tutu?
Two Dancing Hens
Do you see what I see?
A Butterfly? Or Bumblebee?
What is it that you see?
The Artist at Work...
Lilly Pulitzer's Mask for the Pink and Green Masquerade Ball?
Wouldn't it be grand?
Or,
As Alexander sees it
An Alien Mask!
An Alien Mask!
The next time your kids are bored and you are looking for something to do, grab some paints, grab some brushes, even glitter glue. Make a pattern, or pour it randomly on a piece of paper, white or colored, then gently fold it in half, and gently press down to smooth out the paint, open it up and voila!
What kind of fun will you make today? Will you see what I see?
(When your done your children will naturally be starving after their creations. You'll have to try
Rebecca's Fruit Smoothies. They are absolutely divine!)