Artist Andy Warhol's new age visual art movement brought in splashes of vibrant hues which we refer to as Pop Art. Moving on from the canvas, pop art now inspires make-up artists
Many are swayed by the nudes and pastels trend! But this year, experiment with pop art, which had made its way into the fashion capitals of the world, both in london and New York, almost 50 years ago. One of the greatest artists of the genre is undoubtedly Andy Warhol with his Marilyn Monroe canvases and it is he who most people will immediately refer to when presented with the term pop art.
Pop art has certainly made a great impact and has influenced the fashion world for decades. In a pop art makeup trend, colour plays a vital role and often, in geometric patterns. In most cases pop art interacts with objects drawn from popular mass culture and everyday life. Very often you can find series of images with faces of famous people.
Pop art is a movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States. It presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising and news. In pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, and/or combined with unrelated material. The concept refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it and was considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of Post-modern art themselves.
When creating a Pop Art Makeup look, one would want to look like an adorable comic book character. lichtenstein’s heroines are generally used for inspiration and guidance to achieve this look.
Be it Drowning Girl, the M-Maybe Girl or the Ohhh! Alright Girl the comic book characters from Run for love are primary pop art icons.
These makeup looks are well known for the bold primary colours, exaggerated contours and lots of Ben-Day dots (a printing process which combines two or more different and small coloured dots to create a third colour). They are visually striking, fun to do and highly appreciated for a fashion project, a costume party or a Halloween party makeup. This way make up is fun to do and adds a creative touch. Some of the world’s leading pop-artists, such as Roy lichtenstein, Mondrian and Sonia Delaunay were the force behind a lot of collections. Circle motifs, bright colours and bold, intersecting stripes gave the runway an energetic vibe.
Today, pop art looks still inspire designers, architecture and runway couture. It is a new trend which is catching on. Instead of traditional rosy pink lips, pretty blushes and pastel eyes, adorn red hot lips, smoky shadows, and dramatic cat eye.
It’s addictive to add that extra drama when you go out on the weekends, and even more fitting for the party season! The pop art eye makeup trend has been seen at fashion shows of renowned international labels as well as makeup artists that use a mix and match technique to achieve bold and vibrant looks.
Many of them use bright pure pigments, swipes of lipstick and eye liner for creating wonders on the facial canvas.
How to achieve the right look:
Incorporating the pop art trend is very easy this season with the popularity of liquid and pen eyeliner. Create bold and graphic strokes to give your look an artistic edge — pair your graphic eye with a bright statement lip in colours like purple, orange and red.
(The author is lori leib, creative director, Bodyography)