Marilyn Monroe
- Jamie Lawrence
- Jun 3, 2020
- 2 min read
Most of the time whilst studying art I wouldn't really enjoy the assignments. I've always found it hard to funnel creativity through the lens of what somebody else wants you to do, and if the subject matter doesn't ignite your passion, then why bother right? I mean, it's a lot of work! Commissions are obviously different as there tends to be an appreciation for the artist's individual style right from the get-go.
This however, represents possibly my favourite assignment whilst completing GCSE art: "create an image out of torn up newspaper". I remember dreading how I would go about it. Often the gap between what you want to create and what you think you're capable of creating is so vast and daunting that the biggest hurdle is shrugging off the self-doubt! The best course of action is to essentially break the process down into smaller problems that you can solve. Once you start solving each problem it can be difficult to stop!
Film-stars don't come much more iconic than Marilyn Monroe, whose Pop-Art images are possibly as famous as she was. We have Andy Warhol to thank for those. I can still remember scouring the web for newspaper samples that I could background-fill with my desired colours. I then drew the rough outline on the page and tore the coloured newspaper samples up and set about making the pieces fit my jigsaw/collage. Once the pieces were all in place I drew the image back over the top. The pen I used must have been so strong as Marilyn's ghostly image seemed to burn through to every page of my sketchbook! My art teachers were incredibly tough to impress but this piece secured me full marks.
Again I've experimented with PRISMA, but the original image is very much as I wanted it.
The print I use to show the original is available on Amazon by someone called Mc Gaw, however I'm not 100% sure what I would have as an original over 15 years ago. Their print is available here:
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