The Brilliant creative team blog

Upon my weekly browse of design blogs and illustration websites I found a website dedicated to the works of Roy Lichtenstein. His work has always inspired me to draw in a way I feel comfortable and not to follow the latest trends.

Within seconds of landing on the site Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein I was greeted with a showcase of over 60 examples of Lichtensteins work opposite the original works by artist’s such as Jack Kirby (DC Comics), Jerry Grandenetti and Russ Heath (Men at War).

I had always been aware that Lichtenstein had used reference for his artwork but with much of it looking very similar to the original, I couldn’t help but wonder how it had been allowed to happen...

I don’t enjoy jumping to conclusions, it happens, but there are plenty of points that this particular website fails to mention. I have always believed that Lichtensteins work was a concept; at the time no one was creating such new art, not to mention the massive difference in scale between the original and the artwork so although the reference was copied the context was unique.

Whether I truly believe this or not is another matter, I found a quote via Wikipedia which sums the argument up nicely; "Lichtenstein did no more or less for comics than Andy Warhol did for soup."