Jackson Pollock's unique painting style

What Medium AND Materials did Jackson Pollock Paint With?

American painter Jackson Pollock is best known for his explosive “drip” or “action” paintings, in which he would pour and throw paint over his canvases while they lay strewn over his studio floor. His paintings are mesmerising webs of layered and tangled paint that their viewer can almost lose themselves in.

But what material or medium did he used to create his striking paintings? Was there a certain type of paint he used that lent itself to being poured in this way? Below I discuss some of the different types of paints and materials that he used over the course of his career and throughout his signature drip painting period.

Jackson Pollock used a variety of paint types to produce his famous ‘drip’ paintings; often combining multiple types of paint within a singular painting. Pollock also used various other materials within his artworks, including pebbles, sand, wire, cigarette butts, nails, coins, buttons, keys and even paint tube lids.

If all he was doing was pouring layers of the stuff onto his canvases, though, why exactly did Jackson Pollock choose to use different types of paint?

Jackson Pollock’s paint preferences

The wide range of paints that Jackson Pollock created his drip paintings with included oil paint, resin-based synthetic enamel paint known as alkyd enamels, and various other commercial and industrial paints including household wall paint, aluminium paint and more.

It seems that Pollock took a pragmatic approach to his choice of materials; often favouring large volumes of household wall paint due to its affordability (after all, he spent much of his career not being flush with cash) and fluidity. Duco, Devoe and Reynolds were said to be his favourite brands of household paint. He was also seemingly open to using whatever he could get his hands on and had available at the time. It was also likely that he used multiple types of paint alongside each other for artistic purposes, to produce interesting contrasts between the different finishes of the paint types.

Pollock was never explicit about his exact types of paint used and why; instead often merely saying he liked using ‘liquid’ and ‘flowing’ paint. He is not thought to have painted, however, with acrylic paints, at least not in their conventional form and composition we see today, which were not invented until the 1950s (although today’s acrylic paint may have been developed from some of the synthetic, resin-based paints he did use).

Pollock also sometimes experimented with sealing his paintings with ‘Rivit’ glue, or sometimes applying this to the canvas first, as a sort of primer before the paint went down. He was not thought to have varnished his paintings as such (which is sometimes seen as the reason why some of his paintings nowadays show signs of cracking on the surface).

He also applied his paints using a wide range of tools and techniques, so it is likely that he developed an intuitive feel for the different qualities contained within each paint, and how to use each to convey the desired effect or emotion within the painting.

Jackson Pollock with his paints

What other materials did Jackson Pollock use in his paintings?

Buried within the layers of paint, several of Jackson Pollock’s drip paintings also contain items such as stones, pebbles, sand, cigarette butts, matches, metal meshed wire broken glass, string, nails, thumbtacks, buttons, coins, keys and even paint tube lids! This is a lesser-known feature of Pollock’s paintings and adds to the chaotic effect of his creations.

Full Fathom Five, one of his first drip paintings from 1947, is one of the pieces to contain a large volume of industrial household items and other such junk. Quite how or why such items found their way into this painting remains up for speculation; they don’t seem to add any explicit value or meaning to the finished result, and Pollock was never one for discussing any deep meaning to his paintings.

Other – more natural – materials that Pollock would occasionally incorporate between the layers of paint included sand, stones and pebbles. Perhaps these were deliberately used to convey a more earthly side to his works – again this is up for debate and only adds to the mystique surrounding his drip paintings.

Number 29, 1950 was a painting in which he blended pebbles and sand with string, coiled and meshed wire, which were laid down first before being held in place by the layers of different paints layered over the top (interestingly, this piece was actually painted on glass, for the purpose of allowing a videographer to film the process from underneath the painting; the incredible footage can be watched on YouTube).

What surfaces did Jackson Pollock paint on?

Jackson Pollock painted on different surface types throughout the drip painting phase of his career, including wood, fibreboard, Masonite (on both the smooth and rough sides at different times), gesso-board, glass and tin. In addition to the different types of paint he would use, this variety of surfaces indicates the artistic curiosity of someone striving to really master their field and gain a complete understanding of all the materials at their disposal.

What other types of art did Jackson Pollock do apart from painting?

Jackson Pollock produced drawings and other works on paper with materials including pencils, crayons, watercolour, pastel, ink, gouache, tempera, enamel and chalk, in addition to his paintings and particularly early-on in his career. Experiencing such a wide range of media likely helped Pollock to master such a delicate, expert feel for his paints and other materials in the peak years of his career.

Camp With Oil Rig by Jackson Pollock
Jackson Pollock’s style and use of materials evolved drastically over his career

While it is often easily forgotten that Pollock didn’t discover his signature ‘drip’ technique until the back-end of his career in the mid- to late-1940s, like many artists he went through many other artistic phases and used many other materials and media throughout his life.

What are my action portraits painted with?

My own, By Kerwin range of Jackson Pollock-inspired action painted portrait are all handpainted with acrylic paint on canvas. Acrylic is a very practical type of paint that is both fast-drying and vibrant in colour and finish. It is also relatively affordable compared to oil paints or other types of paint. As acrylic is a water-based paint, this can also be diluted and thinned with water (I used filtered water for the purest result) and other extender mediums to reach the desired consistency ready for throwing.

I haven’t (so far!) incorporated any industrial items or bits of metal in my paintings.

The Who painting in progress | By Kerwin
Behind the scenes of a By Kerwin painting

I have also previously mixed some of my acrylic layers with gloss medium (for a transparent, glassy effect) or with iridescent medium (for a metallic effect). However, these make it harder to photograph my paintings ready to turn them into print-quality versions; unlike the usual matte finish that standard acrylic paint gives. As my main business model for By Kerwin is print editions, I have to balance how much of a metallic or gold finish I give to my paintings. While the metallic effects look amazing when viewed in person at exhibitions, the trade-off is a harder time when ‘flattening’ the metallic layers and reducing the reflection of my studio lights in post-production after photographing.

Some of my portraits have been finished with golf leaf

Some of my paintings also feature super heavy gel medium, which is what gives some of the faces a 3D texture to raise them off the canvas (Stevie Wonder, Biggie, Drake, Bowie, Freddie Mercury and others). This gel is like a really thick paint when it comes out of the pot, and it contracts and hardens as it dries to leave a rock-hard 3D finish.

I have also finished a few of my paintings off with golf leaf, applied and glued by hand. Perhaps one day I will add other everyday materials to my paintings and use multiple types of paint together, just like Pollock himself!

Does it surprise you to learn just how many different materials and types of media Jackson Pollock used to create his drip paintings? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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