piop art

(perspectives inside of perspectives art)

[piopart]

i control the power with two mistakes

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so brilliant you might faint

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bingo

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the professor who doesn't smile

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haven't quite started this wall yet

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[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘pink spaceship’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  3’ x 4’ x 0.75”

: : initial ideas :  originally i thought this painting was going to be primarily light gray tones.  because i was running out of the paint i was using.  and i wanted to be consistent for these first seven piop art paintings with the brand of black and white paints.  now, the brand still existed, but i felt like it was so different.  it felt so cheap.  originally it was feeling good and solid and it said ‘made in france.’  but, sometime in 2014 or so it all changed.  it felt flimsy and of lower quality than before and it now said ‘made in china.’  i decided i didn’t want that, so i went to different art stores looking for the last remains of the ‘quality’ feeling ivory black and titanium white paints.  i found some, but maybe not enough to finish this canvas.  or maybe just enough if i was really conservative with the paint.  i had more white than black.  and then i found a tube of black in a certain art store out of nowhere.  and it was a big tube of the ‘quality’ that i wanted.  but, it was mars black instead of ivory black.  and i debated and contemplated and finally after learning the differences of the two and being really concerned i decided to just give it a go.  like, blup it!  and so i did.  oh, and i wanted to do faces of sort in perspective form.  yeah, i think that was actually the initial idea - do a face.

: : process :  after the initial drawn perspective i thought it kind of seemed like a spaceship.  and i wanted to keep that look.  so, i got careful with my next lines.  and i experimented again with how the pink was going to be displayed.  i really went into it blind, but i had an idea of how it might look.  and painting with the mars black was very different.  a guy at the art store said you could barley notice if you’re just mixing it with white.  and after going at it, well, he was wrong in my case.  the paint looked so different.  like, super different.  and it felt different.  and overall it was just different.  i liked it, i think.

: : certain distinguishable details :  the super dark background gray tone is applied in a more 3d form.  

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  a couple of the pink lines.  maybe.  see if you could see.  but, defend too.

: : to note :  basically a ‘girl’ face in the upper middle and a ‘guys’ face in the lower middle.  and after i revealed the pink i felt like this painting was a disaster and looked horrible.  i still don’t know if the pink works where it’s at.

[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘orange room’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  3’ x 4’ x 0.75”

: : initial ideas :  i didn’t really have an initial idea.  what i had was a stump after the first perspective.  i really liked what i did and didn’t know what to do next.  well, i usually don’t know, but this time i really didn’t know.  there were many possibilities, but also i didn’t want to do whatever i was to do next wrong.  i really didn’t want to mess up the initial perspective.  and i really didn’t want to draw it again in small in the middle lower right.

: : process :  the usual pattern of pencil and pen i did.  and yes, orange pen this time.  and again, after the initial perspective i didn’t know what to do.  i thought a lot.  i was scared.  but, then i did some lines.  and maybe something was happening.  eventually it came together somehow.

: : certain distinguishable details :  something unusual was a horizon line on an existing line - in this case on a line in the initial perspective.  and then towards the end i added some lines to the initial perspective, which in previous times i usually didn’t touch for the most part.  and with the orange i decided to do what i did with ‘red horizons,’ but only leave orange on one side of the one-point perspectives, while painting gray tones over the other orange lines that were initially painted.  and there are no two-point perspectives here, which i usually incorporated, but there is something that could allude to a two-point perspective.

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  the upper right gray paint is a bit much and not smooth.  that’s something i think i’d like for to not be there, but i didn’t fix it.  nor did i know really how to fix it.  maybe sand paper it thought.  or maybe it’s like that because it’s closer to the eye in the perspective form.  and that would mean maybe the other lines are like that, but since they are farther they appear smoother.  and then in the smaller version of the initial perspective there is a lack of ‘straightness’ in the right of that little perspective as far as the ‘hit’ go.  and after looking and contemplating that for so long, i think with time it straightens out somehow, maybe.

: : to note :  the perspective is right side up when the orange line goes to the left from the dot.  the room is open.

[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘yellow lightning’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  3’ x 4’ x 0.75”

: : initial ideas :  a lightning bolt was the initial idea.  well, it’s technically a chair of sort, but i wanted it to zig-zag like lightning.  and then have the expected yellow be shining on a dark gray tone.

: : process :  once i had the initial idea it was time to get motion into play.  to dance if you will.  and so i tried to have power in this painting in a couple locations.  like, the lightning bolt was to hit hard at the first sharp angle and then again at the next one.  and radiation of gray tone gradation was to happen because of the lightning hits.  and i started with the super light gray the lightning bolt is on, but i ended up running out of paint while doing that whole area when it was taped up.  so, then i tried to mix this super light gray paint again and it was way off.  it’s hard to notice initially and in the completed painting, but the tone is off!  really off!

: : certain distinguishable details :  well that off tone subtle looking gradation is something.  it’s in the middle of the canvas.  in the inner turn of the lightning bolt.  it’s a much darker gray than the other portions of the super dark gray.  i decided to leave it though.  and in the middle right of the painting i did something a bit different than normal.  i basically interrupted the initial perspective with a two point perspective coming in and being dominant in an area.

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  other than the super light gray being different gray tones there are other mistakes that aren’t mistakes, but calculated acts, yes.  if the initial super dark gray door there is some tape after the yellow, which i think shouldn’t be there.  so, i left the tape on because i think it was there on accident.  but, then again, i’m not sure.  also, in the lower left there is a line that is off, but i decided i like how it looked and it seemed to make more sense, despite it being wrong.  i left it.  and there is a ‘paint-off’ situation of sort that happened in the upper middle on the super light gray tone.  it looked like a heart and i decided i liked it.

: : to note :  when pealing tape and revealing yellow i thought i could make yellow your new favorite color.

[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘violet pills’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  3’ x 4’ x 0.75”

: : initial ideas :  as it was coming together i wanted this ‘rounding’ effect to happen.  and not just in the image, but also in the painting of it.  and so i wanted like the ‘hump’ to be around the middle area and ‘hump downwards.’  like, with the complexity of the image and with the lightness to darkness of the paint gradations.

: : process :  speaking of process, ‘violet pills’ was actually the painting featured in my ‘piop art process’ performance that i did at ‘first look’ in 2013.  and actually under that spotlight and when working on this canvas there is when i feel like it got better.  because i came to a ‘stump’ of sort after i did the first few perspectives or so.  i didn’t like what i saw and had.  and then certain line combinings i did surprised me and made me feel the main issue on the upper right side and right side in general went from bad to good.  or from horrible to amazing.

: : certain distinguishable details :  i purposely left tape on the ladder that’s on the middle left of the canvas.  and the lower left corner area has what appears to be a paint flaw, but it’s more about being in conjunction with this canvases ep painting by showing what could be seen as a tail of a fish.  and in the middle violet little line on this canvas it appears as if a tiny hamster or rat is in violet in on the lower of the violet little line.  well, to me at least.

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  in the touch up stages of ‘violet pills’ i noticed two specs of paint in two areas that were like the opposite gray tone of the gray tone they were on.  how did they get there?  i don’t know.  they are on the upper middle left and the lower middle left.  they are very light gray tiny spots on very dark gray large areas.  i decided to leave them.

: : to note :  i was thinking about calling this canvas ‘purple pillls’ originally with three l’s.  because there are three pills.  like, pillls, you know.  and those pills (or pillls) are the one-point perspectives that are very similar looking and painted with some of the same gray tones on certain areas.  but, i decided to call this painting ‘violet pills.’

[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘cyan twins’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  12 canvases sized at 12” x 12” x 0.75” each

: : initial ideas :  i wanted to make a moving painting.  and a piop art one specifically.  i spoke to different people on ways to go about what i wanted.  explaining was easy, but understanding i guess was hard.  i received different ideas to help my thoughts, but what i envisioned wasn’t quite there.  because i wanted smooth moving.  like this game i had with numbers.  that’s where the inspiration came.  a simple game with numbers - 1 to 15.  and there being 16 slots, meaning one was open.  but for this painting, or paintings, i wanted them to be upright and not on a flat surface.  and i didn’t want gravity to bring my work down.  there were ideas of wooden structures to be built and this and that and then finally magnets came into conversation.  magnets!

: : process :  the process for this was pretty big and complex.  well, maybe easy in retrospect.  but when coming up with everything, not so much.  after figuring out the basics - which was magnets, canvases, felt, and metal - it was time to put everything together.  after getting the aluminum, it was time to cut it, drill six holes in it, smooth it all out, and then clean it and paint it.  then i wrapped it in protective material so i don’t get paint on it.  and then on the wall it went.  then it was time to put very strong magnets on the twelve 12”x12” canvases and then those went on the aluminum that was on a flat wall.  and then the process began of my pattern of pencil and pen markings and the initial drawing came about.  and the painting time it was.  and that was an intense battle!

: : certain distinguishable details :  my signature looks to be smeared, but it’s not.  it’s meant to be barley noticeable.

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  mistakes on this one?  please.

: : to note :  the cyan twins are the two-point perspectives on the lower left of the twelve canvases put together in their designated order.  originally the 12th canvas (the lower right one) was a different one, but once i felt it was too ‘flimsy’ (the canvas part) i decided to get another one that was less ‘flimsy.’  this is my masterpiece.

[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘teal minimalism’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  3’ x 4’ x 0.75”

: : initial ideas :  for this canvas i just went at it again.  still having a huge lack of experience with doing canvases of this size and paintings in general, it didn’t matter.  i just wanted to do what i wanted.  i don’t need to know how to paint or get permission to paint by anyone.  and so i didn’t.

: : process :  the process for this was a bit different than ‘red horizons.’  for one it was a bit more minimal.  not so many perspectives, but still perspectives inside of perspectives.  what was basically the same was the process of the initial drawing.  i would just start somehow somewhere on the canvas and go.  again i had my pattern combination with pencil and pen, but this time the pen was green.  after the drawing got to a point of ready for paint i didn’t paint the whole horizon lines like what i did with ‘red horizons,’ but instead just did a 3” and 4” teal lines.  and i used tape from the get go this time.  not much freehand painting went on with ‘teal minimalism.’  it was more tape based.  and i actually worked on it in a couple different locations.

: : certain distinguishable details :  when it came to the touch ups towards the end i still didn’t know how to match gray tones, nor did i understand really how much darker acrylic paints can dry after applied.  so, there are clearly dirty noticeable touch up failures.  but, with the use of tape the overall canvas was much cleaner and crispier than ‘red horizons.’

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  towards the lower middle of the canvas those legs from that two-point perspective look kind of funky.  yeah, it’s probably wrongly drawn, but purposely left.  and in the middle right i wasn’t sure how that two-point perspective was to act with that extended ground leg, so what i did was a way to avoid that conflict.

: : to note :  originally the lines were intended to be green, but then teal happened.  and each upright perspectives is determined by the teal lines and when you have 3” of line to the left and 4” of line to the right.

[piopart]

: : artist :  arthur lugauskas

: : artwork title :  ‘red horizons’

: : medium :  acrylic on canvas

: : size :  3’ x 4’ x 0.75”

: : initial ideas :  i just attacked the canvas.  i’ve never done a canvas at this scale before.  i didn’t know what was going to happen.  and i remember frank gehry’s fear of just putting a point on a blank white canvas.  yeah, it’s scary.  where do you start?  i didn’t know.  i just went for it.  and this was the second piop art piece i really attempted to do.  prior i did a very mediocre practice piop art thing on a smaller canvas with colors, but i think i was too impatient.  i wanted to just take time and do a big one.  sometimes i’m like that.  like, no rehearsal.

: : process :  this canvas took quite some time.  i was busy with a variety of other things while doing this.  probably too many things actually.  and to note, i started this in 2012 and kind of finished it around the end of 2012, but not to the polished version i’d like for it to of been.  so, in 2013 i cleaned up the red lines by making them more solid in a way and the piece came to further realization.  this piece’s final date can technically be 2012, but also 2013.  how?  i don’t know.  somehow.  and as for more of the actual process, well, i first drew on the canvas with pencil and pen in a certain pattern of sort, then painted the horizon lines red, then taped up the red paint, then painted the entire canvas in various gray tones, then peeled the tape off, and then re painted the red lines using tape for a change.  that’s the basics of how this got done.

: : certain distinguishable details :  i tried to sign my name in the thickness of paint around the middle of the canvas on a super light gray section, but that didn’t work or look good, so i painted over it with super dark gray.

: : mistakes into calculated acts :  in the lower left on the canvas i somehow missed a line that would make up the space, but then decided to leave that mistake as is on purpose.  it’s near the stairs, which are also kind of wrongly drawn i think.  and i say that my mistakes often turn into calculated acts because after i may catch a mistake i might look at it and look at it and sometimes decide to leave it for one reason or another.

: : to note :  this is the first piop art painting i’ve brought to fruition.

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first ever piop art drawing by arthur lugauskas.

[piopart]

piop art

what is piop art?

it means "perspectives inside of perspectives art."

where did it come from?

arthur lugauskas

how did it come about?

here is some of what arthur has to say about it's origins: "In 2012 I was in a drawing class at GMU and we were learning about perspectives for a portion of the class. I'd studied architecture previously and had take a whole perspectives course during those studies, so I had an idea of how to draw them. And when we were doing them in this drawing class I felt pretty comfortable. Then we had a project assignment to draw anything we wanted, as long as we used perspectives. I enjoyed learning this because it allowed so much freedom and creative expression that I looked forward to doing something possibly great. And then I tried it: I drew one perspective and then turned the paper sideways and drew another perspective, and then turned the paper upside down and drew another perspective, and so on. Then I saw what I did, and liked it! A lot! I actually liked it so much and was inspired enough to attempt doing such a thing on a canvas that was quite a bit larger than that first perspectives drawing. And that canvas is what is now titled Red Horizons. So, now, how Piop Art came about was basically me not really finding a category or form or type of art that really described what I did with perspectives, nor did i find a good fit for what I was doing. Then after describing what I was doing as 'perspectives inside of perspectives' and writing those words down over and over again it became a bit long, so I started writing 'p.i.o.p.' Then eventually the periods were taken out and 'art' was added as a word that followed and then 'piop art' was born."

what can piop art do?

arthur states: "I really think Piop Art can help and inspire people and the world by bringing different views and ideas to situations that may appear to only be one way or a few ways. Basically anything is possible, but if someone doesn't think so, well, I ask: 'how do you see what you see?'"