When most people think of Pop Art, they think soup cans and Andy Warhol. If asked, most would guess that it originated in the U.S. It actually began in Great Britain and has a more comprehensive history than one would think. It’s nice to know a little more about the piece of artwork you plan on ordering from My Pop Art. It gives you a historical scope in which to place your work.

British Pop was the product of the Independent Group (IG), formed in 1952 whose members resisted the institute’s commitment to modernist art, design, and architecture. They were particularly intrigued by American automobile design, with its emphasis on “planned obsolescence,” the intentional production of goods that would soon require replacement. British Pop artists had optimistic point of view.

They preferably dealt with various forms of direct action – assemblages and happenings rather than comics or AD. In Britain popular culture and technology was just the subject of the popular art.

In America Pop artists reproduced, duplicated, combined, overlaid and arranged the endless visual details that make up American society, introducing shifts and transformations and acting like commentaries. The most famous American Pop artist, Andy Warhol specially had a lifelong interest in movie stars which first surfaced in his art in 1962 when he begun working on portraits of Marilyn Monroe. Warhol attempted to keep his personal fascination with fame from showing through too clearly in his works, preferring to leave their meaning open to the interpretation of viewers.

The Pop and media role was summarized with Warhol’s famous quotation:” In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes”. Television, newspapers, magazines and Hollywood are just producing new images everyday. They are only enlarging the popular culture. Everything is just an image, ready to be consumed. The reality aura of art work is death, the millions copies are the survival of it.

It’s great to learn about the societal impact Pop Art has made as well as learning more information about a fun, lively and socially relevant art form. So when you hang your piece of My Pop Art on your wall, you know you have a story to tell!

If you’re like me, you can’t stand the thought of some of your best photos hiding in some dusty box in your closet or digitally stored on some lonely external hard drive. You certainly lose something when you have to turn on your computer to show someone a nice photograph. There’s a certain visceral experience that gets lost that way.

Conversely, when you send a photo into My Pop Art to have it put on a canvas, it’s a way of memorializing and celebrating your work. Now that photograph becomes a piece of artwork suitable for any wall in your household. You get the feeling of a painted work without the expense, time and effort.

In a pinch, photos on canvas are a great choice for last-minute gifts. All you need to do is find that great photo of a friend or loved one or pet and send it in. My Pop Art will do all of the work from there. It’s also a really affordable price that looks more expensive than it actually is – making it that much more ideal for last-minute gifts. You can choose from a range of sizes as well. And if canvas isn’t quite your style, you might want to explore having your work on watercolor paper, bringing a whole other style to the table.
So it might be time to dig through those old photographs and find the perfect one – one you can showcase permanently on canvas. Your friend and family will love it!

It’s tough to keep up sometimes. There’s so many dates I need to be aware of. Most of them have to do with bills and such…I barely have room for birthdays anymore. But my sister or my mother don’t find this excuse acceptable. They want a gift and a good one. Did I tell you they’re picky as well? Well, they are!

But not to matter. When I discovered My Pop Art, I was eternally grateful. I knew I had found a “one stop gift shop” for any friend or family member. I breathed an audible sigh of relief. No longer did I have to endure an awkward silence on the phone. No longer did I have to hear “Oh…I really don’t think you needed to but thanks…I guess.” Those days were behind me. Now I could relax, knowing that my friends and family members received something truly unique. Truly amazing. Truly artistic and creative. And those moments of embarrassment were behind me.

If you need to save face like me, then tune into My Pop Art. You’ll soon find an online friend who’ll make sure those moments of awkwardness are far behind you. You won’t be afraid of calendars anymore. You will relax, knowing an online company has saved you from the manipulative moments of the most guilt inducing family member. You’re free, you’re free…and remember, you can just get a gift certificate. You don’t even have to bother with anything more intricate than that. You are officially off the hook. Run!

When we think My Pop Art, we think of a unique website that offers a myriad of gift-giving possibilities. And when we think Pop Art, we tend to think of Andy Warhol, soup cans and Marilyn Monroe. And while Warhol figures predominantly in the Pop Art scene, there are scores of other artists who have paved the way in this arena as well.

So before you purchase your first piece of My Pop Art, its fun to explore the history of other well-known and recognized pop artists. That way, when you look at your artwork, you see history as well.

Let’s look at Roy Lichenstein, a fantastic trailblazer who produced scores of Pop Art masterpieces:

He was born in New York City in October 1923. His parents were middle-class and he described himself as having had a quiet and uneventful childhood. Though art was not taught as part of the curriculum at his high school, in his junior year he started to draw and paint as a hobby. His first subjects were jazz musicians (the product of a youthful enthusiasm for their music), and his work was affected by Picasso’s Blue and Rose Period paintings, which he knew from reproductions.

After years of schooling and advancement in his artistry:

In 1960 Lichtenstein was appointed Assistant Professor at Douglas College at Rutgers University of New Jersey, which put him within striking distance of New York. He attended a number of early ‘Happenings’, but did not participate in them actively. These contacts revived his interest in Pop imagery, and a more immediate stimulus was provided by a challenge from one of his sons, who pointed to a Mickey Mouse comic book and said; ‘I bet you can’t paint as good as that.’ In 1961 Lichtenstein produced about six paintings showing characters from comic-strip frames, with only minor changes of colour and form from the original source material. It was at this time that he first made use of devices which were to become signatures in his work – Ben-Day dots, lettering and speech balloons.

Lichtenstein took in his comic-strip paintings unannounced to the new Leo Castelli Gallery, and was almost immediately accepted for exhibition there, in preference to Andy Warhol, who had started doing similar work. His first one-man show with Castelli in 1962 launched him on a career which was thereafter uniformly successful. In 1963 he moved from New Jersey to New York, having taken leave of absence from his job at Rutgers; in 1964 he resigned from teaching altogether. In 1966 he showed at the Venice Biennale, and in 1969 he was given a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum, which later toured America. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970, and then moved to Southampton, Long Island, thus following a pattern set by many successful American artists.

So when you buy your next piece from My Pop Art, remember, Pop Art has a rich history…beyond Andy Warhol! And when you partake in ordering a piece, you become part of the rich heritage that is Pop Art.

We discussed some of the basics regarding hanging your new My Pop Art piece in your home. Now we’ll get a little more specific. Hanging your art correctly is almost as important as the artwork itself. If you don’t set the piece correctly, you’re not doing the most you can to optimize not only the artwork itself, but the look of your room.

You don’t have to be an interior designer but it is helpful to know specifically how to hang your My Pop Artwork so its shown off in all its bold glory! Here are some more pointers to consider when hanging:

In general, artwork should be hung so that the center point of the picture or grouping is at about eye level for the average person. While this won’t be possible in every situation, it’s a good guideline to keep in mind.

Another technique to remember is that a grouping of pictures should be thought of as one unit. Test an arrangement of pictures by laying everything out on a large table (or on the floor), playing with combinations until you hit upon one that works. Laying them out on paper is even better since you’ll be able to trace around each object and determine where picture hangers should be installed. Tape the paper up on the wall as a template for picture hangers and you’ll be done in no time.

You can also lay out pieces of scrap molding (or tape) onto the floor to form the “outside” boundaries of a picture grouping — the measurements within which the smaller pieces of art will be set. This is useful when a particular wall has certain boundaries that must be observed (such as a chair rail, windows, heating vents, and the like) and helps keep your arrangement the proper size.

Now that you know some of the specifics, hang your Pop Art piece correctly and with pride. Its bound to show off any room in your house.

If you’re like me, picking out artwork for your wall can often be a haphazard endeavor. Drive a nail in, hang it up, then walk away. But hanging art is an art form in and of itself. After you receive your piece of artwork from My Pop Art, you want to do the most to maximize it, right? Well placement and mood are both essential ingredients to making your artwork shine in your home.
Here’s some advice on placement you should consider:

Another important factor that you should consider is the place where you want to hang the artwork in your room. If you do not place the picture in an appropriate place then this could make or break the look of your room.

These suggestions will help you to decide on how to get the best effects from your wall art:

1.Modern gallery look: you can give your hall ways, lobbies and stairwells a modern gallery look by keeping an ample amount of space between the pictures.

2.Above a sofa: if you decide to place an art above a sofa then place it just at the eye level or about six to nine inches above the sofa.

3.Cluster arrangements: if you want your pictures to be the focal point of your room, then you should tightly group an even number of pictures together. Depending upon the look that you want you can make this idea work in large and small wall spaces.

So when you’re hanging your piece of My Pop Art, remember placement counts almost as much as the artwork itself. Show off your work proudly…and correctly!

One of the most well-known pieces by Andy Warhol, of course, is his Marilyn Monroe prints. It’s exciting to learn more from the master before sending your photo into My Pop Art so you can understand the history behind the work of art you’ll soon receive. Here, Andy Warhol explains some of the process behind the production of these popular prints.

My Pop Art brings a certain life to any photograph. But if you send in a lively and bold shot, then you get double the fun. What’s the secret to capturing a fun, vibrant shot that My Pop Art can really pump up?

First thing, bring that camera out with you as much as possible. That can’t be stressed enough. Great photographic moments occur anytime and anywhere, when you least expect it. It takes some practice to not only bring your camera out with you, but to use it. And it takes a certain amount of boldness to pull a camera out and start snapping. People tend to react. But the more you bring it out, the more people will drop their guard.

Next, be prepared to get in close. Great moments for My Pop Art means getting in there. Distant shots are good for certain occasions but if you want some bold shots, don’t be afraid to zoom in. When you get in close, you capture the strength and detail of facial expressions.

Also look for occasions that naturally elicit bold responses – parades, surprise parties, performances, etc. But even a seemingly calmer scene – like a day at the beach – can be loaded with moments or surprise and excitement. Life is dramatic naturally – you just need to have your camera in hand and ready to go.

Bold moments happen all sorts of times. Be prepared and don’t be afraid to get up close and take some big chances yourself.

Boldness begins with you!

We talked a little about clarity last time – how to get that crystal clear shot. Now we’re going to get a little more “in-depth”…literally! Depth of field is what gives your shot a certain “thickness” or scope and its contingent upon the settings on your camera. Again, you want to be able to send the best photo possible into My Pop Art and maximize your photography abilities, so depth of field counts too.

Now don’t be overwhelmed. Sometimes when people hear “depth of field” or “aperture,” they freeze up. Remember, these are simple adjustments you make on your camera. The best part? You can experiment all you want! Once you see a shot, you can begin to realize if its too shallow.

Here’s some other photographic advice on depth of field:

This can be easily overlooked, and is crucial. Let’s say you have a lens that goes down to 1.4 or 2.8. This means that at those settings you get a lot of light, but the depth of field (focus) will be shallow. You can certainly get great shots, even without a pod and on the go, and have them come out well. It just takes some practice. Don’t get discouraged when some of these are blurry. If you focus on a person 6 feet away who is slowly moving towards you, they might be blurry in the time it takes you to press the shutter.

One solution is to raise that aperture setting to 5 or higher. That will help give you more DOF, but will also require a slower shutter speed. Sometimes that shallow effect is good however, so to help you get it, take lots of shots and then pick the best ones. When you can, use a tripod help keep that camera still, and remember the focus will be shallow at those low aperture settings. If you want someones eye’s to be in focus, then you need to set the focus point right on their eye and nowhere else. Practice makes perfect.

My Pop Art loves clear shots. This helps them design and create a pop art piece more easily. But what is it about photography that makes taking a clear shot so difficult at times? Well, a lot goes into taking a nice shot but let’s focus on clarity for a moment.

We could “focus” on some more complicated topics like “depth of field” or “shutter speed” but let’s start a little simpler at first!

How do you move your camera when you take a moving shot? Holding your camera still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t move it if you need to. If your subject is on the go, then of course, follow the path. According to one photographer:

Even at 1/500th of a sec, a shot of someone jogging by might not be clear if you hold the camera still. Yet when you hold that camera firm and pan along, that same person can be tack sharp at 1/60th. Again practice makes perfect so play around with motion and learn how it behaves. Sometimes you may even want a blur on a certain area. With practice comes control.

That means keeps some fluidity of movement when you’re shooting. Just like a human tripod, you have the ability to track. And you have a higher likelihood of getting a clear shot of a subject in motion. This requires a relaxed body and sense of movement when you shot. Don’t be too rigid. If you “tune into” your subject and its movement, you’re more likely to snag a shot that’s My Pop Art worthy!