In the car 1963

Roy Lichtenstein made "In the Car" with oil paint, mimicking the look of a printed comic. The colours are so bold and flat, but that just makes the image zing. Look at how he uses those dots and lines! The blonde hair has stripes that suggest speed. It is like Lichtenstein is trying to capture the blur of movement using only the most basic graphic language. It’s a totally artificial way of representing something real. The black outlines create a real crispness and separation. It's funny how Lichtenstein takes something mass-produced, like a comic book panel, and painstakingly recreates it by hand on a huge canvas. Warhol did it too, of course, but Lichtenstein's touch feels different. It’s like he’s saying, "Even the most mechanical image can be a painting. And painting, like life, can be kind of a drag."