Keith Haring Analysis

     While his drawings may be very simplistic, Keith Haring’s artistic style is truly vibrant. Inspiration for his paintings came from graffiti, and Haring helped to move this artistic style mainstream. Most of his works involve drawings of people in which the viewer also sees the motion of the character(s). Using swift, black marks on the outlining figures, Haring creates the illusion that the character is participating in some sort of action. The backgrounds often stick to one predominant color while the characters also maintain their own individual color. The characters are faceless, and each separated from the environment by a distinct black outline. Haring is often known for his active characters in his art, but he also drew numerous abstract pieces. One of these (on bottom of the post) shows a wide range of colors and figures, which are not solidly one color like most of his works. 

     Haring’s works produce an active and positive atmosphere. The use of bright colors gives off upbeat and blissful feelings. The combination of these colors and the character’s actions forms strong messages of life. Haring was openly gay and often depicted this in his paintings. However, Haring’s paintings focus on concepts from war to AIDS (from which he died in 1990).