Beach Goth Paintings by Spring Break Jake
Beach Goth is a term born out of the unique style of music of psychedelic-garage-punk rock group The Growlers. This Southern California based group had a niche fan base of LSD dropping, beach rat surfers who loved the signature elements of surf rock grunge. This self-proclaimed genre became so popular, that it eventually morphed into a music festival in Orange County–the hometown of The Growlers–and has inspired tons of musicians who appreciate the harmonious blend of beachy motifs with spooky, haunting sounds of grunge.
Since its inception, beach goth has traversed from music into other art forms, including beach goth paintings. While common themes in beach goth music revolve around drug use, loss of love, loneliness, ghosts, spirits, and death, beach goth art expands on the idea of the finiteness of life, and the duality of life and death, good and bad, beauty and pain. Beach goth art seeks to incorporate characteristics of traditional gothic art, like dark and gloomy settings, supernatural elements, the anti-hero or villain, frightful imagery, decay, death, and isolation–while adding coastal components inspired by the surfer lifestyle and beach.
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Spring Break Jake’s Beach Goth Inspired Paintings
Spring Break Jake is an artist, illustrator, and muralist who uses the influence of the music genre beach goth to inspire his paintings, imagery and symbolism. He has a masterful modern take on gothic artwork, creating emotion-evoking beach goth paintings and murals. Spring Break Jake harnesses the idea of duality to demonstrate that you can’t appreciate the good without the bad, teaching us how the two can coexist harmoniously. He uses eye-catching, dark depictions of characters and skulls in tandem with contrasting, lively, pleasant elements like palm trees and bodies of water to convey the finiteness of life.
For beach goth artist Spring Break Jake, displaying skeletons and skulls can be a powerful way to tap deeper into our mental and emotional bodies. He seeks to spread positive vibes through his evocative beach goth paintings.
Types of Goth Painting
Now that you’re familiar with the unique style of beach goth art, let’s dive deeper into other types of goth paintings. Some specifications that define gothic art include realistic renderings of the human form, and the use of light and shading–otherwise known as chiaroscuro effects–to portray eerie shadows. Goth art isn’t always dark and somber, but it is typically always mysterious and involves varying shades of black and white, and sometimes red and gold.
Beach Goth Paintings
Beach goth paintings meld darker themes with more vibrant, lively elements, but how do diverse goth paintings differentiate themselves?
Goth Industrial Paintings
Gothic industrial paintings capture the essence of buildings and architectural landscapes, with themes like crumbling structures, soot-covered industrial buildings, gothic cathedrals, and abandoned towns. Goth industrial paintings portray the destruction of the industrial revolution and its lasting mark on the past, present, and future of our society. Goth industrial paintings use desolate, eerie industrial buildings and surrounding debris and decay to powerfully expose the detrimental effects of unregulated, rapid industrial expansion. These paintings demonstrate how quickly events can negatively impact our present and future, and can lead to death, destruction, and abandonment.
Goth Portrait Paintings
Goth portrait paintings often portray faces with somber, eerie eyes, which emphasize shading to project shadows onto faces and dark settings. Certain portraits contain faces that are expressionless, or possess serious, imposing facial features with strong eye contact. It can be difficult to read the emotion on the faces of the goth portraits, however it almost always leaves you with a chilling feeling. At times, shades of red and gold are utilized to create sinister emotion around the eyes and mouth.
Goth Home Decor Paintings
Gothic home decor paintings can include anything from shadow cast buildings with desolate backgrounds to portraits of dark figures and faces. Beach goth art is a great way to bring the concept of the temporary nature of life into your home as a reminder to live life fully and appreciate both the good and the bad, for we cannot have one without the other.
Frequently Asked Questions about Skull Paintings
How did beach goth start?
As mentioned in the introductory paragraph, the term beach goth came into being by The Growlers–a grunge, psyche-garage-punk rock group based in Southern California. Their acid and surf loving, fan base created so much hype around the genre and unique style of The Growlers that beach goth eventually went on to become an annual festival in the very heart of The Growler’s hometown, featuring an eclectic array of artists in various genres such as indie, hip hop, rap, r&b, and electronic music. The music genre transcended into other areas of art, inspiring beach goth paintings from talented artists like Spring Break Jake.
Who are some famous goth painters?
One of the most famous gothic paintings is the gold gothic artwork by Carlo Crivelli made in 1480, titled the Madonna and Child. It offers three-dimensional features that make it appear more realistic, and is generally more lively compared with other gothic paintings, but the facial expression of Madonna still carries melancholic overtones.
American Gothic by Grant Wood is another notable painting prominent in the 20th century. Famous gothic artist Grant Wood immaculately depicts the distress and pain that comes with rural life in America, using a pitchfork and angry, apathetic facial expressions to showcase the gloom of life at that current period. Other renowned gothic painters are Giotto di Bonde, and Duccio di Buoninsegna.
What are some goth painting ideas?
Seeing as gothic art focuses on grim aspects of life, some goth painting ideas can include graveyards, castles, caves, dungeons, religious buildings like chapels and churches, skulls, skeletons, death, decay, gloomy and desolate scenery, remote places isolated from reality, and an overall sense of melancholy. Some goth painting ideas, human figures with emotional or emotionless faces, creepy visions, dark settings, social justice issues, and depressing events in time are other typical goth painting elements you can incorporate into your own pieces.
Goth paintings tend to focus on shades of black and dark gray, contrasted with white, deep reds, and dark golden yellows. For dramatic effect, you can apply very thick layers of paint to emphasize texture and the evocative nature of the art.
Where can I buy goth paintings?
Interested in purchasing a goth painting for your home? Check out some of Spring Break Jake’s original goth and beach goth paintings and prints–for sale on his website. His beautiful display of contrasting elements of death and life can bring a sense of beauty and awe to any home.
Media credit: All images in this article about skull paintings by Spring Break Jake are courtesy of springspreakjake.com or IG @springbreak.jake.
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