 Drowning Girl ( also known as Secret Hearts or I Don 't Care ! I 'd Rather Sink ) is a 1963 painting in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas by Roy Lichtenstein . Using the conventions of comic book art , a thought bubble conveys the thoughts of the figure , while Ben @-@ Day dots echo the effect of the mechanized printing process . It is one of the most representative paintings of the pop art movement , and part of the Museum of Modern Art 's permanent collection since 1971 . The painting is considered among Lichtenstein 's most significant works , perhaps on a par with his acclaimed 1963 diptych Whaam ! . Drowning Girl has been described as a " masterpiece of melodrama " , and is one of the artist 's earliest images depicting women in tragic situations , a theme to which he often returned in the mid @-@ 1960s . 
