Op Art Blobs

Op Art Blobs

Reason for Lesson:  Teaching the Principles of Art, rhythm and movement and using the Elements of Art, lines and color to create Op Art.  The regular repetition (rhythm) of the lines produces the look and feel of movement.  Additionally, when shading is used (darker on the outside edges and light in the middle) we see the lines become 3 dimensional and appear to move across the paper.  

Class Time:  1  hour to 1 and ½ hour (by decreasing the size of the paper you can decrease the art time if necessary).

Materials:  White construction paper, pencils, and colored pencils.

Prep Time:  15 minutes

Prep Prior to Lesson:  Can use the power point from Mrs Brown Art - Op Art Shading Blobs.  Familiarize yourself with Op (Optical) Art.  Optical illusion- when something plays tricks on your eyes.  Op art is artwork that plays tricks on the viewer's eyes.  Get to know two well known artists:  M.C. Escher and Bridget Riley (prints have been made of some of their artwork for example).

Instructions to Lead Lesson:

Introduce “Op” Art and its ties to optical illusion.  Introduce the artists Escher and Riley, displaying and talking about the dynamics of their artwork.  

Start by drawing a curved line across the middle of the width of the paper.  Emphasizing the line as “a rolling hill and not a roller coaster” stretching from one side to the other.

Place eight dots randomly on the line, with the outside dots being near the edge of the paper.  (If you are using a smaller piece of paper you should use six dots instead of the eight).

Now it is time to connect the dots with bumps.  The dots close to the edge of the paper will go off the edge to an imaginary dot.  Continue connecting the dots using bumps until the paper is filled, eventually the lines will go off the top and bottom of the paper.

 Choose a group of colored pencils that you'd like to use.  Randomly color each section of your blob, pushing harder at the corners of each section and then lighter and lighter as you get to the middle.  This is the most time consuming part of the lesson.  It is possible to leave some of the sections white or even a whole column “undone” and still be able to see the effects of the lines and shading.  

Credit:  Mrs. Brown Art and The Virtual Instructor