Op Art - 3/18

We will be basing our project this week on an art movement popular in the 1960s called Optical Art or Op Art.  Op Art gives the illusion of movement.  It is meant to trick the eye.  It is a precise and mathematically based composition.  While the movement became popular around 1965-1969, the very first op art appeared in 1938 in a composition from Victor Vasarely entitled "Zebra".  It was not well received at that time, but Vasarely continued to produce work in the op art style.  A very popular op art artist is Bridget Riley.  Born in 1931 in London, Riley continued in popularity up until present day.

For this project we will be using straight and curved lines and color to create our op art.  We also talk about adding value to the piece.

Curved lines are added.
We will color one section at a time.  Here is the first color.  Then the next set of curved lines are added.

The top half of the piece has some value added in the form of a highlight.  This helps increase the movement on the finished piece.  This example is done in crayons.

Here is an example in colored pencil.  Students can choose what medium they want to work in.