Op Art, Spheres & Cones

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This was the 3rd project in our series of Op Art lessons.....Students took their knowledge of creating "spheres" and added "cones" in the background. Big thanks to Jodi at One Crayola Short for sharing this super lesson. It's a great primer for getting students to really wrap their head around how adding "values" can truly make a big difference in their art! (My students are high school, but Jodi did this lesson w/ 5th graders -- Younger kids can handle this, they'll just need more direction and time.)

Step 1: Students followed same instruction for creating spheres as in sphere lesson.

Step 2: Draw and even number of diagonal lines emanating from a point somewhere near the middle of the page. Remind them to "jump over" their spheres.

Step 3: Students drew curved lines inside each cone shape, alternating between "smile" and "frown" curves on every other cone.

Step 4: Place black dots in the areas to be colored black, then colored them.

Step 5: Color the rest of the shapes being careful to darken the outsides of each shape and leave the middle lightest. (High values in the middle, and low values near the edges of each shape. Sometimes I even had the students put their finger in the middle of each shape to remind them not to color that area as dark.)

Big Thanks North County Christian High School Art Students, 2010-11!!!

Op Art "Floating Spheres"

Kids love the power of being able to create optical illusions - and they're always shocked at how easy it is! I've done this lesson with students age 11 and up. Younger students make the shapes larger, and older students have fun overlapping, etc. Here is the lesson that inspired me, and another fun Op Art lesson is here too.
Step 1: Trace some circles on paper.
Step 2: Add curved lines (we call them horizontal "smiles and frowns" & vertical "c's and backward c's - OR "longitude and latitude" lines) to turn the circle into a sphere. Younger students can make less lines.
Step 3: Draw a grid for background, and remember to "jump over" the spheres with the grid lines.
Step 4: Color shapes, leaves every other shape white b/c the negative space is necessary to help create the optical illusion.
Step 5: Add shadows on sides of spheres.

Thanks North County Christian High School art students!!!!