Op ArtBridget Riley

What is Op Art?

Op Art, short for Optical Art, is art that is composed to ‘fool the eye’ into thinking that a 2 dimensional drawing appears 3 dimensional.

Line, shape and color are careful chosen and precisely put together to make your brain think that the painting or drawing has movement.

It became popular in the 1960’s and is still created by artists today.

Bridget Riley“The Mother of Op-Art”

• Bridget Riley was born in 1931 in London and spent her childhood in Cornwall and Lincolnshire.

• She went to college in London from 1949 to 1955. Her first solo art show was in 1962.

Cornwall

Lincolnshire

London

Arrest 1

Pause

Cataract

Descending

Movement in Squares

Orient

Intake

Fall

step 1.Write your name on one side - on the other rule a rough 1cm border in lead pencil all the way around the edge of the paper.

step 2.with the lead pencil - draw concentric circles out from the middle to the border lines. (I explained that they did not have to start exactly in the middle - they could start to one side - and they didn't have to be perfect).....

step 3.with a ruler and a lead pencil - draw a vertical line through the centre circle.....

step 4.add more vertical lines across the whole image - varying the thickness. ie make some closer together and some wider apart.....

step 5.grab a black felt tip pen and start colouring in - carefully. start in the middle....then work your way up and down - then outwards. (white out/liquid paper works well to fix up any mistakes). biggest tip - take your time!!

Step 1Lightly trace hand with a pencil.

(Take any rings off before tracing)

Step 2Using a BLACK GEL pen, start at

the edge of the paper. Begin drawing a straight line toward your hand. When you get to your hand draw a curved line over your hand. Imagine that your pen is ‘crawling over your

hand’. After ‘crawling over your hand’ return to a straight line until you reach the other side

of the paper.

Step 3Continue drawing lines, close together up and down from

your original line. Try to keep the spacing between the lines small and even. You will see your hand start to ‘emerge’

from the paper!

Draw lines until your whole paper is covered.

Examples