Op art

1. What do you notice about these two
pieces of art?
Let’s watch some illusions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoUfT_UR8Gc#t=172

2. Op Art
 Stands for “Optical
Art”: art that
creates an optical
illusion
 Optical illusion: an
image that tricks
your eyes into
seeing something
that’s not there
Example of an optical illusion:
The bar is the exact same gray all
the way across.

3. More optical illusions
Fraser Spiral Illusion: This looks like a
spiral, but it is actually concentric
circles (circles inside of circles, all with
the same center).
Hermann Grid Illusion: Black
dots appear and disappear
very quickly at the
intersections.

4. Op Art:
Do you remember what it stands for?
 First started, and most
popular, in the 1960s
 Also known as:
 Geometric abstraction
 Hard-edge abstraction
 Perceptual abstraction
Bridget Riley. “Movement in Squares.” 1961.

5. What is Op Art all about?
 Optical illusions
 Eye-brain
connection
 Elements of art:
 Line
 Shape
 space
 Principles of design:
 Pattern
 Movement
What is the optical illusion in this
piece? How did the artist,
Bridget Riley, create it?

6. Famous Op Artist: Bridget Riley
Born April 24th
, 1931 in
London, England.
Cataract 3, 1967.

7. More of Bridget Riley’s Art
Loss, 1964.
Blaze 3, 1963.

8. Famous Op Artist: Victor Vasarely
Born in 1906 in Hungary, but
lived most of his life in Paris,
France; died in 1997.
He is often claimed as the
father of Op Art.

9. More of Victor Vasarely’s Art
Ambigu-B, 1970.
Cheyt-M

10. Vanishing Point: The point at
which a thing disappears or ceases
to exist
 .
Vanishing Point

11. Vanishing Points?

12. OPTION 1: Geometric Op Art
created by students

13. More student work
* Where
are the
vanishing
points?

22. OPTION 2: ORGANIC OP ART
*Free flowing wavy lines. Less straight and rigid.

25. These are just ideas! You will have to include at
least 3 colors.

27. Option 3: You can also combine Geometric with Organic!

29. -You will be using colored pencils to
complete this project!
YES! Bold colors – Press hard with
colored pencil!
NO! Scribbly lines and not bold!

30. To review, Op Art Project:
 Create original
Geometric OR
Organic Design, OR
a combination of
both.
 Use colored pencils
& include at least 3
colors.
 Must be an illusion!

31. Your 1st
Practice Technique: Sphere