Bridget Riley was a pioneer in Op Art, which uses precise line, shape, and color arrangements to create the optical illusion of movement in two-dimensional images. Popular in the 1960s, Op Art compositions are designed to trick the eye into perceiving depth and motion that are not actually present. Riley was born in London in 1931 and had her first solo art show in 1962, establishing her as the "Mother of Op-Art" through works that explored optical effects through geometric patterns and grids.

1. Op Art
Bridget Riley

2. 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.

3. Bridget Riley
“The Mother of Op-Art”
• Bridget Riley was born
in 1931 in London and
spent her childhood in
Cornwall and Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire.
• She went to college in
London from 1949 to
1955. Her first solo
art show was in 1962.
Cornwall London

4. Arrest 1

5. Pause

6. Cataract

7. Descending

8. Movement in Squares

9. Orient

10. Intake

11. Fall

12. Step 1
Lightly trace hand with a pencil.
(Take any rings off before tracing)

13. Step 2
Using 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.

14. Step 3
Continue 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.

15. Examples