Grade 4 Op Art Portraits

Inspired by the optical and expressive art of the 1960's, 4th grade artists created Op Art self-portraits. We began with a lesson on drawing the face and it's features proportionately on manilla paper. Once drawings were complete students cut out their sillouette and chose a bright color for their skin, retraced their drawing and cut out the sillouette again. They then mounted their bright sillouette on their choice of contrasting background paper. Next they began feature by feature to cut, trace on colored paper, recut and mount; layering their portrait like a collage. This lesson provided fine-motor skill practice and students enjoyed building their portrait and adding personal details such as clothing items, hats and hair bows. This lesson served as a great variation to a traditional portrait lesson and I am pleased with our results!