Op art cube

What do you need?

• white drawing sheet 21 by 29 cm
• pencil
• ruler
• markers
• scissors 
• glue

Give students a copied print of a cube or let them make their own. I did it with a guided instruction.

What do you need?

1. Lay the sheet in front of you with the small side up.
2. Draw dots on top and bottom of the sheet on 7 and 14 cm.
3. Connect the lines from top to bottom.
4. Draw dots on the left and right site of the sheet on 7, 14, 21 and 28 cm 

5. starting at the top of the sheet.

6. Connect the dots. You have 12 squares and 3 small rectangles on the bottom.

 

7. Number the squares from left to right. 
8. Draw a cross in square 1, 3, 4, 6, 10 en 12.

9. Draw strips of 1 cm on the sides of square 2 and 5. 

10. Draw strips on the 3 sides of square 11. 

11. Draw a cross in the remaining narrow strips at the bottom of the sheet. 

12. Draw optical illusions in square 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 11. 

13. Color with markers and outline with fine black marker.

14. Cut the cube and paste the sides together. 

All artworks made by students of grade 6.

Dutch flower bulb fields

What do you need?

• drawing sheet 20 by 10 cm
• color markers
• fine black marker
• ruler
• pencil

Situated less than 30 miles from Amsterdam, the town of Lisse is widely regarded as the center of Holland's bulb district. Each spring the area turn into a sprawling blanket of fantastic color as millions of Dutch tulip, hyacinth and daffodil bulbs emerge in perfect rows. 

Show pictures of Dutch bulb fields like these and talk about perspective. 

What should you do?

1. Draw a horizon line about 2 cm from the upper edge. 
2. Put a dot in the middle of this line, the vanishing point. 
3. Draw lines from the bottom and sides towards that vanishing point.
4. Color the bulb fields with bright colours. 
5. Color walkways between the bulb fields. 
6. Color the sky. 
7. Draw with a fine black marker some buildings on the horizon, like farms, windmills etc.

Artworks made by students of grade 4. 

Self portrait like Modigliani

About the artist

Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (1884-1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor. Modigliani's paintings fall under Expressionism. He painted nudes and highly stylized portraits. He painted long, oval faces with elongated necks and long limbs, giving the characters a melancholy mood. The skin is often rusty and all forms are outlined. Eyes, noses and mouths are not on the 'right' place, but still offer a balanced and credible image.

Instruction  
Look at Modigliani's paintings with the students and discuss the salient features:

• faces are elongated
• faces are often skewed
• use of warm colors
• all shapes are outlined in black

What do you need?

• black construction paper A4
• oil pastels
• colored paper for background

What should you do you?

1. Divide the black sheet into 8 sections. 
2. Draw an oval, starting at the middle line to slightly above the center of the top section. 
3. Draw a neck from the head to the middle bottom section.
4. Draw shoulders, eyes, nose and mouth. 
5. Trace pencil lines with black oil pastel. 
6. Color the portrait with oil pastels. Do not touch the black lines. 
7. Color the background until you don't see any black. 
8. Paste the work on a colored sheet.

Artworks made by students of grade 4-6.

Half chicken

In this lesson students draw one chicken together. 

What do you need? 

• drawing sheet 
• oil pastels
• blue liquid water color
• brush
• jar with water

What should you do? 

1. Fold a sheet in half.
2. Draw  half a chicken against the fold. 
3. Color with oil pastels. 
4. Draw with white oil pastel one or more eggs. 
5. Mark with two little lines the places where your classmate has to connect and draw a mark for the hight of the horizon line.
6. Give the sheet folded to your classmate; be sure he doesn't see your drawing. Tell him whether he should draw a head or a body. 
7. When your classmate is ready, unfold the sheet. Hilarious!
8. Paint the whole drawing with blue water color paint and lots of water. The oil pastels will resist the water.

Artworks made by students of grade 3.