Bridget Riley is a British artist who is famous for her Op Art paintings. Op Art is an art movement that uses optical illusions, or visuals that play tricks on your eyes. Many of Bridget Riley’s paintings are done in black and white, and seem to move when you look at them.
Today, create your own optical illusion using a tracing of your hand inspired by Bridget Riley’s eye capturing paintings.
This project is one of the virtual classes exploring women artists, hosted on Facebook Live from 1:30-2pm every Wednesday and Friday. Materials and instructions are posted here afterwards. Tune into the live classes to ask questions, give suggestions, and interact with other students who are stuck at home!
If you want to watch the recording of the live video, check out our Facebook page or Youtube channel!
Materials
- blank piece of paper
- markers
- pencil
Instructions
- Check out some of Bridget Riley’s work here. Make sure you scroll and see how the paintings appear to move as you scroll.
- On a blank piece of paper, trace your hand lightly with a pencil.
- Pick the colors you would like to use on your hand. Use at least two different colors.
- This project will create a hand that looks like it is raised from a flat surface. Using a marker start from the edge of the paper and draw a straight line until you reach the outline of your hand.
- Draw an arch from one outline to the other end of the outline.
- Then continue the straight line until the edge of the paper. Any space within the traced outline of your hand should be arched, and any space outside the traced outline of your hand should be a straight line.
- Making a defined arch on the back of your hand and on all the fingers, will create the illusion of a raised hand on an otherwise flat surface.
- Using the next color, repeat the last few steps, staying as close to the other line as you can. You want as little white showing as possible.
- Fill the entire paper with your colors of choice.
- Fill in any blank spaces with the correct colors when you are done.
Teach your friends and family about Bridget Riley and optical illusions. Look up video tutorials to learn how to create more optical illusions!