Lesson Plan: Victor Vasarely Plan ID: 1534
by Brandy Bergenstock(submitted Jul10,2007)
Peninsula Arts Homeschool Center - VA, United States
for grade level » Middle (5-8)
media type » Drawing
A lesson in line quality and depth through simple line manipulation.
Sample Artwork:
Materials (what you need)
Examples of Victor Vasarely's works
Large paper (large construction paper size is fine)
pre-cut circles of varying sizes (we used two sizes of paper plates)
rulers
pencils
erasers
coloring supplies (we used oil pastels so the students could experiment with it as a new medium)
Procedure (what you need)
Have the students trace at least one circle, more if they want more shapes in their design, on the paper with a light pencil. A lot of this line will get erased so go lightly here. Take the ruler and trace it's width all the way down. I find using the width the ruler eliminated them having to measure each increment and was a great spacer for the project. Go from left to right, stopping short of drawing through the circles you have already put down on the paper. In these now empty holes, bend the line that would be straight a bit to the left (or right, whatever) as you cross the divide from line to the next. The lines at the edges will be more bent then the lines in the middle of the circle. The more bend you give it, the more it looks like it's poking out, but all the lines, even the one in the middle, needs to be bent a little. Add color to every other square.
This project worked best with 5th graders and above. I did have 1st graders doing this, but they were quite vexed at having to draw all those lines. The pictures here are about 15 x 25 inches large. Smaller circles can be trickey so large paper is recommended.
Discussion Questions
How can color help add to the dimensional look of the shape on the paper?
what do the shapes in the circles look like; squares, diamonds, pentagrams? Draw them by themselves.
Resources
online images of Vasarely's works
Follow-up Activities
drawing cross hatches, and other shading techniques that use line quality and line shape to help define space.
Content Keywords
2-dimensional, 3-dimensional, balance, form, line, pattern, proportion, repetition, shape, space, style