Artists Roy Lichtenstein and Tom Wesselmann used images from popular culture to create some of the most renowned pop art of the twentieth century. Visit VMFA to view their fabulous works of inspiration and get ideas for your own pop art creation.
What you need:
• Magazine
• Tracing paper, white paper
• Pencil (we suggest using a 2B grade or softer, if possible)
• Permanent marker
• Acrylic paints in primary colors (red, yellow, and blue)
• Cotton swabs
What you do:
1. Flip through a magazine and tear out an advertisement or photo that catches your eye.
2. Place a sheet of tracing paper over the magazine page.
Using a permanent marker, trace the contour lines, or outlines, of your image. Focus on drawing the lines and shapes, rather than shadows or small details.
3. With your pencil, shade the entire back of the tracing paper. (Tip: Hold the pencil loosely at an angle while applying light pressure).
4. Place your tracing paper over a sheet of white paper (shaded side down), and retrace the contour lines, pressing down hard with your pencil. This will transfer the image to the paper. Draw over this transfer with your permanent marker.
5. To make your art pop, add dots of primary colors in a grid-like fashion using cotton swabs dipped in paint.
Take it further: You can also explore secondary colors through pointillism. For green, use this technique and alternate colors, placing many small dots of yellow and blue paint close together. No mixing – your eyes will do the work for you! This is called optical mixing.
