Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Art

Lichtenstein

STUDENT WORK: VARIATION 1

STUDENT WORK: VARIATION 2

About the Artist: Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York in 1923. He is a pioneer of American Pop Art in America, which is a form of modern art that defies modern convention. For a great intro to pop art, consider showing this 4 minute video made for children by the Tate Museum (even if you don't show it, maybe to watch it before you teach the lesson, it's great!).

Lichtenstein is famous for his large comic-book style paintings using the primary colored ben-day dots used in the newspaper printing process. The large scale of his work allowed him to use the dots not just to create color, but as a specific design element.

With this slideshow (thanks, Cat!) and using the three discussion questions (what do you see? what makes you say that? what more can you find?), facilitate a discussion with the kids about pop art and what they think about Lichtenstein's images.

We have two fun Lichtenstein projects that you can choose from -

Supplies: 
Variation 1:
white paper, colored markers, black sharpies, large household objects with big, bold labels (i.e., Jif Peanut Butter container, Tide, Cheer, Coca-Cola, etc), dot template (if you download this one it's $5)

Variation 2:
white paper, pencils with perfectly round/flat erasers (you'll be using the backs of the pencils to create the dots of color), tiny plastic medicine cups, a classic watercolor tray, cup of water, and small pieces of paper towel (for the kids to use to wipe the pencil erasers as they switch colors), black sharpies

Activity: 
Variation 1:
Inspired by this fun lesson - pass out the household objects (this works really well when the kids are divided into table groups), and have them draw the shape, simply, on the ben-day dot template. Keep the drawing as simple as possible. Trace the simple drawing with a sharpie, and then color the dots in with the markers.

Variation 2:
Inspired by this fun lesson - After your discussion, find the slide in the slideshow featuring "Sunrise," and have the kids draw a simple outline, just like the one in Lichtenstein's painting, of the clouds, sun, and sun rays on their paper with a black sharpie. Keep the drawing as simple as possible. Dip the eraser-end of the pencil into the paints (one color at a time) to add colored dots to create the painting, just like Lichtenstein.

more student examples:

(for 8th grade, I gave them a choice of the Sunrise, or their own simple design)

SaveSave
SaveSave