Markers may be used to create pop art.
Markers are easy for art students to manipulate and may be used in place of paints for several art projects. Even dried-out markers may be dipped into water and used to create a masterpiece of your own. Markers have tips which help art students to control the flow of the color and even overlap for creating various new shades and patterns.
Pop Art
Roy Lichtenstein made comic-strip paintings famous in the sixties using Benday dots. The same effect may be achieved by using the points of markers. Enlarge a comic strip or a high contrast photo and trace it onto paper. The students fill in the traced image using the tips of markers creating dots similar to comic strips. Advanced art students may create their own drawings rather than tracing images. Give the students background information regarding Pop Art, including Benjamin Day, the printer after whom the dots are named.
Camouflage Art
Advanced art students can make their own camouflage, or hidden object, artwork using markers. Have a series of objects such as shoes, kitchen items, fruit, toys and blocks on display for the students to sketch out. They then fill in the page with colors using markers, hiding an object within the piece by the use of color. Another example is using a patterned background, such as zebra stripes, and then having students trace their own hand onto the drawing and fill the drawing in with color, which will camouflage their hand. A visual of this example is shown on The Art Classroom website.
Abstract Art
Abstract art is the expression of rhythm and color and may be achieved by tracing shapes such as circles and triangles onto a sheet of paper in a repetitious way and then filling in with color using markers. Sonia Delaunay, an abstract artist, made this type of abstract art famous. A visual of her work to use as an example and part of the art lesson may be found on the Art Projects for Kids website.
The Mural Art Project
Using markers to create a mural on paper may be adapted to any level of art students. For students who are beginning, take a picture of the students in the class, and then project it onto a wall that has a large piece of paper taped to it. Have the students trace out their own photo on the paper from the projected image. Once the image has been completely traced onto the sheet of paper, each student will use markers to color in their image. The result is a precious group mural individually created.
