
Our
Pop Art Group Projects are collaborative artworks for up to 20
people. Each participant completes a section of the image which
is then assembled with the others to create a unique artwork.
The
strength of this lesson lies in the fact that all of the participants,
irrespective of their individual artistic abilities, contribute
to the success of the whole project and consequently a sense of
achievement is shared by all. Follow the instructions below to
see how it works.
Step
1 - Creating a Template

You
start the project by creating a template
image. You can find out how to do this in our Pop
Art Portrait Lesson.
Note:
You also have the option of printing any of our eighteen different
A3 template portraits that you can reach by clicking on the pop
art portraits at the bottom of each page.
Step
2 - Cutting up the Template

Next,
you cut out the individual square sections of the template drawing
and distribute them among the participants.
Step
3 - Coloring the Sections

Each
person then takes their individual template section and creates
a color version.
Note:
It is important to use bright colors, patterns or textures for
the light tones, and dark colors, patterns or textures for the
dark tones. Sticking to this rule will help you to create a unified
image and keep the result recognizable.
The
completed portrait can be a product of either design or chance:
Step
4 - Reconstructing the Image

When
all the individual sections are completed, they are arranged to
reconstruct a colorful and surprising interpretation of the portrait.
The surprise of the final result is increased if the participants
are kept in the dark about the identity of the subject. It is
always good fun discovering who it is as the image is rebuilt.
Step
5 - The Final Result

Finally,
all the individual sections are glued down onto a large sheet
of paper or card to complete our Pop Art Group Project.
Experiment with the Scale

It
is possible to increase the scale of the final work by making
each section proportionally larger. If each section was scaled
up to 1 metre square, the final work would be 4X5 metres. This
is a good method for creating large scale artworks with a group
of students.
Pop
Art Group Project 1 - Colors

In
this example of our Pop Art Group Project, each section was colored,
using a premixed palette of bright and dark colors, relating to
the tones of its corresponding template section. Those sections
which were indicated as skin were colored using a premixed palette
of flesh tones.
Pop
Art Group Project 2 - Tones

In
this example of our Pop Art Group Project, each section was shaded
with either light or dark graduated colors relating to the corresponding
tones on each template section.
Pop
Art Group Project 3 - Patterns

In
this example of our Pop Art Group Project, the light areas of
each section were colored with bright colors, whereas the shaded
areas were filled with dark patterns. In developing this example
it was discovered that using patterns for both light and dark
areas tended to camouflage the image.
Pop
Art Group Project 4 - Textures

In
this example of our Pop Art Group Project, the light areas of
each section were colored with bright textures, whereas the shaded
areas were filled with dark textures. Textures can be created
with any wet or dry medium or can be collaged from photographic
or printed materials.