to 3-D or not to 3-D? that is the question!

My fifth graders had a wonderful time making these optical illusions!This is one of those "3 Ingredient Art" projects that require minimal supplies with great results! Here is what you need:
A Ruler
A Sharpie
2 colored markers
Colored Pencils

First start off by drawing 6 intersecting lines on your paper (with the ruler) to create the "spokes" on the paper. It is important that you keep your lines intersecting at the same exact middle point on the paper. I had some alligator tears from kids who kept "messing up". Sigh. I found that six lines fit nicely onto the paper.

Inside every other "pie piece" I had the kids draw four "smiley faces". Then I had them use one colored marker to color those pie pieces in (every other one) to make a white/color/white/color pattern. It is important to leave the other pie pieces BLANK! This only confuses the kids and trust me for your own sanity's sake, making this simple on them won't make you pull your hair out!!!

After we had that done, I had them fill in the blank spaces with "sad faces". This will create the crumpled effect on the final product. Have students choose a second color to color those new patterned pieces they just made. One time I had students choose the compliment to the first color. This time I had them choose whatever they liked. Of course they had more fun that way!

Lastly, use colored pencils to shade the edges of the white areas. This creates the 3-dimensional effect where it looks like the pieces are popping out or folding down. These projects look really impressive hanging on a bulletin board; and most adults can't figure out "how'd they DO that"?! But my students know that it's all about breaking artwork down into pieces to create that impressive final product. It's our little secret.

Happy creating!