Children like pop art because it uses instantly recognizable objects.
The 1950s saw the rise of a new art form called "Pop Art." Pop Art seeks to make use of ordinary and often mass-produced objects and place them into the realm of artistic expression. Photographs, dime store novel book covers, comic book images and even soup cans have been used to express artists' visions. Pop Art is popular with school-age children because of its use of things that children may already be familiar with.
Richard Hamilton and Photo Collage
Considered the first pop artist, British artist Richard Hamilton took the art world by storm with his photo collages. Photo collage is very easy for children to understand and easy for a teacher to work into their art curriculum by using old magazines. Have the children draw their own background and put an interesting collage together of a family or some other thematic idea such as a slumber or birthday party by cutting out pictures in discarded magazines. Magazines can be donated by either parents, other teachers or purchased for little to nothing from your local library.
Warhol Pop Art Portraits
Most people associate the term Pop Art with Andy Warhol, who famously elevated a common soup can into a sought-after piece of art. Demonstrate Warhol's techniques by having your children make a Warhol-type portrait. Have the children draw a picture of themselves on a piece of construction paper. Xerox these drawings onto three other brightly colored sheets of paper and tape them together. Have the children draw around the portraits with a black marker to imitate Warhol's emphatic style of portraiture. You can also have the children bring in cans of food to draw and subsequently donate the food to a food drive at the local food bank, teaching art and the art of giving all at once.
Keith Haring Portraits
Children will easily grasp Keith Haring's distinct style of almost stick-figure like drawings. As they are easy for children to imitate, they make for an easy art project and couple neatly with how art can address social issues that fragment the world today. Have your children draw the stick figures that cover an issue that is bothering the children, be it how the handicapped are treated, how the world needs more love, or how money affects everyday society. Haring portraits work well with chalk on construction paper as well as mottled backgrounds. Haring's drawings will also help students understand proportions, with their exaggerated over-large hearts, dollar bills and tiny human figures.
Wayne Thiebaud
With his use of common images of gumballs, pies and most notably cakes, children will be delighted to participate in a project involving Wayne Theibaud. Have your room mother or local bakery donate cupcakes, one for each child, and have the children draw the cake with bold colors. Theibauld's art will demonstrate how even the most common item can be elevated into art. You can also use Theibauld's Three Machines full of gumballs as an example of pop art. Fill a large jar with gumballs and have the children draw what they see and then guess the number of balls in the jar. Not only will it teach them about drawing, but it will also serve as a mini-math lesson on estimation and spacial relevance.
