Pop Art Portrait Lesson

Our Pop Art Portrait Lesson demonstrates how to simplify and develop any image to create a classic Pop Art image.

Step 1 - Choosing an Image.

Start with a photocopy or photograph of the image you wish to use for your Pop Art Portrait. For this demonstration we have chosen a detail of Leonardo's Mona Lisa, the most famous portrait in the history of art, but you could use any image that you want.

Note: The best images to choose are those that have a strong contrast between their areas of dark and light. It is also helpful, as you will discover later in this lesson, that the proportions of your image can be divided into squares. Note that our photocopy of the Mona Lisa was cropped to fit a 4X5 square grid (mouse-over the illustration).

Step 2 - Drawing an Outline.

Draw an outline to simplify and separate the main areas of dark and light in the image. It is best to keep the outline strong and simple without too much detail.

Step 3 - Trace and Transfer.

Trace and transfer your outline drawing onto a fresh sheet of paper. You can do this by using tracing paper or a lightbox.

Step 4 - Adding Tone

Shade in the dark areas of your drawing to re-establish the basic tones of the original portrait. This will help you when it comes to selecting appropriate tones, colors, patterns and textures for your image.

Step 5 - Making a Template Image

Finally, draw a square grid over the image. This will help you transfer your drawing section by section on any scale that you require. On completion you can erase the grid lines.

Your drawing is now ready to use as a template to produce a range of Pop Art Portraits using color, tone, pattern and texture as illustrated in our examples below.

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.

Pop Art Portrait 1 - Color

In this example, our Pop Art Portrait was created by coloring the template drawing with primary and secondary colors, being careful to select the brighter colors for the lightest tones and darker colors for the darkest tones. If you are not careful in balancing the tones and colors, the image may lose impact or look like a negative.

Pop Art Portrait 2 - Pattern

In this example, our Pop Art Portrait was created by filling sections of the template drawing with different patterns. The central area of the face and the small details were filled with single colors to make them more visible against the strong pattern. Too much pattern has the effect of camouflaging the image. Care has also been taken over the tonal composition, being careful to select brighter patterns and colors for the lightest tones.

Pop Art Portrait 3 - Tone

In this example, our Pop Art Portrait was created by filling sections of the template drawing with graduated airbrushed colors. This technique involves masking and spraying various sections of the image with colored inks.

Alternatively, using a soft color medium like pastels which you can blend with a tissue is a suitable dry method of creating graduated colors.

Pop Art Portrait 4 - Texture

In this example, our Pop Art Portrait was created by filling the different tonal sections of the work with two contrasting watercolor textures: one using hot and dark colors for the darker tones; the other using mainly a mixture of cool and light colors for the lighter tones.

Click on the image or link above to get a large version of this template which you may copy and print to help you with drawing a Pop Art Portrait. You will find all the instructions in our Pop Art Portrait Lesson. You can also cut up the template into its 20 squares to use in our Pop Art Group Project. This is a collaborative artwork for up to 20 people where each participant completes an individual section of the image which is then assembled with the others to create a unique work of art. You will find the instructions for this lesson in our Pop Art Group Project.       Pop Art Portrait Lessons     Pop Art Portrait Lesson   Pop Art An Appreciation   Pop Art Group Project Our Pop Art Portrait Lesson demonstrates how to simplify, color and develop an image to create a classic Pop Art Portrait.   Our Pop Art and Pop Artists link offers you information about the history and artists associated with this popular style of art.   Our Pop Art Group Project allows for up to 20 individuals to participate equally in the creation of an iconic Pop Art Portrait.           Create Your Own Pop Art Portrait Both our Pop Art lessons use the iconic images below to demonstrate the bold and colorful techniques of this popular art style from the 1960's. You can click on any of these famous faces to link to an example of their pop art portrait.