Radial Designs-6th Grade

For the 6th grader's first project of the year we worked on a project called Radial Designs. Students begin with at least five dots anywhere on their page. Their job is to then 'radiate' from the center of those dots using nice smooth circular lines. No line is allowed to touch another. This usually proves more difficult than it looks. I am very interested in cross-curricular lesson planning by bringing other subjects into the art room. During this project we talk about some math vocabulary especially when it comes to radial symmetries. I connected this math concept to art history by showing works from the 1960's Op Art movement. Much of the art, but not all, produced during this period utilized radial symmetry. I've noticed that students are usually very intrigued by this type of art. Work like M.C. Escher, the Magic Eye series and even Martin Handford of  "Where's Waldo" fame come to mind.
During this project we also studied color theory in depth. The students were able to look at works of art and tell me whether the artist used complimentary, analogous or monochromatic color schemes. We even looked at some fast food chain logos and discovered that many of these logos are designed with colors that make each other pop out (complimentary) to draw your eye. For this project, the six graders chose either a complimentary, analogous or monochromatic color scheme to complete their designs.