Easy How to Draw an Op Art Cube Tutorial Video & Coloring Page

Students can learn how to draw an Op Art Cube, one of the easiest (and most satisfying!) optical illusions to create. Op art—short for optical art—is a style of visual art that uses lines, shapes, patterns, and contrast to trick the viewer’s eye into seeing movement, depth, or 3D form on a flat surface. The movement took off in the 1960s, when artists began experimenting with bold geometric designs that seemed to vibrate, shift, or pop off the page.

This cube lesson is a perfect introduction because it uses simple straight lines and repeated patterns to create the illusion of a three-dimensional form. With just a few steps, students can transform a basic cube into a piece of op art that looks like it’s turning or pushing forward—proving that you don’t need complicated drawing skills to make art that feels “wow.”

Many art historians credit Victor Vasarely as a key pioneer of the op art movement, often pointing to his 1938 work “Zebra” as an early example of the optical effects that later became famous.