Portraits,Portraits,Portraits

I have so many ideas about portraits that I have decided to teach the 8th grade students about series. Students will  create a series of portraits in different mediums.

Identity Portraits. I found this idea on Pinterest and thought I'd give it a go myself. After trying it myself (above) I decided that I am going to use this portrait idea in a series of portraits for 8th graders to do. The Identity portrait starts with a basic pencil drawing of themselves. Not a whole lot of features, just enough about themselves, hair length, common outfit, ect. After they draw out themselves, they will fill in specific sections using just words that describes them. For example my hair says blonde hair medium length all in the shape of my hair. Around my eyes it says blue. My lips say "plain lips" because I hate lipstick. You get the point. What I do recommend is that you pick a color scheme such as warm/cool or analogous colors. The randomness of color takes away for the art.

 

 

The next portrait in the series is one I found on Flickr. It's a Roy Lichtenstein inspired portrait. Students can create this portrait either using marker (above) or paint and q-tips. I take a picture of the students and print it out in black and white. Students trace with a sharpie their outline and features of themselves. The key is to get the sharpie to bleed through. Students then color the back of the photo with pencil making it very dark. Then they place the picture on white paper, trace over the sharpie lines, and make a transfer. Finally they fill in the portrait with circle. Fun easy and enjoyable. Don't forget the blurb!

Final portrait in the series is a monochromatic self-portrait created in acrylic paint. Students use a picture of them self, grid it, and redraw it on a larger white sheet of paper (incorporating math folks!). Student learn about value, tints, shade, and create a value scale before they begin to paint. The key concept for them to understand and what i stumble upon often is to remind them and teach them to start LIGHT and then add in the darks. A lot of students want to just paint the pure color their skin color.
In the end I have learned that if you purchase an industrial roll of plastic wrap, you can put their paint in meat trays, wrap it up, and they can continue using the same paint the next day. Saves lots of money!