In Mrs. Johnson’s Art Room, 2nd Graders created a portrait from memory first, without any drawing instruction (called a “preliminary portrait”).
Then, we looked at artists who had created self portraits from observation:
Frida Kahlo, "Self Portrait with Monkey" (www.albrightknox.org)
Vincent van Gogh, "Self Portrait" (www.artquotes.net/masters/vangogh)
Pablo Picasso, "Self Portrait" (www.artchive.com)
Then, students used mirrors to draw from observation – the challenge is to draw exactly what you see! We also discussed tips for drawing each facial feature and part of the portrait. We found that a face is really made up of a series of measurements:
Proportions of the head (www.artyfactory.com)
After drawing and coloring the portraits, students added an expressive background using the wet-on-wet watercolor painting technique. Here are some examples of our work:
Compare the preliminary portrait with the final portrait!
BEFORE:
AFTER:
BEFORE:
AFTER:
Leave a Reply