Wednesday, November 10, 2010

First grade Portraits starting to Emerge





This is one of my favorite projects. Perhaps, that is why it is done on almost a annual basis. I really love seeing how this little guys express themselves when learning about PORTRAIT. First we discuss PORTRAIT. What is it? What does the artist want us to see? Then we learn about putting the face together, where the features go, and how big they are compared to each other - perspective. After a couple of practice drawings, we start on the final sheet. The next step is to begin filling in color with oil pastels. I usually have them layer a couple of colors, such as orange and a "skin" color, to give our faces some warmth. Then we move onto clothing, making sure to mix at least two similar colors, finally we get to the hair. We discuss that hair is not one big piece, but many different strands that are different colors. I demonstrate how we can create the look of strans by laying lines of different color, then they create hair. To top it off, we fill in a background that could deal which seasons, events, or even different artists styles. The result is some truly amazing work!

3 comments:

Dee Dee Tamburrino said...

I never could figure out how to draw the human nose. Arabic noses can be rather large and I couldn't quite master the perspective part. I was surrounded by Arabic noses as a kid. I guess it was a cultural thing.

Suzanne said...

I always enjoy seeing the portraits hanging in the hallways. I am so impressed with the work you do with our young artists. After you taught my youngest son to draw a portrait, he came home and taught us. :)

Anonymous said...

These kids are better than I am. I am more of a stick fogure kind of guy.

Again, cool beyond words!

T-Cubed