Self-portraits with 9-13 group

With each new group of students I like to do a guided self-portrait exercise. The class involves the students observing their own faces in the mirror and following my instructions until their portraits are complete. The exercise allows me to explain the proportional tricks with each facial feature and demonstrate on the board, the common mistakes people make when trying to draw themselves realistically. 

Some of these mistake include:

1. Eyes far too big without enough attention to the eye-lids and creases surrounding the eyes. Once students take their time to look at the unique lines that create their expressions they will begin to see a resemblance. Some of the eyes in the examples below are still a bit big but a huge improvement from the originals.

2. Drawing every little hair and eyelash (that you can't really see when you look at yourself in the mirror). I encouraged the students to sketch tonal areas for their hair. I also encouraged the students to focus on the movement of their hair and how it falls around their face. Drawing consistent strands will make drawings look like cartoons rather than realistic observations.

3. Big, round nostrils. While some people look like they have permanently flaired nostrils, it is quite uncommon! Once I taught the students how to create the form of their noses using shadows and highlights, their faces began to look more three-dimensional.

Overall the activity took just under 2 hours with a break half way through. Next lesson we will be adding final details and tonal backgrounds.

Please excuse terrible lighting of photos!

Year One Relief: Warm Hands and Cool Backgrounds!

Pet Rock fish and Fish bowls!

Motivational Posters and paper curling borders with my 9-13 group

Paul Klee Inspired Cats with my 7-10 group

Jim Dine Hearts: Finger painting, oil pastels and paper weaving with my 7-10 class

Cats and Dogs in Space: Holiday Class with 5-7 year olds

Easter Egg Cards with my 7-10 Group

Painting Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol with my 9-13 group

For the last three classes we have been gradually building up portraits of Warhol and Frida. We began by lightly outlining the faces onto the canvas using the grid method, based on printed out photos of the artists. We also made monochromatic scales, mixing as many shades of purple/green as we could. The students first applied their midtones then focused on applying darker tones, then finally lighter tones. The students were then asked to choose a colour that complements one of the shades of green/purple for the back ground. They were shown a colour wheel in order to make this decision (choosing a shade on the opposite side of the wheel).

Upside Down Drawings with my 9-13 group

I really love doing this activity because it helps students to be less precious about their work and gives them a chance to have a laugh with each other at the end of the lesson. 

I got the idea from reading Betty Edward's "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain." She encourages students to practice this method of drawing as it forces them to focus on the lines and shapes that make up a picture rather than informing their drawings on preconceived ideas of what objects look like. I handed out print-outs of Picasso's drawing of a man sitting in a chair and a knight on a horse and asked them to turn them upside down and draw from the top of the page downwards. I think the results are great!

Drawing Using a Grid with my 9-13 Class

Eric Carle Style Collages and Book-Making

The best part about this project was getting the students to make 'pages of texture and colour.' This involved using balloons, toothpicks, brushes and their hands to apply paint to several pages. I encouraged the students to work together and discuss how many pages they would need for the sky and grass. The students were to share all the pages when making their collages so it was an excellent exercise in getting the kids to think about the needs of the whole class above their own.