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and Portrait Drawing Related Subjects: Visual & Performing Arts, English-Language Arts Grades: 3-5 Medium: Drawing Author: SDMA Education Department Class time required: Two 45-minute class sessions  read/post
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 In this two-session lesson, students will learn the correct proportions of the human face. Students will sharpen their observation skills while creating blind contour drawings and self-portraits. Students will also examine images of portraits, and discuss the components and their significance. back to top   • Sketchbooks • Pencils • Erasers • Card stock (8 1/2 x 11) • Mirrors • Drawing paper • Example of “Joe Generic” • Images Online Materials
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Session One: • Print the images listed above onto overhead transparencies • In the center of each piece of card stock, make a 1/2 inch ‘x’ with an X-acto or other sharp knife. This ‘x’ should be large enough for the students to place a pencil through. Session Two:
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Session One: Blind Contour Drawings 1. Begin a discussion with the students about portraiture: What is a portrait? Where have you seen a portrait? Do you have any portraits in your home? What does the portrait look like? Why do people make portraits? Are portraits drawn from the imagination, real life, or both? Have students look up ‘portrait’ in the dictionary, if necessary. 2. Show the students the transparency images. Use the following questions to guide the discussion about the images: • What is this picture called? (a portrait) • What can we discover about this person by looking at his/her portrait? • What other items were painted in the portrait? What does this tell you about this person? • What does the clothing tell you about this person? • Why would someone want his/her portrait painted? • What is the most important color in the portrait? What does this color mean to you? • How is this portrait different than another? (subject, color, time period, nationality, etc.) • Does the person in this portrait look like someone you would want to meet? Why or why not? • Do you think this portrait was painted from real life or from the artist’s imagination? Why? 3. Draw a straight line on the board. Ask the students: What is this called? What type of lines did you see in the portraits? (straight, wavy, curved, thick, thin, broken, etc.) How are lines used in art? 4. Demonstrate how to do a contour drawing: just draw the outer edge (outline) of an object in the classroom, but do not fill the object in. Ask students: If this is a contour drawing, what do you think a blind contour drawing is? (a contour drawing done without looking at what you are drawing). Ask students: Why would someone want to draw something without looking at the drawing? (to focus on observing the object, rather than the drawing). 5. Demonstrate how to do a blind contour drawing on a piece of paper taped to the board. Place your pencil through the ‘x’ in the card stock, which will prevent you from seeing your drawing. Hold on to the pencil under the card stock so that the card stock covers your hand. This will prevent you from seeing your hand, the paper, and the tip of the pencil. Extend your other hand out directly in front of you. Show the students how to draw your hand by closely observing the straight and curved lines. Walk them through the drawing, mentioning when you focus on the knuckles, the nails, the length of each finger, etc. Make an analogy to the movie experience: What is more important when you go to the movies, the stub from your ticket or watching the movie? Drawing is similar to watching the movie: the action of drawing is the experience, not the drawing that is left afterwards. How you observe is most important. Show the students your drawing, once finished. 6. Give each student a sketchbook, pencil, and piece of card stock Show the students how to place their pencils through the ‘x’ in the center of the card stock. Give students time to draw their hands. If time permits, have the students pick other objects in the classroom and draw additional blind contour drawings. 7. Use the following questions to debrief with the students: What was the most difficult part of completing blind contour drawings? Why do you think it is important for artists to practice observation skills? How else do you think artists improve their observation skills? Session Two: Self-portraiture 1. Remind students about the importance of observations in realistic art. Instruct each student to place his/her right hand on top of his/her head, palm down. Then, place the left hand on his/her chin, palm down. Ask the students to look at their neighbors. Where are his/her eyes? (In the middle, right in between the hands.) Where is his/her mouth? (Down near the chin.) 2. Explain to the students that today they will learn how to observe their own faces and draw self-portraits. First, they will learn how to draw the correct proportions, and then they will observe their own faces. 3. Hand out sketchbooks and pencils to the students. Introduce the students to “Joe,” the imaginary person you will be drawing with balanced facial proportions. As you teach the proportions of “Joe,” ask the students to follow along, copying the information in their sketchbooks. 4. Draw an oval. Next, draw a straight dashed line, from crown to chin, that cuts the face into two equal parts. Then, draw another straight, horizontal dashed line cutting the bottom and top halves of the face into two equal parts. 5. The eyes are located exactly ½ way down on the head. Center the eyes along the horizontal line. Each eye is about 1/5 the width of the head, so there should be an ‘eye’s width’ between the two eyes. Draw the pupils and the eyebrows. 6. The nostrils are located ½ way between the eyes and the chin, centered on the vertical line. The outer edges of the nostrils look like two parentheses. Make the two parentheses and the holes for the nostrils. Connect the two holes with a ‘u’ shaped wavy line. 7. The mouth is connected to the nose and is located ½ way between the nose and the chin. Draw two vertical lines that connect the nose to the lips. Now draw the lips. The edges of the lips line up with the pupils in the eyes. 8. The ears extend from the eyebrows to the bottom of the nose. Draw the ears. 9. Instruct the students to place the palms of both hands along the length of their necks. Point out that their necks extend almost all the way to their ears, so when drawing the neck, start by the ears and make it nice and wide. Now draw the neck. 10. The hair does not sit on top of the crown of the head, but extends down onto the forehead and around to the ears. Now draw the hair. 11. Hand out mirrors, erasers, and drawing paper to each student. Instruct the students to look at themselves in the mirror and observe how their facial proportions are similar and different to "Joe’s" proportions. Using their sketchbook notes, ask the students to draw their self-portraits, following steps 4-10. 12. Use the following questions to debrief with the students: What was different about your facial features and Joe’s facial features? Do you think artists use mirrors when drawing or painting self-portraits? 13. Ask each student to write a paragraph describing the expression he/she was trying to capture in his/her portrait and whether he/she felt successful. Extensions English-Language Arts: Have each student choose a portrait from a book or the Internet. Have the student locate the museum where the artwork can be found. Assign each student to write a letter to a curator at that museum to ask for more information about the work of art. The students can also write a short report about the artwork and the artist. English-Language Arts: Have each student choose two portraits: one from the lesson plan and another that is a photographic portrait from a book or the Internet. Ask each student to compare/contrast the two portraits. Then students can write descriptive paragraphs or persuasive essays about their comparisons. back to top  • If sketchbooks are not available, students can make their own. Assemble 20-30 pieces of plain white paper together (preferably white construction paper) using staples, yarn, or other binding materials. back to top  CA Content Standards Third Grade Visual Arts 1.5 Identify and describe elements of art in works of art, emphasizing line, color, shape/form, texture, space, and value. 2.1 Explore ideas for art in a personal sketchbook. 2.4 Create a work of art based on the observation of objects and scenes in daily life, emphasizing value changes. 3.1 Compare and describe various works of art that have a similar theme and were created at different time periods. 4.1 Compare and contrast selected works of art and describe them, using appropriate vocabulary of art. 4.3 Select an artist's work and, using appropriate vocabulary of art, explain its successful compositional and communicative qualities. Fourth Grade Visual Arts: 1.4 Describe the concept of proportion (in face, figure) as used in works of art. 1.5 Describe and analyze the elements of art (color, shape/form, line, texture, space and value), emphasizing form, as they are used in works of art and found in the environment. 2.2 Use the conventions of facial and figure proportions in a figure study. 2.5 Use accurate proportions to create an expressive portrait or a figure drawing or painting. Fifth Grade Visual Arts: 1.3 Use their knowledge of all the elements of art to describe similarities and differences in works of art and in the environment. 2.2 Create gesture and contour observational drawings. 2.7 Communicate values, opinions, or personal insights through an original work of art. Third Grade English-Language Arts: 2.2 Write descriptions that use concrete sensory details to present and support unified impressions of people, places, things, or experiences. 2.3 Write personal and formal letters, thank-you notes, and invitations. Fourth Grade English-Language Arts: 2.1 Write narratives. 2.3 Write information reports. Fifth Grade English-Language Arts: 2.3 Write research reports about important ideas, issues, or events. 2.4 Write persuasive letters or compositions. back to top  Teachers Technique: Hodge, Susie. How to Draw Portraits: A Step-By-Step Guide For Beginners With 10 Projects. London: New Holland, 2000. Self-Portrait Ideas Extension of drawing self-portraits: pillow portraits, memory boxes, about me PowerPoint projects and more. History: Bell, Julian. Five Hundred Self-Portraits. London: Phaidon Press, 2000 A Brush with History: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery An online exhibition of portraits that explore the lives of people in America’s past. Includes a Teacher’s Guide. Retratos: 2,000 years of Latin American Portraiture Traveling Exhibition Web site that shares the history of Latin American portraiture. Includes a teacher’s guide with transparencies. Students Technique: Kistler, Mark. Draw Squad. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1988. Draw a Self-Portrait Includes biographical information and images of Frida Kahlo and Rembrandt van Rijn. History: Roalf, Peggy. Self-Portraits. New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 1993. Rohmer, Harriet (Ed.). Just like Me: Stories and Self-Portraits by Fourteen Artists. San Francisco, CA: Children’s Book Press, 1997. Carmine’s Introduction to Portraits Easy introduction to portraits: includes images. A Family Portrait Introduces famous artists who painted their families. Includes instructions for painting your own family portrait. Portrait for Kids, National Gallery of Art Follow the clues and help solve a make-believe mystery! Using your noggin and a special spyglass tool, you'll uncover hidden layers of the painting and learn fascinating facts about the portrait along the way, from the National Gallery of Art. Let the sleuthing begin! Fiction: Rosellini, Eleanor, F. The Puzzle in the Portrait. Zionsville, IN: Guild Press, 1999. A mystery involving a precocious little girl, an active boy, a grumpy grandfather and a family history involving three generations. back to top |
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Line and Portrait Drawing 3rd grade student San Diego, CA |
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