Reflections
I felt this project had
several purposes. Our students loved painting their teachers.
It was a wonderful project to end
the school year and helped us welcome the next. From an art teacher’s
standpoint, it was also good to know
that when school starts, we did not
have empty walls, but had student
art that related to our “Meet the
Teacher” event.
A few weeks after school started,
I gave each teacher their painted
portrait and many of them displayed
them inside or outside their classroom. Several of our teachers have
kept these portraits and have them
on display in their room for several
years. Our teachers loved to see how
their students viewed them.
I do this project every four
years because I want it to
be a fresh project for students.
With this lesson, young artists learn
about proportion, and how to make
a life-size portrait, while practicing
observation and cooperative learn-
ing. I invite you to try it.
Sara Schmickle Kirker is an art teacher at
Apple Glen Elementary School in Bentonville, Arkansas. skirker@bentonville.k12.
ar.us
NATIONAL STANDARD
Students use visual structures and
functions of art to communicate
ideas.
Materials
• reproductions of portraits
• 9 x 12" ( 23 x 30 cm) paper
and bulletin board paper
• pencils
• opaque projector
• tempera paint
• markers
• colored pencils
• scissors
WEB LINK
www.animatedbuzz.com/tutorials/
proportion.html
