Middle School Studio Lesson
Self-Por trait
Printmaking
Gina Dianis
One project my sixth graders and I enjoy creating is
self-portrait printmaking.
In this project, students
use printmaking processes to design
an art image of themselves accompanied by a reflective poem.
Class begins with a discussion of
artist self-portraits. Visuals include
self-portraits by Vincent van Gogh,
Jacob Lawrence, Chuck Close, and
Elisabeth Vigée-Lebrun. Questions
that are raised include “What visual
clues does the artist present to the
viewer?” and “How has the artist
placed himself/herself within the
image?”
Facial Proportions
In the first step of the printmaking
process, students draw a diagram of
the facial proportions on a page in
their sketchbook. The facial proportions page gives students a sense of
space and placement of the details
in the face.
Two sketches for the final image
are drawn on 4½ x 6" ( 11 x 15 cm)
paper, half of students’ horizontal
9 x 12" ( 23 x 30 cm) sketchbook
page. This is the same size as the
Styrofoam board that is used for the
printing plate. I offer mirrors to students and encourage them to draw
what they see and not how they
know their faces look. I encourage
them to focus only on drawing the
head and shoulders.
Students also must include visual
clues about themselves. Their
images should visually represent
personal likes, dislikes, and/or pos-
Happy
Always good
Reading
Interesting
