SchoolArts - March 2011

Exploring idea and media while developing skills is always an interesting challenge in the middle grades. Providing art units that address these areas while also giving every student the opportunity to succeed is always on my agenda. My school operates with a multi-age structure grouping students in grades six through eight. Thus, I have students with exceptional skills, as well as brand new students with very little experience. Because of this, building layers into units that address diverse learning levels is key. Amy Ruopp

Addressing the Self-Portrait

I wanted to approach portraiture differently this year. Often, the daunting task of having to draw a self-portrait turns some students away, so I set out to create portraits with realistic like-nesses while incorporating an exploration of multiple materials and allowing an expressive quality to weave its way into the work.

We began by discussing traditional portraiture. Traditionally drawn portraits often feel stiff because so much emphasis is put on technique and achieving a physical likeness. Often the student’s personality gets lost in translation.

Alternative Self-Portraits

We discussed self-portraits that placed more emphasis on students’ personalities. I asked them to each think of a pose or facial expression that really expressed something about their individuality. Once each person had a few poses in mind, we spent a class period photographing these poses. As a class we looked at the photos, offering supportive input to ones that were especially original and fun. Each student selected his or her favorite photo and I printed them on 8 x 10" ( 20 x 25 cm) paper. (We used regular paper instead of photo paper since the photos would be marked up.)

With the photos in hand, I explained that students were going to blow these photos up proportionally. More experienced students would do a portrait as large as 5 x 5' ( 1. 5 x 1. 5 m), while less experienced students would enlarge their photos to a 24 x 30" (61 x 76 cm) size.

The 24 x 30" size was a simple proportional jump, while the others had to make cropping decisions and come up with different formulas. Once formulas were developed, students carefully graphed their photos, then did the same on a larger blank sheet of paper.

One Square at a Time

Students’ next task was to enlarge the
self-portraits proportionally onto the
big paper. They first focused on only
line and shape, not giving attention to
shading or textures. I suggested that
students begin in one corner and work
their way across (or down), progress-
ing in sequential adjoining squares.
Rulers were used throughout to
measure the sizes of shapes and
lengths of line. Looking at one
square at a time helped students
make the conceptual jump from
naming the object they were
drawing to seeing them as shapes
with size relationships. After sev-
eral classes, students had their
enlarged portraits ready for the
next step.

Media Expressions

I asked students to consider which medium or materials would best express their personalities. Were they dramatic like the effect of charcoal? Were they layered with lots hidden below the surface like collage? Were they bold like oil pastels? Soft-spoken like blended colored pencils?

Beginning students selected two media and applied them in a checkerboard fashion. The more experienced students selected three different media and experimented more with combinations of materials. Possibilities included oil pastel, charcoal, collage, pencil, paint, and colored pencils.

I asked all students to treat each
square as an independent composi-
tion, respecting
the shapes that
were drawn, but
not thinking about
them as hair or
hands or eyes. As
students completed
one square and moved to the next, I
asked them to be mindful of the edges
of each square and to emphasize art-
istry, especially where the edge of one
square met another.

The final results were incredible. Each portrait was a complex collection of thoughts, ideas, and feelings all combined with a likeness that even surprised the students. Every student felt proud of what he or she had created. All the students were able to share new techniques they had discovered about the materials. They were especially pleased with the physical likeness, which had the least amount of emphasis.