Visual Arts
Grade 1
5: American Contributions
4 40-minute lessons
design
How can I represent myself creatively?
I can make a self portrait.
I can use my imagination to make art.
I can tell you why and how I made my art.
Visual Arts
Grade 1
5: American Contributions
4 40-minute lessons
design
How can I represent myself creatively?
I can make a self portrait.
I can use my imagination to make art.
I can tell you why and how I made my art.
Display the artwork images. Lead a discussion on the features of the portraits that they like. Discuss the shapes, patterns, colors, textures, and the background.
Work with students in small groups to project and trace two silhouettes of their profiles.
Students will assist in tracing each other’s silhouettes.
Demonstrate how to cut out the silhouettes, being sure to remind the students to stay on the pencil lines to preserve both the negative and the positive parts of the silhouette.
Have students cut out their silhouettes and glue them to a white background sheet.
Brainstorm images that could be used to represent the students’ past, present and future selves.
Generate a list of ideas. Some ideas for past may include a landmark from where they grew up, or an image of the country or state where they where born. Images for the present could be a hobby, a favorite book, toy or sport. The future may be a vocation they hope to go on.
Demonstrate how to use a search engine to find images from the brainstorming session.
Show the students how to print the images.
Students will participate in the brainstorming session. Then, they will write about one image they want to include for past, one for future, and one for present.
They will take their writing to the computer lab to find and print images to use in their mixed media piece.
Show students how to add pastel to their art piece and glue down their printed images.
Have students add detail to their artwork. They may want to add more hand-drawn images and/or create a border for their portraits. Allow students the opportunity to personalize their artwork.
black construction paper, white construction paper, pastels, overhead projector, pencils, scissors
silhouette, self-portrait, technique, positive space, negative space
Noah Davis, Black Widow with Brothers Fighting, 2008. Oil on canvas, 52 x 60 inches (132.1 x 152.4 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA. Gift of Marjorie and Michael Levine, 2009.4.1. © Noah Davis. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Kehinde Wiley, Ivelaw III (study), 2006. Pencil and oil on paper, 27 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches (69.9 x 54.6 cm). Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Promised gift of Blake Byrne in honor of Raymond D. Nasher, L.4.2007.36. © Kehinde Wiley Studio. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Zhang Dali, Demolition (Ping’an Avenue Beijing), 1999. C-Print, 35 3/8 x 23 5/8 inches (89.9 x 60 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, Durham, NC, USA. Museum purchase with funds provided by The Lori and David Arthur Fund for Asian Art, 2008.10.1. © Zhang Dali. Courtesy Eli Klein Fine Art.