Portrait Timeline of famous Americans.

Fifth grade is the perfect time for young art students to be introduced to portraiture. Most of them are beginning to be concerned with making things look "right" in their drawings. While this is not always an artist's goal, there's a lot of interest when I introduce tips on drawing faces with correct proportions.

To begin the unit, I ask my students to make a preinstruction drawing. Their goal is to make a drawing of a face, as realistically as they can, as I describe the features. Afterwards, this drawing is put in a folder. We'll look at them later, after we've learned about the proportions of the face to see if they can answer for themselves questions they had while drawing.

Next, we begin drawing a diagram of the general proportions of the human head. The material I use to present this is found in Betty Edwards' book Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I begin by giving each student a 9 x 12" (23 x 31 cm) piece of drawing paper. Next, I have them draw a horizontal line 6" (15 cm) from the top of the page using rulers to measure. Next, they draw a vertical line 4 1/2" (11 cm) from the left side of the paper. These two lines will be the central axis line and the eye-level line. Each student measures 2 1/2" (6 cm) from the center line on both sides. This represents the sides of the head. They make a mark on the central axis line 4" (10 cm) above the eye-level line and another one 4" (10 cm) below it. This procedure gives the students a framework to draw the general shape of the head.

Taking It Step by Step

As we move from step to step, I check everyone's drawing for accuracy. I explain that we are not drawing an oval but a shape that is more like an egg. After everyone has a shape drawn for the head, I ask them to hold their ruler below the eye-level line so the left edge of the ruler is on the far left side of the head. They make a mark at the 1" (3 cm) line, the 2" (5 cm) line, the 3" (8 cm) line and the 4" (10 cm) line. It's important that they have five equal-sized spaces on the eye-level line before they draw the eyes in spaces two and four.

When we decide how wide to make the nose, I ask them to gently put their index finger in the inside corner of their eye. Drawing a line straight down, I ask them, "What do you come to?" (The edge of the nose). Now we know how to tell if we've made our nose a little too wide or a little too narrow. Likewise, I ask them to close their eyes and lightly touch with their finger where the center of the eye would be. Making a line straight down, I ask them, "What do you come to?" (The edge of the mouth.) Now we know exactly how wide to make the mouth. Touching the bottom of our ears and going straight across, we know how long our ears are and draw the ears on our drawings the same length.

Lastly, I ask them to touch just under the ear lobe. "What are you touching? " I ask them. (My neck). Now we know how wide to draw the neck. It's common for students to draw it too thin.

American History Timeline of Portraits

On the following week, we talk about our diagrams and compare them to our preinstruction drawings. I ask the students if they think they have reamed anything about the proportions of the face. Next, we begin our portraits of figures from American history. In the hallway outside the artroom is a cork strip we hang artwork on. Above this strip, I hang 2 x 12" (5 x 31 cm) colored bristol strips. The first strip has two years written on it. On the left is written 1789 and on the right is written 1797. This strip represents the length of George Washington's term as president. Similar strips down the hall make up a timeline of American history from the beginning of our country to the present.

Each student is assigned to draw a portrait of a figure from American history. The presidents are hung on the cork strip and other great Americans who contributed something significant to the development of our country are hung above them.

It's important to find pictures that have strong shadows since this is what we're looking for when we're shading. I first demonstrate to the students how to shade by pointing out to them that within a person's face are areas that are very dark, very light, and gray.

An introduction to portraiture using historical figures as subjects is a good place to start because of the recognition factor. When drawing self-portraits or the portraits of friends, it's easy to spot mistakes. However, students are more apt to say "Wow, that looks just like Abraham Lincoln!"

Most students have a sense of ownership regarding the subject of their artwork. I ask each student to write a paragraph about her or his subject to hang under the drawing. Exposure to different figures of American history enlarges their history knowledge base as they look at the drawings done by others in the class. One lesson on portraiture does not make an expert, and if any student wants to pursue this area of drawing, the best thing to do is practice, practice, practice.

RELATED ARTICLE: Project Extension

This Portrait Timeline project is particularly well suited for February and March. February is American History Month and also African American History Month. March is National Women's Hisotry Month. As presented, this project first engages students in developing a timeline of American History with the terms and portraits of the presidents. During February, the timeline could be expanded to recognize famous African Americans who have contributed significantly to the history of the nation, either through additional portraits or colorful symbolic shields or medalluions. During March, the contributions of women could be highlighted with more portrait drawings, paintings of significant events, or hand-lettered stories of women.