Warm, cool, and woven middle school.

Significant Problem

At the middle school level, students strive for realism. They need to explore ways to approach the self-portrait that allow for personal expression.

Materials

Mirrors, 9 x 12" (23 x 31 cm) manila drawing paper, pencils, watercolor pencils, rulers, scissors, 9 x 12" (23 x 31 cm) colored construction paper

Essential Concepts

1. Learning about different styles of portraiture.

2. Understanding the foundations for drawing a self-portrait.

3. Experimenting with the use of warm and cool colors to show highlights and shadows.

Guiding Practice

Discuss facial proportions. Demonstrate how to draw a portrait with attention to details. Look at self-portraits by Albrecht Durer and Leonardo da Vinci. Note techniques and shading. Look at portraits by Henri Matisse and Alexej Jawlensky and note the use of color. Look at Cubist portraits. Review pencil techniques for making shadows. Review how to make a "loom" by folding paper in half vertically, drawing margins around the open edges, drawing the weft lines from the fold to the top margin, and cutting the slits. On the back of the drawings, draw lines from top to bottom 1" (3 cm) apart. Cut the first strip on the right and discard it, then cut the second strip and begin weaving with that one. Cut one strip at a time, then weave it into the loom. Glue the ends. Fill in the negative spaces of the weaving to suggest parts of the hidden self-images.

Assessing Learning

1. Given an assortment of portraits, place them on a continuum from realistic to abstract.

2. Students design a poster to illustrate the foundational steps for drawing a self-portrait.

3. Students describe how they used warm and cool colors to show highlights and shadows in their artwork.

ClipCard submitted by Kathy A. Miller-Hewes, an art teacher at Wahneta Elementary School in Wahneta, Florida.