Why do artists make portraits? What was the function of a portrait in the past and how have they changes over the years? What are the differences between a school portrait and a selfie? All these questions and more were discussed when students learned they would be making self portraits.
The class looked at the work of Chuck Close and used his process of enlarging using the grid method. This is when a photo and drawing paper, with the same proportions but of different sizes, are broken down into grids. The information from the photo is then recreated in the corresponding box on the bigger drawing paper. This allows the artist to work in small chunks and accurately translate proportions and details resulting in a close likeness of the original photo, just much larger. |
Self-Portrait/Watercolor, 1976-1977
watercolor on paper mounted on canvas 81.12 x 58.69 in. (206 x 149 cm) |
How can an image be made? We know that we need the elements of art (line, shape, space, color, value, texture, and possibly form), but how can that be changed up?
After looking at the artwork by Jason Markow, students needed to come up with a creative way to show images created only from different text. They could use song lyrics, a poem, segments from a story or article, or anything that they would like to explore. Next, students needed to create the image that the text would make up. This project helped students plan, understand proportions, and think in a new way about art making. Some questions students needed to ask themselves were: What will your text create? Will it be easy to read, or is the final image more important than the words that make it up? Will you use color or just value? Will all your text be in the same font? What medium will you use? How will your image and text fill the page? What are you saying to your audience with the text you have selected and how you have chosen to represent it? |
Drawing Half of Magazine Image |
To strengthen student's observation skills and advance their ablility to create an image that looks like it has form with value, students drew half of a black and white magazine image. Each student selected the image that they were interested in recreating, and cut it in half. Students needed to first look carefully at the proportions of the original, and create a contour line drawing. Once the drawing was accurate, students began to add the value. Each student improved their drawing skills with this mini drawing lesson.
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Bri Mackey
A woman had an obscurely large perfume bottle; it was her favourite scent, and she loved the design of the bottle. She used the perfume bottle every day: once in the morning and once before she went to bed. Eventually, despite the size of the bottle, the perfume runs out, leaving the woman with an empty bottle. Because she loved the bottle so much, she decided she would take parts of a fish tank and transfer them into the perfume bottle. After she put in all the things needed for fish, she put in three little fish to live in there temporarily until the fish grew. The woman set the new fish tank on the edge of a table, which was her first mistake. At that time, her kitten, Lev, awoke from his daily nap. The woman left the room and the kitten was left to do whatever he pleased. So after he saw movements coming from the top of the table, he got curious and took a peek. And you can probably guess what happened next.
Gabie O'Neill
The candy in my candy jar is breaking out. It wants to be free and go outside. All these pieces of candy were stuck in the jar together and finally broke out to fly in the fresh air. The setting adds to my story by showing that the pieces of candies are breaking out to be outside. The setting is outside and that shows that they want to be free. If it was inside then there wouldn't be that sense of freedom.
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Nadia Boyea
The house in the drawing has been abandoned. The owners left it many years ago and over time it began to be overgrown by the plants surrounding it. It sits in the pot in the drawing because of its isolation. As the plants grew bigger, the house appeared to grow smaller. The most prominent plant to overtake the house was the ivy. The ivy engulfed the house completely. The quality of the house decreased and the quality of the plant life increased. Although there are no people living here, the house is now home to many creatures of small size. The animals have made themselves at home, just like the plants around it. Perhaps it will be lived in again by people who will care for it, but for now it is left alone to nature.
Bella Ross
Trapped inside this music box is a girl. Whenever it’s opened she is forced to dance, never able to leave and explore the outside world. As time goes on she grows curious of what’s beyond the box. After a while her curiosity empowers her, she ripped the metal piece connecting her to the box off her feet. The next time the owner of the box, the girl planned to leave and finally explore the world that she saw every day and could never explore. After an hour of waiting the owner opened the box and forgot to close it. Since she left the box open the girl escaped and was finally able to explore. She saw needles and thread everywhere and thought it was the coolest thing ever. But then she could hear the footsteps of her owner growing louder. Terrified she would get caught she grabbed some thread, placed it next to the music box and tried to rush back in before she was seen.
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Kasey Pfleging
Once upon a time there was a tube of lipstick. It was L’Oreal lipstick in the shade Divine Wine. It was my favorite lipstick: my go to shade. The shade looked good with my skin tone and it went with almost everything that I wore. I had three tubes; just in case.
One morning I woke up and my lipstick was gone. None of the tubes were where they should have been. They were missing and I was panicking. I had never been so worked up in my life. Where had my lipstick gone? What was I going to do now? How was I ever going to complete my outfit without the perfect lipstick? And then I stopped for a minute. I thought to myself “Why am I so worked up over some stupid tubes of lipstick?” So, I stopped looking for them. That was the first day since I found that shade of lipstick that I didn’t wear it. My lips felt so naked. But, after a few days I got used to it. I even started to like not wearing lipstick. Eventually, the tubes of lipstick turned up. I was always so good at losing things I’m surprised I didn’t lose them earlier than I had. After I found the lipstick I decided that I didn’t need them anymore. So, I cut the lipstick out of the tubes and threw it in the trash but I thought that maybe I could do something cool with the tubes that used to house the lipstick. I decided I would turn the tubes into flower pots and set the flowers on my window sill to add a little color to my, previously, lifeless room. |