Sunday, April 18, 2010

Week 27: Self Portrait in pencil



This is one of those projects that can be repeated several times a year and be a window into your child's world at that moment.  At the begining of the year I had the kids do a self portrait in torn colored paper.
September's self portrait lesson

Come Spring, its time to revisit, but with a different medium, and a different lesson.  Kids naturally like to draw, but they also naturally do not have a good idea of how to draw an accurate face.  So in this lesson I gave the kids a soft pencil, eraser, and mirror along with some nicer paper.

On the baord I drew a step-by-step face starting with a large circle, then a middle line and lines for eyes, nose, moith etc. Then a tutorial on the various parts of the face.


Here is a real nice You-Tube video of an artist doing just that:
How to draw a a face video

This is a not an easy concept, and kids, no mater how old, still want to draw circles for eyes that are way up on the top of the head and a hooked nose and exaggereated mouth, but if you do it step by step they get the hang of it. Plus doing it every year will help with the practice.



Where they can personlize the drawing is in the shading and air and other details.  The soft pencil is great for smudging and adding realism to the drawing.

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