PORTRAITS
Self-Portraits from Direct Observation:
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These portraits are painted in acrylic paint. To get a tutorial on how to paint with acrylics, see my unit on “Painting a Still Life. This presentation is intended to give other art teachers ideas for units.
One of the most difficult things to learn for an ametaur painter concerns color. It is also a good idea to watch the unit on color theory on this site if students have no experience in painting from life.
The progression of work above was done as a demonstration of portrait painting with acrylic paint when I taught in Santa Cruz. Unfortuneately, I have lost the end of the demonstration, so the work is not finished.
the work to the right is a self portrait I did as a demonstration to those students.
Stencilled Self Portraits
Stenciling techniques can be used in a variety of applications.
I did the self portrait below as a demonstration for a unit that combined stenciling with collage.
The student work to the right used a brayer to layer ink unevenly. The composition is first covered with an uneven dark ground, then light and dark opaque shapes are added.
(Above) Stenciling techniques were combined with mono-printing and collage. In my demonstration piece, I included postage stamps from Czechoslovakia, patterns from China, and design motifs from Korea, to represent the places I taught.
Experimentation with mixed media is a feature of this unit. Students combined techniques they had learned in printmaking, stencilling and collage. They were encouraged to experiment with their own ideas over several weeks.
Mural Project: "After Banksy"
The mural above was painted on an outer wall at the International School of Azerbaijan. The project was inspired by the work of Banksy and Shepard Fairey; graffiti artists.
Stencils for the figures were cut from green project paper.
Students took a photograph of themselves and projected the image onto project paper so that it was life size. The then developed the stencil. They were inspired by the film, “Exit from the Gift Shop,” by Banksy.
Using Portraits In Political Posters
In 2011, an American visiting Africa, learned of a warlord named Kony who was using children as soldiers. There was a world-wide campaign to stop Kony and my ninth grade class at the International School of Azerbaijan wanted to join the campaign. They studied the genre of political posters and contributed their voices.
The row above the posters are entries in student research journals, showing they studied political posters, experimented with stenciling, and researched African art, using decorative patterns from African textiles.
Historical Portraits :
While teaching at the American School of Vienna, my art students collaborated with the history department on a unit focusing on people who had contributed to world peace. The figure next to Martin Luther King, is Florence Nightingale.
Stencils were cut from projected images and printmaking ink was applied with brayers creating an uneven, dark ground. Then opaque shapes of light and dark are added.
Some of the writing was applied with gutta, a medium used in silk painting. The layered values was a feature I often included in stenciling projects.
