Self Portraits from Observation

Many students had art class in their classrooms last month, due to state testing. Luckily, we were able to use the new standing self portrait mirrors recently gifted by the PTO. First, we talked about self portraits and how only you can make your self portrait (aka a selfie!). We noticed that everyone's eyes, noses and lips looked unique and different from one another. However, where they are located on our face is similar.

We measured the distance from the top of our head to our eyes, then shifted that down from our eyes to our chin. We noticed that this was around the same distance, since our eyes are actually in the middle of our head, not at the top. We also noted that the top of our ears are around the same point. And lastly, we took our hands and put them at the bottom of our ears and followed that down so we could feel the width of our neck. 

Then students set about drawing their self portrait from observation, using the new mirrors!

Students started with an oval shape for their head and drew a line across the middle and down the middle of this oval. These lines help provide guidelines for the placement of the eyes and ears, and also helped students to note the symmetry in their face.

Focusing on the shapes of their individual features, students looked closely at their eyes, noses and lips, as well as their ears and hair.

At the end of class, we shared what was most challenging part. Many students thought that the nose was the hardest feature to draw.

Gabriel, 2nd Grade

Cammy, 2nd Grade

Pirada, 2nd Grade

Aryman, 5th Grade

Gabby, 5th Grade

Erik, 5th Grade

Jasper, 5th Grade