Art at Hosmer: Self Portraits from Observation

Monday, April 25, 2016

Self Portraits from Observation

3rd grade artists recently explored the art of the self portrait. First, students drew their self portrait from observation, using mirrors. 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 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. Students also created a background for the self portrait and used colored pencil to add color. An optional last step was to add a frame!