High School Art Lesson - Painted Portraits

High School Art Lesson

POSTERIZED PORTRAIT

ARTIST INSPIRATION Ian Berry aka DENIMU

INITIAL EXEMPLAR

Sections of posterized photograph glued to portrait before painting

BLACK and WHITE Self Portrait Paintings Students will begin their painting unit creating black and white self portraits. For this lesson, students will be introduced to the value scale, color mixing, and basic painting techniques.

They will draw inspiration from the artwork of Denimu, an artist who constructs posterized portraits from segments of cut up jean material.

Each student will receive two posterized photographs of themselves.

They will draw reference from the first photography and the other will be cut up and attached to their painting. The sections of the photographs will be used as a guide to realistic rendering while the posterized reference photograph will help simplify the value scale used during painting.

VALUE SCALE EXEMPLAR Lindsay Abramo Master of Arts in Teaching

High School Art Lesson

STUDENT WORK PHOTOGRAPH

PAINTING

Four Week Introductory Painting Lesson

PHOTOGRAPH

Lane Tech College Prep High School, Chicago IL

PAINTING

Lindsay Abramo Master of Arts in Teaching

Lindsay Abramo Lesson Plan TITLE: Posterized Portrait: Black and White Self Portrait Paintings GRADE LEVEL: Early High School TIMELINE: 4 weeks DESCRIPTION: Students will begin their painting unit creating black and white self portraits. For this lesson, students will be introduced to the value scale, color mixing, and basic painting techniques.

They will draw inspiration from the artwork of Denimu, an artist who constructs posterized portraits from segments of cut up jean material. Each student will receive two posterized photographs of themselves. They will draw reference from the first photography and the other will be cut up and attached to their painting. The glued down sections of the photograph will be used as a guide to realistic rendering while the posterized reference photograph will help simplify the value scale used during painting. The students will be given the opportunity to create realistic self portraits while gaining the confidence in painting techniques and processes.

OBJECTIVES: • Students will learn color mixing techniques to demonstrate a knowledge of the value scale • Students will demonstrate proper processes and procedures of painting • Students will be able to draw inspiration from the artwork of Denimu STATE GOALS: STATE GOAL 25: Know the language of the arts.

A. Understand the sensory elements, organizational principles and expressive qualities of the arts.

25.A.3d Visual Arts: Identify and describe the elements of value, perspective and color schemes; the principles of contrast, emphasis and unity; and the expressive qualities of thematic development and sequence.

STATE GOAL 26: Through creating and performing, understand how works of art are produced.

B. Apply skills and knowledge necessary to create and perform in one or more of the arts.

26.B.3dVisual Arts: Demonstrate knowledge and skills to create 2- and 3dimensional works and time arts STATE GOAL 27: Understand the role of the arts in civilizations, past and present.

B. Understand how the arts shape and reflect history, society and everyday life.

27.B.3 Know and describe how artists and their works shape culture and increase understanding of societies, past and present.

MOTIVATION / ACTIVITIES: • Week 1: • Introduce the artist • Introduce the project • Assess student’s prior knowledge • Introduce painting and show the students the materials that will be used for this project • Demonstrate how to create a value scale and proper color mixing techniques • Students will begin creating their value scales • Throughout the week, students will be pulled aside to have their photographs taken for their self portrait reference • Students will have one week to complete their value scales Week 2: • • Demonstrate how to create posterized self portrait paintings • Students will work on color mixing techniques and laying down the base colors of their portraits • Students will view daily painting technique demonstrations • Week 3: • Demonstrate how to add details to posterized self portrait paintings • Students will continue working on color mixing techniques • Students will begin adding details to posterized self portrait paintings • Week 4: • Students will complete their posterized self portrait paintings • Students will fill out final self reflections to be handed in with their completed paintings • Students will participate in final critique of completed artwork ADAPTATIONS FOR EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS: If students are having difficulty using traditional painting materials, they will have the opportunity to use adapted art supplies. Another alternative is to complete the painting assignment using an adapted photoshop version of this project.

MATERIALS: • Paint • Brushes • Canvas board

• Pencils • Rulers • Paper towels/rags

ARTIST INSPIRATION:

Ian Berry aka Denimu STEP BY STEP:

Step by Step

VALUE SCALE 1

Measure 1 !” from the top and 1 !” below that line (mark your measurements)

4

How to create a value scale

Number the boxes 1 through 8 (left to right)

2

Connect the lines to create 1 !” band across the paper

5

Using black and white acrylic paint, fill in the values starting with white (square number 1)

3

Connect the lines to create eight 1 !” squares

6

Make sure your value scale gradually changes from white to black

Step by Step

Black and white self portrait 1

TAPE TRACING PAPER on top of your PHOTOGRAPH

4

TAPE TRACING PAPER on top of your PAPER

7

How to layout your self portrait

CUT OUT sections of your FACE (Half of your nose, lips, hair, and one eye)

2

TRACE the OUTLINE of your FACE, EYES, NOSE, and HAIR

5

TRACE over your LINES to TRANSFER the graphite onto your PAPER

8

GLUE sections of your FACE onto your paper (make sure to line up cutouts with traced lines)

3

FLIP the TRACING PAPER over and RE-TRACE the lines

6

FLIP up the tracing paper to MAKE SURE lines are transferring

9

Now you’re ready to start painting your self portrait

Adapted Step by Step

Black and white self portrait 1

OPEN your photograph in PHOTOSHOP (Label Layer #1) and CHANGE the MODE to GREYSCALE [Image!Mode!Greyscale]

3

Using the LASSO TOOL (found on the side tool bar), SELECT half of your nose, lips, hair, and one eye

2

Under Image, choose Adjustments in the drop down menu and POSTERIZE your image to LEVEL 8 [Image!Adjustments!Posterize]

4

COPY (command C) the selected area and PASTE (command V) it onto a NEW LAYER