We begin the experience with a bowl full of lines (pipe cleaners) paper shapes, paper colors and a big spoon. Because we wanted the first lesson to involve portraits, we showed the students three watercolor portraits by Ohio artist William Sommer. Students helped each other find the lines, shapes and colors Sommer used in the portraits. As each element was found, an object representing that element was added to the bowl and stirred. Soon enough, we had all the ingredients for our recipe stirred together, just waiting to be used.
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| One of the portraits we looked at with students. They responded well to the subject matter and liked the colors. William Sommer, Leather Cap, undated.Collection of the Akron Art Museum |
Students next tried their hands at making portraits of their own. As any good artist would, we practiced first; using foam shapes to make the features on our paper.
Finally, students were ready for the real thing. Students used the lines and shapes they learned about while making the art recipe to draw the features on their faces with black crayons. We saw ovals for eyes, triangles for noses, curved lines for mouths and wavy lines for hair.
With the portrait drawn, the only element left to add was color. We continued to be inspired by William Sommer in using watercolor paint for the portraits. We really like using liquid watercolor because it can be diluted before it is given to the students. This way, no cups of water are needed and the colors stay nice and bright.
As students painted on their portraits, the waxy crayon resisted the liquid watercolor, keeping their drawings visible even if they were painted over. The results were so creative and unique!
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| Just one of the many finished portraits |
Have you done a crayon resist art lesson? What do you think is challenging about teaching portraits to young students?
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