Your Whole Self, Portrait

Wren Whiteside
Painting I
 Introduction
• Students will start by creating a sketchbook page
that includes pictures, colors, patters, or words
that they feel represent important parts of their
culture or identity
• There will be prompts given to students to help
them figure out what to include, as well as a brief
explanation of everything that culture can
encompass
 Second Sketchbook Page
• Next, we will introduce the concept of Gridding
• Students will choose three portraits
• Next, they will use Photoshop to crop and grid the portraits
• Note: while you can do this by hand, it is also helpful to learn those tools in photoshop
• They will print one portrait
smaller than the paper they are
working on, one the same size,
and one bigger
• Then they will grid their paper
and begin their practice
 Project Intro
• Students will be introduced to Firelei
Baez
• Their portraits will not be rendered,
instead, they must draw out the
outlines and include objects,
patterns, symbols, etc. inside the
outlines.
• The background must also be
minimal (1-2 colors, can be
patterned, but it must be minimal)
 Project Must Include:
Other Requirements • 2 different types of paint or wet
media
• Cohesive color palette

Students Must Choose Include 3 of

the Following:
• Pattern
• Symbol(s)
• Object(s)
• Animal(s)
• People in your life (or symbols of
them)
• Favorite places
• Cultural connection
 Getting Started
• Students will take pictures of themselves
• They do whatever pose, as long as you can see
most of the face
• Next, they will crop and grid the photo in
Photoshop
• They will print and begin
 Project Closure
• They will use InDesign to produce a page
that includes their finished artwork, details
that relate to their finished artwork, and an
artist statement discussing the following:
• What parts of their identity or culture
did the include
• What materials they used
• How effective they think the artwork is
• How they utilized the principles of design
• They will then present this to the class
during critique
• For critique, they must engage three times
 Differences Between
K-2 Lesson and 9-12
Lesson

K-2 Lesson was focused on teaching fundamentals and how

to use materials, rather than creativity
9-12 Lesson is focused on creativity and execution, as
students understand the fundamentals at this point

Both focus on identity and culture, but the 9-12 expands it

to more than color
Accommodations
• Physical and digital written
instructions will be provided
for all aspects of the project
• There will be demos given for
anything necessary
• Students will be given time to
ask for help, or an individual
demo
• Video instructions will be
provided for Photoshop and
Indesign
• ADHD students will be allowed
music/headphones, a quiet
space, or other technology that
may help them focus; they will
also be offered an extension if
necessary
• Advanced students can choose
to do their project on a bigger
paper, they can include more
elements in their drawing, they
can use more materials, or
they can do a more difficult
pose for their portrait.