Investigating Portraits

4th graders began their investigation of portraits by looking at two examples of portraits.

c. 1792 by John Trumbull        c.2016 by Robert Otto Epstein

Students used a thinking strategy to look at these works- What do you see?  What do you think?  What do you wonder?  It is always inspiring to hear their ideas!

We talked about how long ago, western artist were really concerned with making realistic images.  Students discussed that this might be because there were no cameras!  Now, we can easily create a realistic portrait with the snap of the button and artists have the freedom to experiment.

We ultimately will create some abstract art representing people, but we first started with some drawing techniques.  Artists look closely and notice details.  Students had the challenge of looking closely at a partner and drawing them, without looking at their paper!  This is called a blind contour drawing.  Draw what you SEE, not the image you have in your head.  Not only is this exercise good at training the eye, it is a surefire giggle inducer.







Students also made observations about their faces, and created quick realistic sketches in their art books.

Up next we will be creating abstract artworks representing someone else in our class!  Stay tuned.