painting portraits.

This week the 2nds and 5ths have been experimenting with paint as they create portraits. Thw 2nd graders are looking at a couple images by Cbabi Bayoc and the 5th graders are looking at some paintings by Maurice Evans. Both grade levels are still exploring 3d space and volume in art.

The 2nds have looked at the images below by Cbabi Bayoc. we've talked about how he changes the human form a bit. We have noticed that even though his portraits are different than the Coronado Bridge landscapes they did, he still uses overlapping to create 3d space. When painting, we have tried to make light and dark colors by adding more or less water to the tempera cakes in order to make the shapes seem more solid.

The 5th graders are making portraits of musicians that are based on the work of Maurice Evans. We are looking at how he uses size to create space in a short distance in his portraits. The hands of his subjects are exaggerated in size, but the largeness of them compared to the size of the heads, creates distance and drama. When painting, we are trying to use dark and light color values to create 3d forms in places.

Again, this week, both projects have been pretty direct with choice coming in to play in the painting portion. The next time I see both grade levels for printmaking, there will be more room for choice throughout the artistic process. As with the chalk pastel lesson, I am using more control in terms of subject and process, so that they gain experience with the materials while demonstrating a beginning grasp of creating different effects with them.

giving them a lift:)

This week the 1st graders tried out making things look 3d for the first time this year. I share the work of Cbabi Bayoc with them for inspiration. Cbabi is primarily a portrait painter and we looked at a number of images form his website to see how he made flat shapes look more round by using light and dark colors in his paintings.

I really enjoy how Cbabi works with the human form and how he works with planes of color. A couple years ago he did a painting a day called "365 Days with Dad". I talked about this with the kids; how he wanted to celebrate the importance of father figures in African American culture in the lives of children. These father figures could be dads, or stepdads, older brothers, cousins, teachers. Basically any older male in a child's life that serves as a role model for children.

I emphasized that our project would be about family. Is the child you or a brother or sister? Who is the adult? Mom or dad? Uncle or aunt? Somebody that lifts you up and makes you feels good.

We drew out the bodies together, added hairstyles, and then used light and dark to make the shapes look more 3d. I started the project with pastels on dark paper, since the last project before break used the same materials. However, after a couple classes I switched to color sticks because I felt their drawings were getting out of control with the pastels. After a couple more classes I switched from dark paper to white. I think the light and dark effects are most successful on the white paper, but I do like the way the outlines are not as obvious on the darker paper.

What do you think?