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20 February 2012

Our Many Faces: Visual Arts Activity

Isn't this fantastic?!? I LOVE how it turned out. And I really love that some of my students who wouldn't consider themselves "natural artists" saw great success with this activity. The activity took a bit of time to complete, but the end result was so worth it. This is how we completed the activity:


  • I started by taking pictures of my students (close-ups of their faces).
  • At home that night I used a free program (www.paint.net) to convert the pictures to black and white drawings (I have photoshop elements, but this free program worked better). I printed the pictures on standard letter size paper.
  • The students took the black and white drawings and drew a 2cm x 2cm grid over the picture.
  • They then took a piece of construction paper (4 times the size) and made a 4cm x 4cm grid on the paper.
  • They then had to enlarge their original picture onto the larger construction paper. It is important to stress that they work square by square, row by row - it is NOT a free sketch.
  • Once the enlargements are complete (this took a few 1/2 hour classes), they must erase all the grid lines.
  • They then divided their pictures into 4 equal quadrants. Each quadrant is completed using different materials and techniques. The upper left quadrant is painted. The upper right is shaded with pencil. The lower left used stippling with a black sharpie marker, and the bottom right used crayons or pencil crayons.
  • Lastly, students were instructed to fill in the background for each quadrant using any design they wish.
  •  After the pictures were mounted on colorful construction paper, I laminated them and hung them in the hallway outside my class. You wouldn't believe the reaction I got from other staff and students at the school!






Sticking with the face art theme, my three-year old proudly presented me with this picture when I picked her up from daycare today. "I made this for you, mommy. This is YOU!"

Hmmmmmm ....... I see horns - do you see the horns? I must admit though, I did FEEL like this by the end of the day today.
IS IT FRIDAY YET???

3 comments:

  1. They look awesome Jen! It is almost Friday here in Australia...bring on the weekend :)

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  2. Love your stick family! Just hopped to your site to check it out. Please email me at Tamara (at) Teachingblogaddict (dot) com. I have a question for you. Thanks!

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  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

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