by Melissa Haller

Grade Level: 5-8

Content Areas: Art

• Students will learn about the proportions of the face.
• Students will learn about the different weights of pencils and how to use them to get different shades of pencil ranging from dark to light.
• Students will become familiar with a variety of artists that have used self-portraits in their work.
• Students will use their new knowledge of the proportions of the face, the weights of the pencils, and the inspiration of the famous artists to create their own self portrait.

Other Materials

• PowerPoint
• Ruler
• Pencils (different weights)
• Gum Eraser
• 11”x14” drawing paper
• Colored pencils
• Mirror

Procedures

1. Demonstrate how to use MatchWho.
2. Have students use the MatchWho software to find the most similar facial features to create a portrait of themselves.
3. Explain that today you will be learning about the proportions of the face. Every person has different features, but they area relatively in the same spot on the human head.
4. Distribute the worksheet entitled “Face It!” to the students.
5. Demonstrate the use of Sketcher [which will need to be loaded on student handhelds ahead of time through a synchronization].
6. Work with the students step by step with the worksheet to learn the proportions of the face while using Sketcher. Make sure they go to ‘Insert’ and ‘Quadrille’ so they are working on a graphed surface.
7. Display the PowerPoint and talk about a variety of artists who have used self portraits in their work.
8. After sharing, explain their task at hand.
9. Work step by step with the students on the paper to create a 1” by 1” grid.
10. On this grid, they are to use the knowledge that they learned about the proportions of the face to create a self-portrait looking in their mirror.
11. Once the students have created the guidelines for where the facial features will go, demonstrate how to use the different weights of the pencils to get different shades from dark to light.
12. In the background, students are to choose complementary colors of colored pencils to create a design using the grid. No checkerboards!