Week two: Magical Self Portraits
October 9th 2021
Method of instruction: Zoom
Age Group: K-5
Teachers: Kora Burke & Rachel Meyer
Student Artwork
Reflection
Essential Questions:
Why do artists create self-portraits?
​​How do portraits tell a story?
How can artists incorporate their identity into their artwork?
Learning Objectives:
By the end of the warm-up TLW be able to define fantasy by explaining a magical ability they wish they had.
TLW participate in a group discussion by contributing at least one idea relating to the essential questions posed about portraiture, specifically what they value about portraiture.
By the end of class, TLW has created a self-portrait including all facial features.
By the end of class, TLW present a reimagined portrait of their magical alter ego.
Lesson Summary
After the first week of getting to know each other, practicing teaching/learning on zoom, and modifying the structure of our lesson plan, the second week of workshops went much smoother. The second lesson, magical self-portraits, demonstrated the artistic talent and creativity of our students and additionally, helped us get to know them even better.
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After welcoming the students in, we had them perform a warm-up sketch answering the question, what magical ability do you wish you had? The students were given a few minutes of quiet work time and then presented their answers alongside their sketches which lead us into the discussion section.
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The group discussion was facilitated by essential questions about portraiture and how artists can use them to tell a story about a person. Students did a good job at frequently responding to the discussion, but some of the questions we posed were perhaps too challenging for their age groups. Next, we presented the week's exemplary artists for the assignment all of which has unique fantasy illustrations of portraits to inspire the students and give them an idea of what we will be doing for the rest of class. We then presented our teacher examples and provided explanations for what materials we used and why we depicted ourselves the way that we did. I explained to the students that portraits are about representing the model and drawing what is special about them. I discussed with them all the facial features that need to be included in their portrait and what characteristics will help the viewer identify the subject. With self portraits we wanted the students to pay attention to their own face in detail and include what makes them unique. We also instructed the students to add a fantasy element to their portrait making themselves look magical in some way. We asked them questions to get them brainstorming about their new magical appearance.
The last thing we covered before work time was how to use watercolor paint. Rachel did a demo using the video camera that we connected to zoom and told them how you need to wake up the colors by adding water. She did a great job of using phrases that were fun and easy for the students to understand. She also continued to paint a new example while the students were working on their own.
The students all put a lot of thought into their new persona and did an excellent job of highlighting the physical traits they noticed about themselves.
This week we were able to get to know the students further and converse with them about their interests outside of art.
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Final Outcomes and Modifications
This week the students were fewer in number and so we had more time to check in with the students and what they thought about the prompt as a whole. The students were enthusiastic about the fantasy element being included in the lesson and put a lot of effort and thought into that area of the project. For that same reason, that is the only thing I would have changed about the lesson, I want them to have fun with their self-portraits but focus on the physical drawing of the face rather than the setting or story relating to it. I would go back and emphasize further how to draw certain facial features and how to be an observant artist. However, yet again I was blown away by their work ethic,  dedication to the prompt, and imagination and would definitely use this lesson again.