1st Grade Picasso's

I had such success with the first grade Picasso's last year, that I did not change the project for this year.

We looked at a variety of portraits painted by Picasso and then drew our own. The students were allowed to choose if they wanted to use liquid watercolor, oil pastels or Crayola Color Sticks.

See last year's post for more info: 2012 Picasso Portraits

Here are examples of this year's finished products:

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First Grade Picasso

First grade did this project last year, however, this year, I have adapted it. Our district is really working towards varied outcomes this year, so I am trying to give the students more choices in their projects. This is easier on some projects than others.

Here is how I did it for this particular project:

Last year, everyone did a watercolor Picasso project:
First Grade Picasso

This year, everyone drew a Picasso portrait. They all chose their color scheme (warm or cool) and then I gave them 3 choice for how they could add color:

liquid watercolor
Crayola Color Sticks
oil pastels

They followed their color scheme to color their entire project. Here are some of the results:

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First Grade Picasso's

My first graders are going to be learning about European artists this year and the first one to kick off the new year- Pablo Picasso. They loved looking at his portraits and how he made the eyes look like they were looking out at you and also like they were looking off to the side (the profile). They thought it was very silly that the eyes were not aligned in many of the portraits and how he made many facial features different sizes. They noticed that he didn't always use realistic colors to paint his portraits.

We started our portraits by drawing the head. I let them decide what shape they wanted to use. They could use the standard oval shape or be creative and use a non-standard shape. I had some use triangles, rectangles, squares, etc. Then I had them draw a neck and add 2 lines going out from the neck to create the shoulders. I then had them add hair and told them to make it big and wild.                                                                                     They drew a line down the middle of the face to create the nose and then traced everything with a black marker.

We did a quick review of warm and cool colors (something that we had done previously in Kindergarten) and then they used liquid watercolors (I have pretty much given up on using the regular watercolors. The liquid have a much nicer color and I don't have to replace them every day!) to paint their face with either warm or cool colors.                                                                 They drew the eyes and nose on a separate sheet of paper, drawing 1 eye facing forward and the other in profile and then I had them draw a BIG mouth. Again, they traced them with black marker and painted. Except this time, they painted with the opposite color scheme.

They cut out the heads and glued them onto a piece of construction paper, remembering to use dots of glue to keep it neat and then cut out the eyes and mouth. We reviewed the placement of the eyes in Picasso's paintings and they set to work gluing the facial features on their portraits.

There were lots of giggles as they were assembling their projects. They thought they were really silly!!!

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Fifth Grade Ceramic Picasso's

This was the fifth graders last project of the year.

We studied about Picasso and looked at his variety of portraits, focusing on how he combined profiles with the front view to make a single portrait.

I had the students draw the portrait that they wanted to create first. I really stressed that there was no right and no wrong way to do this. I suggested that they try to combine a frontal portrait with a profile, but that they did not have to.

The two rule that I did have for them were:
1) must have pattern or texture (or both)
2) must be 3 dimensional (they had to use clay to build the face up somehow

I then gave them a pre-cut slab of clay. I rarely use my slab roller anymore. I bought a large cheese slicer and I use that to cut all of my slabs. It is so much easier and less time consuming than using a slab roller!

The students used their clay tools to cut out the shape that they wanted for their face. They used the extra clay that they had from cutting out the shape

of the face and built the eyes, mouth, hair, etc. I had dollar store garlic presses that they used if they wanted to add hair.

We found that the hair looked really cool, but once it was fired, the hair had a tendency to break off- I need to find a better way to do this. If there are any suggestions out there, I would love to hear them!

I had a wide variety of texture plates out for them to use, if they wanted. Some went crazy with texture, others did not.

When they were ready to go, I fired them and then they were ready to glaze.

 I showed the students how they could divide their face into different sections and glaze each section a different color- they loved this, because it meant that they could use more colors!!

Unfortunately, since this was our last project of the year, I was unable to put these on display throughout the school. The rest of my faculty did not get a chance to see these amazing ceramic pieces. That will teach me to leave my clay project until the end of the year! Poor planning on my part!

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Third Grade Picasso Portraits

I have seen many versions of this project- here is my spin on it:

My third graders learn how to draw a self-portrait. I teach them how to divide the face, which proportions to use and they get to work drawing their portrait from the front. After they have finished, they trace over it with a black marker- pretty basic.

Then I show them how to draw their portrait as a profile. This one takes them a little longer. Again, we talk about measurements, proportion, etc. When they are finished, they trace this one with black marker also.

At this point, they have 2 different portraits, on 2 different pieces of plain 8 1/2 x 11 xerox paper.

Then I give them a 3rd piece of paper. I have them trace their first portrait and then set it aside. Then they take their profile and place that one underneath. They can move it around to wherever

 they think it looks best and they trace that one. They have now combined both portraits into 1 single, Picasso-ish portrait. After they have traced both portraits, I have them take the 2 originals home, so that they don't get them confused.

For the next step, I give each student a transparency. (With the advent of SmartBoards and document cameras, the teachers at my school have given me TONS of transparencies. I used to have to buy them every year, but now I have a supply that should last me for years to come!)

They tape their Picasso portrait to their transparency so that it doesn't move around. I have them trace the entire portrait with a permanent black marker.

Then it's time to color. We use oil pastels to color the different sections that were created by combining the 2 portraits.

 I stress to the students that no white paper (the paper that is still taped to the back) should be showing through, so this helps them know if they have colored enough with their oil pastels.

When they have completed their oil pastels, they remove the white paper from the back and they pick a piece of construction paper that is complementary to their background and I staple it to their project. Make sure that when you staple them, the oil pastel is touching the paper (the shiny side/uncolored side of the transparency should be face up).

The last step is to use gel pens/markers to add patterns. Again, the students use complementary colors to fill in the spaces with a variety of patterns.

I used to use Phooey Gel Markers, but now I can't find them anywhere. They had the best overall effect and lasted the longest when a grade level of 120 students were using them.

For the last few years, I have been experimenting with a variety of gel pens and markers and have not found anything that works quite as well. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment. I would love the ideas! Pin It