To help students understand that art goes beyond realism, we recently looked at a series of artists who pushed the boundaries with abstract artwork. Specifically, we looked at Pablo Picasso's cubistic portraits and contemporary artist Sandra Silberzweig's paintings. Both artists took traditional portraiture paintings and abstracted the figure. Students learned about abstract art and how it can still evoke recognition of specific things in our world (like in this case, faces) but should also differ from what the thing looks like in real life.
To begin, students drew an abstract face in pencil. We did a directed drawing where students could follow along and complete something similar to the example, or use their own imaginations. Then, students outlined their faces in paint, oil pastel or black glue. This helped to create boundaries between different areas of the face.
In the following session, students learned about analogous colors and their relationship on the color wheel. Using color wheels at their tables, students had to choose three colors that were next to each other, and therefore would blend successfully. To color their faces, students used chalk pastels. These were a bit dusty, but the mess was worth the vibrant colors and blending capabilities.
As a finishing touch, oil pastels and puffy paint were added to some of the faces to create patterns and designs. See their one-of-a-kind creations below!
Note: This wonderful lesson was inspired by art educator Cassie Stephens. To see her version of this lesson, click here.
