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New Teachers New York:
Lesson Plans by New Teachers, For New Teachers

YOU! CREATIVE DIGITAL SELF-PORTRAIT

AIM

How can you create a surreal or expressionistic self-portrait using PhotoShop?

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
Most careers in the art field today rely on computers. It is critical for art students to learn to express themselves in a variety of media, including digital media. After researching artists' self-portraits, such as Salvador Dali, Renee Magritte, Frida Khalo, Andy Warhol, Leonora Carrington and other high school students' work, the students will create a rough draft with images that they chose to represent them. The students will learn how to use PhotoShop to manipulate their digital photo into a creative composition.


MATERIALS

Created by Joyce Riley
Location: Louis D. Brandeis High School
Grade: High School
Subject: Art

About the Teacher
Joyce Riley is an artist and art teacher. She earned her bachelor of science in art education in 1994 from Indiana University. She received her MA in studio art from New York University in 2002 concentrating in painting, video art and installation. Her focus since then has been on Modern and Contemporary art. After teaching visual art in Seattle for five years, Miss Riley moved to NYC to teach art and surround herself with museums and galleries. She is currently teaching art at Louis D. Brandeis High School, a large, comprehensive, public high school on the Upper Westside of Manhattan.

22 Computers
PhotoShop LE or higher
PhotoShop tutorial
Internet Access

Scanner

Digital camera

Software to upload pictures from camera to computer.

22 floppy disks, cd-rw or space on the hard drive for students to save work.

Visuals of famous artists' self-portraits

Students will have their sketchbooks and something to draw with.

VOCABULARY

Medium
The material through which an artist expresses himself or herself: watercolor, pencil, oils, video, clay, etc.

Composition
In general, an art work. Specifically, the arrangement of objects, colors, and shapes in a work of art.

Creativity
The ability to find new solutions to a problem or new modes of expression; the bringing into existence of something new to the individual.

Warm Colors
Yellow, Red and Orange.

Cool Colors
Blue, Purple, and Green.

Expressionism
An art movement early in the 20th century; the artist's subjective expression of inner experiences was emphasized.

Surrealism
A movement in art and literature that emerged between the first and second World Wars. Artists combined the conscious and the unconscious, the world of dreams and fantasy along with reality.

Self-Portrait
A picture, photograph or piece of writing that you make of or about you.


PROCEDURES
Students will be given project instructions and the grading rubric to clarify what is expected of them.

LEARNING PHOTOSHOP BASICS

Students will take the PhotoShop tutorial. This should take approximately three forty five minute class periods.

RESEARCHING SURREAL ARTISTS AND ARTISTS WHO WORK WITH SELF-PORTRAITURE.

1. Students will research artists using the following websites:

www.images.google.com and type in portrait or self-portrait or an artist that you like and portrait.
http://artlex.com/ArtLex/s/self-portrait.html
http://fridakahlo.it/
http://salvadordalimuseum.org/
www.warhol.org/
http://mcs.csuhayward.edu/~malek/Magrit.html
http://carringtonleo.5u.com/
http://values.ch/vangogh.htm
http://channel4.com/learning/microsites/S/selfportraituk14to19/top100_gallery.html
http://kidlink.org/spanish/kidart/kidart/yonkers_2001/Thumbnails.html
http://members.lycos.co.uk/pinkwall/CUMPI.html
http://castilleja.org/public/academics/studentprojects/computerart/Selfportraits/
http://oldmasterpiece.com/search-en.html?Keywords=portrait&Go.x=14&Go.y=7
http://artquotes.net/masters/warhol_andy/warhol-camouflage-1986.htm

2. Students work in the computer lab for two or three 45-minute classes to research artists and to create a rough draft in their sketchbooks.

3. While the students are working on researching the artists; I will circulate the room and take three or four digital photos of each student. I will save each student's work to their own disk.

CREATING A SURREAL OR EXPRESSIVE SELF-PORTRAIT
Working on the actual project will take ten class periods.

Step 1
With the PhotoShop program open and running, select File > New from the Task/Menu bar at top of screen. Choose an image size of at least 6 X 6 inches.

Step 2
Import the picture or pictures you plan on using for your composition by going to file and importing them from the "A" drive. You can also import pictures from the internet that you would like to use in your portrait.

Step 3
Save your work to the desktop and to the floppy disk. You must periodically do this to protect your work.

Step 4
Create a background using the skills that you learned in the tutorial. Refer to your rough draft. You can draw the background, use the paint tool, text tool or import images that you want to use for your background.

Step 5
Using the tools, cut your digital picture from its background and move it to the "background" that you created. You can soften the edges and manipulate your face in many different ways. Here are some examples:

Change the color of certain areas.
Blur areas.
Add a filter.
Enlarge.
Copy or clone and paste the image many times.
Flip the image.
Crop the image in an interesting composition.

*There are thousands of options to change your face or the background. Be creative!

Step 6
When you like the image you have created, go back and make sure that you've used good craftsmanship by blending and blurring the rough edges.

Step 7
The final step is to merge all of the layers together.

Step 8
Don't forget to save your final work.


FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY
The students will write a reflection about their self-portrait. The questions are attached to the grading rubric.


HOMEWORK
The homework is to collect images for your self-portrait. They can be from the internet, magazines, books, something you drew or pictures of your family or friends.


EVALUATION

The following is a reflection about the self-portrait that the students will fill out when they are finished with their project. The grading rubric is at the bottom of the sheet.

SELF-PORTRAIT
ANALYZING A WORK OF ART

NAME__________________________________________________

PERIOD ________________________ DATE _________________________

TITLE OF ARTWORK _____________________________________________________

YEAR CREATED ______ MEDIUM ________________________ SIZE _____________

DESCRIPTION: What do I see?

1. What's going on?

2. What kind of objects are in the picture? Be specific.

3. What is your pose?

4. What are you doing? Wearing?

5. What is in the foreground? Middle ground? Background?

ANALYSIS - How is the work organized?

1. What kind of lines? (Vertical, horizontal, curved, thick, thin, dark) & where are they?

2. What kind of shapes? (Circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, triangles) & where are they?

3. What kind of colors? (What color do you see most? Least? Large areas? Small areas?)

4. Where do you see most light areas? The most dark?

INTERPRETATION: What is the artist saying?

1. What is the mood and meaning of the work?


2. How does the work show: strength, beauty, loneliness, mystery, anger, hope, adventure, fear, love, peace, death or anything else?


3. How does the title of the work tell you about its meaning?


JUDGEMENT: Is this a successful work of art? (Explain why)

1. Formalism (emphasis on elements of art)?


2. Emotionalism (showing feelings)?


3. What about craftsmanship?


4. Creativity?


5. Aesthetics?


6. What is your personal response?

CREATIVITY

_____ / 30

CRAFTSMANSHIP

_____ / 30

TECHNIQUE

_____ / 30

AESTHETICS

_____ / 30
WRITTEN CRITICISM
_____ / 40

PARTICIPATION

_____ / 20
EFFORT
_____ / 20
EXTRA-CREDIT
_____ / 0
TOTAL
_____ / 200
GRADE
______ %

STANDARDS

Standard 2: Arts:
Knowing and Using Arts Materials and Resources. Students will be knowledgeable about and make use of the materials and resources available for participation in the arts in various roles.

Standard 5: Technology
Students will apply technology knowledge and skills to design, construct, use, and evaluate products and systems to satisfy human and environmental needs

THE STUDENTS
There are 24 students in two class periods taking Advanced Painting. Both classes have visual arts as their major. Third period students are sophomores and fifth period is mostly juniors. All have had between three and five semesters of art class prior to this course. Students meet five days a week for 45 minute periods in the art room.

BEST FEATURE
The combination of using technology and the expression of self-portraiture gets the kids excited about telling

STAFF

 

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