After we ate homemade banana bread, shared what they wanted to be when they grew up, read the book the many faces of the face by Brigitte Baumbush and viewed many self-portraits from books, the girls were ready to get started on their own self-portraits. I gave the girls drawing paper, their own 4B drawing pencil, and invited them to experiment with their pencil and get used to using it. What kind of lines or shapes could they draw? Dark/light lines? Shading? I think it’s important to feel comfortable with an artist material before jumping into a project. I also provided charcoal that they could experiment with as well.
Next, I gave the girls another piece of drawing paper and had them draw their self-portrait using just their imagination. When finished, they turned their paper over and I gave each girl a mirror and a step-by-step guide to drawing a self-portrait (made by Deborah F. Lawerence). They followed steps that helped them think about where their eye, nose, and mouth line might be, thinking carefully of where each feature is. This was challenging and the outcome might not be exactly what they were thinking it should be, but they worked so hard and were so focused! I am so proud of them! I was able to take some pictures of their “Before” self-portraits, but ran out of time and wasn’t able to take any of their “After” self-portraits. Sorry about that! I hope you enjoyed all their hard work.
I saw one of the girl’s mother and she shared with me that her daughter was practicing at home. I love it! Those girls are so inspiring! Happy Drawing!
REMINDER: No class on April 22
Our next classes will be on:
Thursday, April 29 – Storytelling
Thursday, May 6 – Featured Artist
Thursday, May 20 – Culminating Celebration!
