“I do not paint a portrait to look like the subject, rather does the person grow to look like his portrait” – Salvador Dalí.
Children of all ages and every walk of life carry burdens that you may or may not know, but the one thing you can do is lead them to creativity for restoration and flourishing. One of my favorite ways to do this is through teaching my students how to draw a portrait and bring someone’s beautiful face to life on paper.
When teaching portraiture, it’s important to be as age-specific as possible. While some art projects lend themselves to all age groups, others are more tailored to the various needs of different learning levels. Today, I’m delighted to discuss a few student fan favorite middle and high school portrait projects and art medium ideas for young adults.
A Fun & Meaningful Portrait Project
The Surrealistic Selfie
Developing an enthusiasm for risk-taking in the art room helps kids get comfortable with artmaking at an early age. The Surrealistic Selfie Art Project relieves young artists of the pressure of drawing themselves with perfect realism and puts a fun and interesting spin on the realistic portrait. Taking reference photos is hilarious! Students take photos of themselves or their peers and using a simple photo distortion app of their choice, the entire class is sure to be engulfed in the giggles!
This fun and engaging portrait lesson is a super cost-effective art lesson, as it puts to good use those huge boxes of oil pastels that no teacher ever knows quite what to do with. All skill levels and abilities enjoy artistic success with this quirky portrait lesson fun. Get ready for the best hall display as students and faculty try to identify who’s represented in these silly portraits.
Perfect for Middle School Art and Beginner High School Artists. The oil pastel practice exercises and accompanying instructional art tutorials make this a perfect portrait project for homeschool art.
Challenging Art Mediums for Young Adults
Charcoal Portraits on Toned Paper
Take your students’ portrait drawing skills (learned in the Beginner Pencil Portrait Unit) to a whole new level with the Intermediate Charcoal Portrait Unit. This unique spin on drawing people creates an engaging approach that students really enjoy.
In this intermediate drawing unit, students examine the Art Element Value by using the paper color as the mid-tone value and adding the lights and darks with the white and black charcoal pencils. Looking for original competition-worthy artworks for your students? This unique portrait drawing project is perfect for the competitive arena and the college entrance art portfolio.
Teaching art on a budget? Create your Charcoal Portraits on 18×24 inch construction paper! Enjoying a more flexible art budget? Check out Canson Mi-Tientes Drawing Paper in a variety of rich beautiful tones. The images below were created on both types of paper – Construction Paper for the Blue half portrait and Mi-Tientes Paper for the charcoal portrait.
MrsTFox Resources Has All the Art Teaching Tools You Need
As either a new or veteran art teacher, you know that having adequate resources makes all the difference in your classroom. Without the proper teaching tools, you can feel lost as an educator, but that’s where I can assist. Every art teacher deserves to have the tools to help their students learn and grow through art. To find complete online professional development courses for art teachers with ready-to-use classroom resources and Certificates of Completion, see the Classroom Management Art Educator Workshop to transform your art classroom into a world of meaning.
