Elementary

The Essential Question
What is a self-portrait?

Objective
Students will create a colorful self-portrait using a hand mirror.

Materials
sketchbooks, white paper, color media, pencils, hand mirrors, instructional self-portrait reference sheets and/or videos

Procedures

1. Students look at self-portraits throughout time and investigate what a self-portrait is and why artists create them. As a class, discuss the difference between drawing from a photograph versus drawing from a mirror (photographs tend to flatten images).
2. Using a hand mirror, students practice drawing themselves proportionately in their sketchbooks. Provide instructional resources to assist students in drawing the face. Ask students to incorporate the mirror, as well as an interesting background (can be surreal in nature), into their final designs.
3. After a peer critique, students convert their final designs onto a sheet of white paper. Students illustrate their designs in the manner they see fit, again focusing on facial proportions, the use of the mirror in their scene, and an interesting background composition.
4. After completion of their drawings, students use color media of their choice.
5. Students post their designs to the schoolʼs virtual platform for their peers to review and provide feedback.

Leigh Drake is an art teacher at Old Donation School in Virginia Beach, Virginia.