Scribble Self-Portraits

Would you like to order a few more drawing tablets for next year?” asked our amazing art department secretary, Janet O’Neill. “How many can I get?” I asked, and Janet replied, “How many do you want?” At the time of this conversation, I only had six drawing tablets for my digital arts classes. Two were old, small, and acquired through a donation, and the others I had purchased over two years. At this rate, I thought, by retirement I should have a full class set. Thanks to Janet and a grant my art department acquired, I now have a complete drawing tablet set for students.

Tablet Management
I purchased cases out-of-pocket for the four tablets I already had, but that wasn’t financially practical for the twenty-five I was now staring at lovingly. I also needed a place to store them. With reckless abandon, I cleared a student-accessible shelf in a cabinet that had a lock. I figured out that, with some modification, I could use the boxes that the tablets came in to organize and store them. They stacked and fit perfectly in their new home. I inventoried and numbered each tablet and its box, requiring students to use the drawing tablet that was numbered to match the computer station to which they were assigned.

A Focus on Line
I was overwhelmed by the new possibilities and wanted to use the tablets for the very first project of the year. I decided my Media Arts classes would be a good test group before I devised lessons and advice for my Computer Graphics, Advanced Computer Graphics, and AP 2D students.

I usually start the year with the elements of art in the introductory classes. What could be more fundamental than focusing on line for the first project of the year? I always attempt to draw out a level of sophistication and personal expression from my students, and I was somewhat stumped for a project using only line. That’s when I discovered the work of artist Adam Riches, who creates portraits using a ballpoint pen and scribbles. I decided that students would create a self-portrait using the concepts found in Riches’ artwork.

Digital Drawing Practice
Students needed time to develop the hand-eye coordination necessary to use the tablets effectively. To accomplish this, they completed a digital line worksheet while learning about the elements of art. Students used a specified brush setting to create a five-tone light to dark value system by scribbling. This activity allowed them to practice digital drawing and introduced them to the Adobe workspace and how to use lines alone to create the illusion of light and dark.

Discussing and Photographing
I began the project with a presentation about the history of self-portraiture, Riches’ work, and other artists who create portraits using only line. After our discussion, students completed a What Did I Learn discovery activity about self-portraits.
Next, I photographed each student for the project and sent them their images. Students uploaded their image to Photoshop and chose from four facial distortion options I suggested based on Riches’ work. The floating forehead option was very popular.

Working with Illustrator
Students imported their completed Photoshop image into a new canvas in Illustrator. Using my step-by-step tutorial and a suggested brush size and style, students outlined the main features of their face on a separate layer.

Next, students created another separate layer that would contain the scribble detailing of the ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. Other layers were added for the neck, hair, and clothing. One challenge was not allowing students to use any color other than black for their final artwork. I wanted them to focus on controlling the look and feel of the work by observing the pressure they were using on the tablet pen, how many lines they used, line placement, and direction.

A Smash Hit
Students were having such a great time with the project, I invited my director to come see the tablets in action. It was such a smash hit that my director asked if I could select a few portraits to print and frame so they could be displayed in the district offices. He was impressed how much impact scribble lines thoughtfully implemented could have. Beyond that, viewers were captivated by how personally expressive the scribble portraits were because of each student’s approach, something akin to analyzing personality based on a person’s handwriting.