Self-Portrait

This task is multifaceted in its purpose and impact. As an artistic element of graphic design, the self-portrait is the perfect foundational medium through which students study and apply: art elements (e.g., color-tint/shade, texture, space-positive and negative, value); principles of art (e.g., balance -asymmetry, emphasis, contrast, proportion, movement, repetition; and self-expression via an artistic lens (e.g., expressive, character, personality, highlight, body language, imitation, representational, collage, and composition): and aesthetics (e.g., imitational, expressive, formal, and symbolic).

As noted above, middle school students are deep into self-exploration. These tweens/teens are likely to ask themselves questions such as:

How smart am I in school subjects?
How skillful an athlete am I?
How well do I behave?
How physically attractive am I?
How much do others like me?
Do I have many good friends?
How romantically appealing am I?
How successful will I be in my career?
(www.education.com/reference/article/development-sense-self/)

Theseare questions that frame a comprehensive, complex, and self-expressive self-portrait, which is representative of this wondering about and growth of self. The lesson plan follows

(Please note that there are images/diagrams that cannot be inserted in this online application.)

Objectives:

Learning: Students will be able to:

State outstanding elements of famous portraits and cite how these details tell a story
Be alert to the value of multi-cultural awareness
Examine and describe their sense of self in relation to others
Compare and contrast the technological tools -standard desktop computer and digital tablet to determine the effect on the production of a digital self-portrait

Skills Students will be able to:
Use technology (Photoshop, specifically) to create a portrait with details telling a personal a story
Create a portrait that invites viewers fully explore its personal and artistic meaning
Share visual and verbal information about themselves
Promote and stimulate the use written and oral language during and beyond the creative process
Build their interpersonal and online communication skills
Examine self in relation to others.

Attitude Students will be able to:
Appreciate the personal and artistic elements of famous portraits
Respect their classmates’ unique characteristics and ideas
Be alert to the value of the multi-cultural environment in which they learn and live

Motivation: Demonstration and discussion of portraits and portrait design, using PowerPoint as the creative tool.

Procedures:
1. Discuss and review with students what a self-portrait is.
A self-portrait is a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, sculpted, or made on the computer by the artist.

2. Introduce various famous portraits using PowerPoint to display and propel discussion about the pieces. Further student recognition of key elements in portraits, variations among periods and artists, how personalities and events are portrayed in portraits, etc.

3. Invite students to think about a drawing of themselves, beginning with a foundational design that they will jumpstart at home.

4. Guide students into the drawing of the their portraits using PowerPoint, with a focus on its tools: layers, brushes, cut and paste, color, among others. (In sixth grade, the portrait is students’ entry into PowerPoint as a graphic design vehicle; 7th graders build on their PhotoShop skills with a quick review prefacing their process.)

State Learning Standards

Standard 1- Creating, Performing & Participating in the Arts.
Performance Indicator C. Understand and use the elements and principles of art in order to communicate ideas.

Standard 2- Knowing & Using Art Materials & Resources.
Performance Indicator A. Understand the characteristics of various mediums (paint, clay, computer) and select ones that are most appropriate for particular purposes.

Standard 3 – Responding to & Analyzing Works of Art.
Performance Indicator A. Use the language of art criticism to describe the visual and functional characteristics of works of art, and to interpret the relationships of artwork to one another.

Step 1: Introduction to/Expansion of Self-Portrait

Grade 6: Students are introduced to what a self-portrait is-a representation of an artist, drawn, painted, photographed, sculpted, or made on the computer by the artist-in order for them to create their individual self-portraits that best represents themselves. Students begin the design process by asking themselves: What expression, posture, clothing, background, color, texture and style best express the real me? They then draw a portrait and photograph themselves using Photo Booth, and then launch Adobe Photoshop to create a file that they will build on as they move through the lesson.

Grade 7: Students expand on the Grade 6 self-portrait lesson to delve into the essence and design process more deeply. To begin, students fold a white piece of paper into 4s. Label each square in order as 1, 2, 3, 4. They draw on sketch in each box. Each sketch should be different, and represents individual students in different ways. For example, sketch 1 may be a drawing that shows a silly side, and sketch 2 may be a drawing that expresses a serious side. Students think about the positions of their head, what they are wearing on their heads, etc. Students consider how they want the world to view them. Or perhaps, where their self-portrait might rest: If it were hanging up in a museum, what kind of impression would they want to portray to the people stopping and looking at it?

For both grades, students work through a similar design process during which they walk through, step by step, how to use the various Photoshop tools. These steps are described below and presented as they would be presented to the students via Smartboard and a printed set of instructions. (Please note the shift in language as a result.)

Step Two: Photo Booth

1.Take a photograph of yourself in Photo Booth.

2.Your photograph must be a CLOSE-UP shot from the shoulders up. Think about how you want to portray yourself. What type of photographic visual describes your personality best? Explore various poses, such as from the front, the side, an unusual angle, holding an object in your hand, wearing a specific article of clothing (hat, scarf), smiling, frowning, being silly, etc.

3.Print out your photo on the black and white printer.

4.With your pencil, CIRCLE all the highlights, shadows, and mid-tones.

Highlight – The LIGHTEST spot or area in a painting, drawing or photograph.
Shadow – The DARKEST spot or area in a painting, drawing or photograph.
Mid-tone - A tone (color) that appears BETWEEN a scene's highlight and shadow areas.

Step Three: Photoshop

1. Create an 11 x 8 1/2 (HORIZONTAL) document in Photoshop. The document should be CMYK and 150dpi (resolution).

2. Import or drag your photograph from Photo Booth into Photoshop. Give the layer the name “PHOTO”.

3. Begin to TRACE your photograph with the PEN TOOL and LASSO TOOL. You will ONLY trace YOU, and NOT the background. As you are tracing your photograph, create a NEW FOLDER for each section of your face and body. Label your folder with the appropriate title. For example, “Head” is the title of a folder, “Eyes” is the title of a folder, “Ears” is the title of a folder, “Hair” is the title of a folder, “Neck & Shoulders” is the title of a folder, “Eyebrows” is a folder, etc. Each body part should remain in its appropriate titled folder

4. As you trace each body part with the pen tool it would be a good idea to SAVE YOUR PATH. This way if you need to select it again later on, you can just click on the save path and the layer will be selected.

HOW TO SAVE A PATH IN THE PATH PALLETTE
Paths can be found in the same palette as Layers.
(Diagram cannot be shown here, but this is a visual that the teacher presents on the Smartboard to show the process.)

5. As you trace your photograph, fill in your selections with color. Move the EYE DROPPER tool over the area of the original photograph that you are trying to create, in order to help you choose the EXACT colors of your skin tone, hair, eyebrows, ears, mouth, nose, ect. If you want to CHANGE the color of your CLOTHING that is OK, but you MUST try to match the colors of your face and body as best as you can.

EYE DROPPER tool (this tool is shown on the Smartboard)
**NOTE: ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED A LAYER YOU WILL WANT TO TURN IT OFF SO YOU CAN SEE YOUR ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH, AND USE IT AS A TEMPLATE TO TRACE YOUR ADDITIONAL BODY PARTS. WHEN YOU ARE DONE TRACING YOUR ENTIRE FACE AND BODY YOU CAN TURN ALL OF THE LAYERS ON.

Step Four: Highlight, Shadows, and Mid-tones
USE THE PRINTED COPY OF YOUR PHOTOGRAPH FOR REFERENCE WHEN MAKING YOUR HIGHLIGHTS, SHADOWS, and MID-TONES

1. Once you have your entire face, body, and clothing outlined and colored in you can start to make your HIGHLIGHTS, SHADOWS, and MID-TONES. If you don’t know what each word means, you can refer to page 1 of these instructions to read their definitions.
2. When creating your HIGHLIGHTS, SHADOWS, and MID-TONES make sure that you make them on a layer that is TITLED and PLACED in the appropriate folder. For example, if you are creating the shadows on your face, they should be made on a layer that is placed in the “Face Folder”.

Shadows (Again, here, there are diagrams that the students view on the smartboard, and then follow the process on their computers.)

1. START by making your SHADOWS FIRST. It is always good to start painting FROM DARKEST to LIGHTEST. That way you can layer your lighter tones and highlights on top of your shadows. MAKE SURE that your SHADOWS are on their OWN LAYER.
2. When making your shadows use the print out of your photograph as a reference tool, in order to see where you need to make them. First, trace your shadow with the PEN TOOL or LASSO TOOL. Next, use your EYE DROPPER TOOL to select the original color of your layer as the foreground color in your tool bar. Double click on your foreground color and choose a color that is a darker tone of your original color. For example, if your face in light peach then the shadows on your face will be dark peach. Next, take your SMUDGE TOOL located in your Tool Palette to blend and smooth out your shadow. When using the SMUDGE TOOL, you can go to the BRUSH PALETE and choose the size and type of brush you would like to use (The short-cut command to change your brush size is CONTROL and RIGHT CLICK YOUR MOUSE). You can also experiment blending your shadow by lowering the OPACITY and/or using the BLUR TOOL.
3. It is OK if you DON’T want to SMUDGE ALL of the AREAS of your shadows. It is OK to leave some areas MORE DEFINED than others.

Mid-tones: If you don’t know what a mid-tone is look at the first page of this handout.

1. Create your mid-tones the same way that you created your shadows. Your mid-tones should be painted on top of your shadows.
2. Choose a color for your mid-tone that is slightly lighter than the color of your shadow. Remember to blend your mid-tones into your shadows with the Smudge Tool.
3. It is OK if you DON’T want to SMUDGE ALL of the AREAS of your mid-tones. It is OK to leave some areas MORE DEFINED than others.
Highlights: If you don’t know what a highlight is look at the first page of this handout.
1. Create your highlights the same way that you created your mid-tones and shadows.
2. Your highlights should be painted on top of your mid-tones and shadows.
3. It is OK if you DON’T want to SMUDGE ALL of the AREAS of your highlights. It is OK to leave some areas MORE DEFINED than others.