Personalized Self-Portraits

Doodling is not a mindless act.  It is meaningful.  It is an escape from reality, it is inspired by what we see, know, like, and experience.  In fact, many contemporary artists have adopted a doodle-ish approach to their artwork. It is a curious trend??? Gets me thinking - WHY?

 

8th graders collected images of patterns, textures, lines, and symbols, even quotes, lyrics, and other words that have meaning.  All these things we combined to create these personalized self-portraits with a doodle-ish twist.

 

I should mention, contemporary art is not the only focus here. 8th graders also learned something from the great Albrecht Durer.  He was a mathematician and artist credited with “inventing” the grid method.  So, we pulled out our rulers and took lots of measurements, creating a grid that guided us in the drawing these spectacular self-portraits.  I found this a great way to warm up to observation drawing ... really helps the eyes and hands stay in sync. 

Getting started

The first day of class, I wanted to find out what my students' thoughts were about ART.  After going over the syllabus and procedures in the art room (essentially boring them to death).  I gave everyone a post-it note.  I prompted them to complete the sentence, "Art is...."  I left the format open.  They could write a sentence or two, write a poem, draw a picture, ....  I was happy to learn that most felt art was a positive thing.  Perhaps, I will ask the same question at the end of the quarter to see if the responses have changed or become more complex.  We shall see.

A collection of thoughts ... not the best picture but you get the idea