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HERE I AM Self-Portraits Presented by Out of the Box

“The tool of every self-portrait is the mirror. You see yourself in it. Turn it the other way, and you see the world.” Agnes Varda, French film directorIn this hands-on workshop, children paint their own self portrait. In doing so, they’re asked to reflect on questions like: How do I want to be seen in the world? How is my face a reflection of who I am? How do I feel?Here I Am celebrates the wonderful diversity in our society and at the same time, explores each individual in their own right. We may all have different eyes, hair and skin, but we play the same, smile the same and laugh the same.Every self-portrait created will be digitised and added to an ever-growing, large-scale window installation. As light shines through the QPAC windows, the colours and faces of the self-portraits wash over everyone who passes by. Here I Am invites us to consider that the way our children perceive themselves may be very different to how we see them from the outside.

EARLY YEARS FRAMEWORKOutcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity

Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world

Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners

Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators

NEED TO KNOWAGE RANGE: 5+ years

VENUE: Playhouse Balcony Foyer

AUSTRALIAN CURRICULUM VISUAL ARTS: F-4

Visual Arts | Foundation to Year 2

Use and experiment with different materials, techniques, technologies and processes to make artworks (ACAVAM107)

Create and display artworks to communicate ideas to an audience (ACAVAM108)

Visual Arts | Years 3 to 4

Use materials, techniques and processes to explore visual conventions when making artworks (ACAVAM111)

ENGLISH: I-2

English | Year 1

Explore different ways of expressing emotions, including verbal, visual, body language and facial expressions (ACELA1787)

English | Year 2

Use comprehension strategies to build literal and inferred meaning and begin to analyse texts by drawing on growing knowledge of context, language and visual features and print and multimodal text structures (ACELY1670)

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How do our children want others to see them? Children participating in the Here I Am workshops will explore their identity as artists to make painted self-portraits.

Through a process of self-reflection, children will consider how they want to be seen, how their face tells a story of who they are and the ways their facial expressions communicate how they feel. Such exploration

of how emotions are expressed in visual ways provides links to English and Visual Arts. Also connected to English are the opportunities for children to use comprehension strategies with visual texts. By drawing on

their prior knowledge of how visual features communicate literal and inferred meaning, children will be able to consider how to make a visual representation of themselves. They will make their portraits through experimentation

with painting materials and permanent markers and different ways to apply these mediums. To communicate ideas about what they want to look like and how they feel, children will use visual conventions such as line, shape and colour. These design elements can be used in realistic, abstract and symbolic ways. Through Visual Arts, children may show us a version of themselves that we are familiar with. Or, perhaps the children will surprise us with alternative representations of who they want to be?

The children will also be encouraged to extend their perspectives beyond themselves and to the other children around them. As they would do through English, children can consider how others may respond to their ideas before they express them. Therefore, children can also develop their understanding of how others perceive them to be. Such awareness of others will provide opportunities to embrace the diversity among us. While we all share differences in our appearances to make us unique, we also share similarities. Making these distinctions will enrich the children’s sense of themselves within the context of being among others, including audiences.

With their portraits being displayed as digital and transparent prints over windows the children will also be exhibiting artists. Their light-filled installation will cast a rainbow of colours sharing their artworks collectively with QPAC audiences. Their own image will go toward creating a collective artwork, an installation featuring the work of thousands of other children, reinforcing their contribution and connection to the world around them and deepening their sense of community.

ART FORM FOCUS:The Arts: Visual Arts, English

KEY MESSAGES:Why is it important for us to see our children in the ways they see themselves?

LEARNING OPPORTUNITY:The activities for Here I Am will encourage children to interpret and communicate representations of others and themselves using visual text features and design elements.

LEARNING ACTIVITIES:EXPLORE OTHERS ARTISTS’ EXPRESSIONS OF SELF IN PORTRAITS

• Explore others artists’ expressions of self in portraits

• Explore self-portrait paintings of other artists’.

• Look for artworks that have been made with different types of paint, tools, techniques, processes and displays.

• What ideas will inspire your art making?

• When responding to the paintings, consider where and why artists made their portraits. Discuss where the artists are from and where they made/make their art.

• Why did the artist want to communicated their personal ideas about who they are in their art?

• Observe how artists use visual conventions to express ideas about themselves. Look for examples of how design elements such as line, shape and colour have been used in different ways.

• Are there portraits made to look realistic?

• Or, is the artist’s face so abstract is doesn’t really look like a face?

• Maybe you will find a portrait that uses symbolic colour or images with the artist’s face?

• Use comprehension strategies to interpret artwork texts to make sense of artists’ literal and/or inferred meanings.

• What visual clues can you find to identify the intended ideas and messages of the artwork?

WHO DO I WANT TO PAINT MYSELF TO BE?

• Ask children to consider how they are seen by others and themselves.

• Is this different to how they want to be seen?

• Encourage children to discuss or write responses to questions such as:

º How do I see myself?

º How do others see me?

º What emotion do I want to express in my self-portrait?

º What lines, shapes and colours will I use to represent myself?

• Explore the self-portraits of other artists for inspiration about how to use paint, water, brushes, colour, line and shape.

• What can you see that you can adapt to your own personal style?

• Experiment with painting materials to discover different ways to apply paint. For example, dry brush paint without water to make thick and rough marks. Also, use water to create brushstrokes that are thin and smooth. Play with colour mixing processes and different sized brushes for varied paint applications on paper.

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• Plan an artwork that will express ideas about who you are. Reflect on your ideas about self and identity and consider what you want to share with an audience.

• Are there visual clues you could include to help communicate ideas about who you are in your artwork?

• Think about the visual conventions that could be a focus in your artwork.

• Which design elements could enhance your ideas?

• Could colour, line and shape be used realistically?

• Or, will your self-portrait be abstract?

• Would you like to use symbolic visual elements?

MAKE AND SHARE AN ARTWORK THAT EXPRESSES WHO YOU ARE... IN REALITY OR IN YOUR IMAGINATION

• Gather the art materials and equipment you will need to make a self-portrait painting, including acrylic paint, watercolour paint, pencil, paper, cardboard, paint brush, paint palette and water container. You will also need a mirror to see yourself or you could use a printed photo of your face.

• Start sketching yourself with an oval shape. Now divide your face into the typical facial proportions. Remember, your eyes are located (almost) in the middle of your face (not at the top of your head)! Next, add facial features such as eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, ears and hair. Don’t forget to add those special features that make you unique, like your freckles.

• Consider your self-portrait ideas. What did you talk about, write or draw to start planning how will make yourself look? Think of design elements, emotions, facial expressions, real or imagined.

• Once you can see a drawing of your face, add colour with paint.

• Be comfortable to change your ideas as you go, if you want to. Ideas change as artists work through art making processes.

• Prepare for exhibiting your artwork collectively with the other artists in your class. Will you display your work on a wall for audiences to view in person? You could make an installation with digital images of your class’ portraits to make light projections onto the walls, ceiling and floor of your classroom. Or will you make digital images of your artwork to share with audiences using a digital collage or online gallery?

OTHER RESOURCES:WEBSITES

Queensland Art Gallery and Gallery Of Modern Art: QAGOMA Kids

http://www.qagoma.qld.gov.au/learn/kids/home

PBS Learning Media: KQED Art School (Videos: element of art)

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/elements-of-art/

12 CREATIVE SELF-PORTRAIT ART PROJECTS FOR KIDS (hello, wonderful)

www.hellowonderful.co/post/12-CREATIVE-SELF-PORTRAIT-ART-PROJECTS-FOR-KIDS

How to Draw Proportional Self Portraits with Kids (artsmudge)

www.artsmudge.com/blog/2012/05/how-to-draw-proportional-self-portraits-with-kids

Artful parent: Painting activities for kids - 60+ painting ideas

http://artfulparent.com/painting-activities-kids-60-ideas

Arty Factory: The visual elements of art

http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/visual-elements/visual-elements.html

Brava Art Press: Artist Raquel Redmond

*Please note, access to some of these lessons and videos is provided to members of this site. Brava Art Press membership is free.

Art lesson: Drawing and painting

http://www.bravaartpress.com/pdf/01-Drawing-and-Painting.pdf

Art lesson: Self-Portrait (Painting)

http://bravaartpress.com/tutorials/self-portraits/

Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority: Teaching reading and viewing - Comprehension strategies and activities for Years 1–9 (September 2010)

https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/p_10/engl_teach_read_view_comprehension.pdf

Foundation to Year 10 Australian Curriculum (Version 8) Sequence of content

The Arts

http://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/The_Arts_-_Sequence_of_content.pdf

English

http://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/English_-_Sequence_of_content.pdf

This Creative Learning Guide was prepared by Education Consultant Jacinta Lisec for QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival in 2018.