year 9 art portraiture and the alter ego scheme of work

CHUCK CLOSE

Finger prints

Paper making

Grids

The creation of self-portraits can create a connection to yourself and your artwork.

Artists represent themselves from both their own internal views and the way they feel the world sees (or should see) them.

Using different materials, methods and perspectives can help portray the same subject in a new and interesting way.

What is the purpose of a self-portrait? In what ways do artists represent themselves?

Year 9 Lesson 1/2

Today you will have your portrait photograph taken so that you can complete this project on Portraiture and The Alter Ego

Choose one of the following 4 images by Chuck Close and copy each square carefully using the grid provided.

L.O: Understand how to use the “Grid Method” in drawing and be able to apply a range of tones using a 2B /4B pencil

Drawing taskLook carefully at each square on the photograph. Choose the tone that you feel is the most dominant.Shade in the corresponding square on the blank grid in that tone.

Drawing taskLook carefully at each square on the photograph. Choose the tone that you feel is the most dominant.Shade in the corresponding square on the blank grid in that tone.

Drawing taskLook carefully at each square on the photograph. Choose the colour that you feel is the most dominant.Shade in the corresponding square on the blank grid in that colour.

Drawing taskLook carefully at each square on the photograph. Choose the colour that you feel is the most dominant.Shade in the corresponding square on the blank grid in that colour.

HOMEWORK

Create a self portrait at home using a mirror or a photograph.Use the following guides to help with proportion. Fill the page and use a range of tones to shade.

Instructions

1Split the bottom half of the face into three equal sections between the bottom of the eyes and the bottom of the chin. Use a pencil and don't try too hard to be perfect as this part of the drawing is very rough.

2Draw in with a pencil the bottom or tip of the nose that should rest on the first third line of the bottom half of the face.

3Fill in the upper lip by drawing a line about half way up the second third of the bottom half of the face. The edge of the mouth should line up with the middle of the eyes.

4Pencil in the indent of the chin by drawing a line half way up the bottom third of the bottom half of the face. The nose, middle of the lips and chin indent should all line up.

5Sketch the bottom of the chin in line with the bottom of the third section.

6Indicate hairline about half way up the upper half of the face. This would indicate a younger portrait whereas a hairline further up indicates a receding line or an older person.

7Use pencil to draw in the rest of the features marked out in previous steps.

LESSON 3: CHUCK CLOSE FINGERPRINT TASKChuck Close Fingerprint portrait of Phillip Glass (1979)

Using only your fingers/thumbs and black printing ink try to copy the image on to A3 cartridge paper. Once completed make a line drawing tracing of your portrait photo.L.O: Understand how to build up tonal values using layering

Your teacher has now photocopied your line drawing onto A3 cartridge paper

LESSON 4: Using your understanding of the finger print task last week, complete your own finger print portrait over your A3 drawing. Pay close attention to the tonal values in the photograph. Use different fingers for smaller and bigger prints.

L.O: Understand how to build tone by layering and be able to explain monochrome painting

Learn to paint using only your fingers

Lessons 5-7: A3 Pencil /Fine liner self portraits using a GRID

You will now create a detailed pencil portrait using the grid system and your portrait photograph. Your teacher will give you an A3 Grid and your A4 photograph. Take your time and really focus on one square at a time to create your own photorealistic drawing. Once you have completed the overall line drawing, each square must be completed using a PATTERN and the pattern you choose must follow the tones in the photograph. Try to change your patterns in each square. See the next slides for examples. As long as each square reflects the correct tonal values in the photo you will succeed! It may be an idea to practice a section in your sketchbook first!

L.O: Understand how to use mark making and pattern to achieve different tonal values.

An alter ego is a second self. A person who has an alter ego is said to lead a double life.

International artist Moritz Wehrmann was invited by WERK to show 'Alter Ego’ at Longbridge Light Festival. The installation which blurs the lines between Science and Art was one of the highlights of Longbridge Light Festival (part of LPAP) exhibited in an empty cavernous industrial unit situated on the grounds of the former Longbridge car factory. Queues formed throughout the night with over 550 participants entering the mysterious black box structure, two at a time, where they saw their bodies merge together through the use of special glass and light technology

https://vimeo.com/58535083https://vimeo.com/58535083

Pearls on by day, tattoos out by night - a photographer's cleverly-styled images show how people often have more than one side to them.

Toby Dixon, 34, who is based in Sydney, Australia, recruited a stylist and make-up artist to transform a man and woman's appearance into two halves and captured the pair's alter egos on camera.

On the one side they look distinctly 'serious', with combed hair, buttoned-up collars and glasses, while on the other they appear more 'playful', displaying inches of inked flesh and cheeky smirks.

Cindy Sherman reveals how dressing up in character began as a kind of performance and evolved into her earliest photographic series such as "Bus Riders" (1976), "Untitled Film Stills" (1977-1980), and the untitled rear screen projections (1980). In self-reflexive photographs and films, Cindy Sherman invents myriad guises, metamorphosing from Hollywood starlet to clown to society matron. Often with the simplest of means—a camera, a wig, makeup, an outfit—Sherman fashions ambiguous but memorable characters that suggest complex lives lived out of frame. Sherman's investigations have a compelling relationship to public images, from kitsch (film stills and centerfolds) to art history (Old Masters and Surrealism) to green-screen technology and the latest advances in digital photography.

Here are 2 different possible projects to develop, one 2D painting outcome and one 3d outcome. Your teacher will tell you which one you will complete….

John Stezaker

Lesson 5Create a portrait your photograph and then stitch into it. Looking closely at the Destroy series by Rankin and also Maurizio Anzeri’s stitched portraits. Experiment with colour, pattern, and line to create an interesting composition. If you don’t want to sew you can also use coloured pens to draw patterns over your photograph to change it

Rankin “Destroy Series”

Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Space Invader and other street artists who have recognizable characters/stencils. Shepard Fairey’s ObeyGiant stencil, Space Invader’s Space Invader trademark, and Banksy’s Rat character.

Alter Egos

In this lesson, you will explore the idea of an icon/character as a form of a signature. Look at street artists like Banksy, Space Invader, and ObeyGiant who use characters to hide their identities.

Brainstorm characters or symbols to represent your identities and create a stencil of your chosen design. Print your stencil on top of your photo, and work into the image so that your face is half obscured..

Artist's Statement:

The main motif of my artworks is Human Faces. The broken faces might be mirrors to reflect your emotions.

I am quite interested in various aspects and contradictions which people have inside.

Mixed Emotion Portraits

Your teacher will take 2 photos of you, one looking happy, and one looking sad.

Cut out sections of one of the photos and layer on top of the other to create a mixed emotion collage. Hand in to your teacher who will then photocopy this onto A3 cartridge paper for next week.

Lesson 6-8Working on top of your A3 combined emotion image create a distorted portrait in the style of the artist Takahiro Kimura.

Add paint pencil, pen, oil pastel and paint to complete the background and add even more distortions to your collage.

Decide which areas to highlight. Which areas do you want to make stand out. Try to work into these with heavier darker tones and use cross hatching with fine liner pen for detail. You could also shade in the skin tone in places with either pencil or black and white paint.

3D WORSHOP ON AN ALTER EGO IDENTITY

Your challenge is to create a mask that describes an aspect of your personality that we would normally not know. Like trash, which we cover in land fills, think of a characteristic/trait that is normally covered or hidden. The mask you create should reveal something new about you.

You may only use materials intended for your rubbish, or recycling bin. In other words, save the things you would normally discard... these will become your materials.

Alter Ego Mask

Requirements

The mask must obscure most, if not all of your face. Make sure that you can see out of the maskYour mask/sculpture should be mostly made of found materials and rubbishSome element of the mask should extend at least 12 inches from your head.

Make sure it stays on your head/face without your hands holding it.

Homework: Gather Materials

Begin by sourcing materials that you would normally throw away. Be sure to clean them. As you take an inventory of your garbage/recycling, think about how the materials can communicate just by themselves. The primary materials you will use, are discarded items from your home, things like: milk cartons, packaging, containers, broken household items, old clothes, etc. Use the stuff you normally throw away. Please clean and prepare your materials so they are not harmful to you, or cause a potential pest problem. Remember you will be wearing this sculpture on your head.

Do not use any materials that will rot, ie. vegetables, or animal by-products.

Lesson 1: Make Sketches and design ideas in your book

Start making sketches of how you could reflect a side of your personality in the shape and form of the mask. Think about colour too. Complete 2 different designs in your book . Make some quick self portraits and add your design to them!

Lesson 2/3-6 :Construction

Bring in your materials to class. Use tape, glue, glue guns, wire to construct your mask.. The materials you use, and the way you put them together should be enough to communicate your idea. They should show us something new about who you are.

Artist Jozef Mrya sees his work as an experiment in ritualistic expression. His recycled cardboard masks take after animals and invite people to immerse themselves in new roles to create a primitive identity

Chris Scarborough, drawing of a mask

Lesson 6-8:Once your mask in complete, put it on and your teacher will photograph you. Make a detailed drawing of the new you from your photograph. Use 2b/4b pencil or Fine Liner pens and a cross hatching technique.