Portrait Tracing

Exhibition: Women X Women

Artist: AFA Permanent Collection - Various Artists

Overview

Portraits are all about capturing the story and personality of the subject.  In Women X Women, the various artists concentrate on using women as their subjects - celebrating and critiquing femininity.  In several of the subjects we see body position, stance and gestures used to communicate these ideas to the viewer.  In this project, participants will create full body portraits to examine how a subjects body position can be used to express themselves and communicate an idea.

Objectives

• Create an expressive self-portrait

• Learn to connect body language and expression

• Explore 2-dimensional drawing and process painting techniques

Materials

Large white mural paper

Sharpies - black fine point

Liquid watercolours

Foam brushes

Scissors

Instructions:

Step One

Lay out the mural paper on to the floor.  Participants will lay down on the paper in their carefully considered pose, and another particpiant will use a sharpie to trace the outline of their head and body.  If young children are participating, an adult can help with the tracing. 

Step Two

Once the tracing is complete the participant or adult can cut out the tracing. Participants can then add defining details to their portraits using a Sharpie. 

Step Three

Use foam brushes and watercolours to add colour and expression to the portrait.

Variations

Younger participants can work more intuitively creating self-portraits or imagined portraits.  Older participants can research/reflect before hand and create more representational portraits.  They may be inspired to create a self-portrait, or a portrait subject of their choice.