Activity 2.2: photographing, projecting and drawing

Introduction

This activity provides the opportunity for students to use digital technology and to develop skills in transferring and translating a real image onto a two-dimensional self-portrait line drawing.

Resources

• Gallery
• Camera
• Computer
• Data projector to project the photographs
• Drawing paper
• Mirror
• Pencils (2B–6B)
• Scissors

• Activity stepsShow details
  1. As part of planning the composition for their self-portrait, students should decide how they will position their head and upper body in preparation for a photograph. Later in this activity, the photograph will be saved on the computer, then projected onto paper and drawn.
  2. Ask the students: Can you express something about your 'likeness' by the way you position your head and shoulders?
     
     • A profile is where the face is shown from the side, as in In mob we trust (Richard Bell) by Luke Roberts.
     • 'In profile' is a traditional and formal pose where the person looks directly to the side. They can face left or right, generally with little expression, and the purpose is to show their facial features.
     • Looking directly into the camera, or 'face-on', gives the impression that the sitter is looking directly at the viewer. This may suggest that the sitter is trying to make some personal connection or communicate with the person who is viewing the artwork.
     • Looking beyond the camera (not into) as well as up or down, suggests that the sitter is interested in something beyond the viewer and outside the frame of the artwork. This can give a sense of mystery.
     • Some other visual clues about a person in a portrait may be hairstyle, hair adornments, jewellery, neckwear or clothes.
     
  3. Traditionally, a portrait painting included the head, neck and the torso, but a portrait sculpture called a 'bust', was the head, neck and upper shoulders. Contemporary examples include less or more of the body.
  3. Organise students into pairs or small groups to work on the following activities as the equipment becomes available.
  4. Photographing: Students take a close-up photograph of their preferred self-portrait composition, which is then saved onto a computer.
  5. Projecting: Using a data projector, the photograph is projected onto drawing paper as a life-size image
  6. Drawing:
     • Using the line drawing technique and a pencil (2B–6B), students transfer their photograph onto the paper by drawing the outline of the self-portrait, including the basic outline of hair, eyes, nose, mouth and ears to achieve the correct proportion.
     • They complete the details of the self-portrait using a mirror or the printed photograph of the face as a reference point, and using the same technique (line drawing) and pencil.
  4. Students cut the excess paper from around the self-portrait image and keep it for gluing onto the painted background in Activity 4, when resolving their artwork.