Students were in awe as we looked at a collection of famous paintings by Pablo Picasso. They were particularly intrigued by his portraits of Dora Maar and Marie-Therese. We talked about how these portraits didn't look like exact paintings of the two ladies - they were 'abstract' and their faces seemed to be divided up into shapes or sections.We then discussed 'Cubism' and students were eager to have a go at drawing their own Picasso-style self-portrait (or 'selfie' as we called it!)
We began by drawing our faces with black permanent marker, using strong, sharp lines and geometric shapes. Some students chose to draw their eyes facing different directions.
Next, students coloured their faces into sections, using oil pastels.
Once they were all coloured, we used a cotton bud dipped in baby oil to smooth over one side of their face. The oil pastels looked lovely and smooth once the baby oil was applied, a bit like the texture of a texta or paint. The contrast of having one side smooth and one side rough was very effective.
Students' portraits looked so unique once they were all finished and they really enjoyed trying out a different style than they were used to. Well done on your willingness to try drawing in a style you may not be so comfortable with! Here are some portraits by Oscar, Josh S and Daniel.
And some more from Laila, Nyadeet and Leilani.
To learn more about Pablo Picasso (and to create your own Picasso Head) click here.
