More Portraits

Contagion

The children continue to inspire each other to create self-portraits. They sit in the studio  and offer each other thoughts and suggestions. Their  conversation is often about the colors that they are mixing or the effect that they are trying to acheive with the paint. 

Sometimes they just talk about their lives and share the details of their days. Subjects like religion or the best way to pack a lunch are debated as well. It seems that the best conversations arise when the children are working creatively with a tool of some sort in the hands. 

Sydney’s Artist Statement

First I painted myself and then I did the background.  I thought about  “when I am done I have just begun” and I tried to add extra details. I painted my nails and put a lot of jewelry on me.’

I thought about what colors do I like and what do I think about color. I said to myself I like this purple and aquamarine and the green and gold. I learned that when you mix colors it always transforms into a new ones. 

I was thinking about details and more details and not to rush this when I did the background. There was a man who looked very brave on a ginormous piece of paper at the museum (VMFA) and that is how I got inspired to do this.

Note:

Melanie stopped by the classroom as Syd reflected and she said that she thought that Syd was probably someone that likes to have fun and is very active. Syd confirmed that this was true. Melanie said that you could learn a lot from a person’s self-portrait.

Fiona worked slowly and methodically on her portrait. She seemed to have a vision that she was working toward. She introduced a technique to the children to add texture to her hair and then later the backdrop. After she painted she used a toothpick to seperate the paint and give the illusion of seperate hair.s 

Fiona  made the discovery that she could start with one color and arrive at a different one. She began with the color she used to paint her stockings.  After adding a darker color, Fiona still felt dissatisfied but when she painted her hand with the newly mixed color it became evident that she might need to lighten it with either a yellow or white paint.

Fiona’s Artist Statement

I thought the hair needed lines and I thought to myself the toothpicks have lines maybe I could dip the toothpick into the paint and make lines

I was going to make the background purple but then I thought I would get tired of it so I added other colors. I made designs on the clothing and then I painted over the top.

I thought about the lips and I thought I don’t frown everywhere and I don’t smile everywhere so I tried to do a medium.

When I look at a mirror at my house I notice the design in my eyes and the dots. They are not just circles they are also ovals that have a corner.

The background (of a self-portrait at the VMFA) did not look like it is suppose to look. It looked gloomy and dark. I didn’t want to do that.

Bella likes to work large, bold and whimiscal.  At one point she entered our  classroom holding her large canvas in front of her. The canvas was shaking  back and forth, creating the illusion that it was dancing.

Bella:  I could wear this as my Halloween costume.

Nolan was dissatisfied with his flesh color, also. He painted his hand and felt like it was to dark. When he wiped the paint from his hand he realized that the remenants matched his skin tone. It was a happy accident.