Picasso Faces

Elements of Art

Color: the visible range of reflected light. It has three properties: hue (name), value (lightness/darkness), and intensity(brightness/dullness).

Shape: a two-dimensional (flat, height and width) area enclosed by a line:
     geometric: shapes based on mathematical principles, such as a square/cube, circle/sphere, triangle/cone, or pyramid.
     organic: shapes that are irregular, based on nature often curving or rounded.the visible range of reflected light. 

Principles of Design

Balance: the arrangement of elements that makes individual parts of a composition appear equally important; an arrangement of the elements to create an equal distribution of visual weight throughout the format or composition.

Additional Vocabulary

Abstract: a style of art that includes various types of avant-garde art of the 20th century in which images have been altered from their realistic/natural appearance, simplified to reveal only basic shapes, lines to show its purer underlying form (sometimes, references to recognizable objects are removed which makes it ‘non-representational’).
Cubism: a style of art of the 20th century, that emphasizes the simplification of the subject into cubes and other geometric shapes and forms and simultaneously depicted from multiple viewpoints. This style is associated with the works of artists Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso.
Profile: side view of a face.
Vertical: an up-and-down direction or orientation. 

Materials & Supplies

Context (History and/or Artists)

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was born in 1881 in Malaga, Spain.  His full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso!  He didn’t do well in school but he was an extremely talented artist.  He attended some very good art schools, but he was bored studying classical art. The camera had recently become more popular and represented images well. He wanted to do something different.  He experimented and developed a new style of painting with his friend George Braque, called Cubism.  In cubism the subject is broken down into geometric shapes and forms and depicted from multiple viewpoints.  He experimented with collage and added sand, newspaper and wallpaper to his paintings.  Picasso continued to experiment with many styles of art during his lifetime.  He created over 1,800 paintings and 1,200 sculptures.

Advanced Preparation

Locate abstract portraits such as Weeping Woman (1937), Portrait of Dora Maar (1937), or Portrait of Marie-Therese (1938) by Picasso or I and the Village by Chagall (1911).

Locate realistic portraits such as The Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, Portrait of Thomas Jefferson (1800) by Rembrandt Peale, Girl with the Pearl Earring (1665) by Johannes Vermeer or Linda, Chuck Close (1975).

Tips & Tricks

• Using colored paper will help with any gaps the students might leave when coloring with oil pastel.
• If time is an issue, consider having the students outline with black oil pastel and fill with watercolor.   The students will be able to paint faster than coloring everything with oil pastels.
• You can adapt this to specific portraits at certain times of year, like Halloween or a presidential portrait, or mix it up by creating an abstract portrait from the Mona Lisa.

Discussion Points

Discuss the differences between artwork that is abstract and artwork that is realistic.  Discuss why an artist might choose to make something abstract rather than realistic.  Discuss Pablo Picasso and his influence on abstract art.

Reflection Point (Assessment of Learning Objectives)

Students will:

• learn the difference between realistic and abstract portraits and create their own abstract portrait. 
• use art vocabulary.
• become familiar with the Cubist work of Pablo Picasso.

Instructions for Lesson

Write the vocabulary words on the board with simple definitions and read them aloud. Refer to them during the lesson. Show them the poster of geometric shapes.

1. Compare and contrast one of Picasso’s abstract portraits with a realistic portrait.
2. Initiate a discussion about abstraction by asking questions.  “What is different about these portraits?”  “What shapes do you see?”  “What colors do you see?” “What details were worth keeping in the abstract portraits?”  “Are these portraits realistic?” 
3. Explain abstraction to the students and that they will create their own abstract portraits.
4. Demonstrate for the students orienting their paper vertically and drawing a curve for the chin about 2/3 the way down the page as if the face were looking straight at the artist (themselves) without any other features yet.   Emphasize the face can be any geometric shape, it doesn’t have to be oval.  
5. Demonstrate first and then direct the students to draw a profile, as if from the side, down the middle.
   a) A small curve for the forehead
   b) Upside-down seven for the nose
   c) Sideways M for the mouth
   d) Small curve for the chin.  
6. Put an eye on one side looking forward and an eye on the other side looking sideways.  It should look as if there were two faces, a frontal view and a profile view.
7. Next, the students will finish the facial features.  Encourage creativity with different geometric shapes and multiple features.  
8. The students will add a neck.
9. Color the portraits with different colors of oil pastel.  Outline at the end.

References and Attributions

Lesson written by Rachelle Roberts. “Art History and Artists” Ducksters Educational website ; Smith Anthos, Jeannette “Picasso Face Pastels” Incredible Art website. Student artwork from from Clark Elementary.

Notes for Educators

21st Century Thinking Skills
Observing, Making Connections, Visualizing, Sequencing, Comparing/Contrasting, Determining Main Idea, Finding Evidence, Determining Point of View, Fact and opinion, Decision Making, Evaluating.

WA State Learning Standards
(VA:Cr1.2.2) a. Make art or design with various materials and tools to explore personal interests, questions, and curiosity.
(VA:Cr3.1.2) a. Discuss and reflect with peers about choices made in creating artwork.
(VA:Re7.1.2) a. Perceive and describe aesthetic characteristics of one’s natural world and constructed environments.
(VA:Re9.1.2) a. Use learned art vocabulary to express preferences about artwork.
(VA:Cn11.1.2) a. Compare and contrast cultural uses of artwork from different times and places.

Please note:  These lesson plans are intended for non-profit use only. Use of these plans for commercial purposes should give attribution to the Issaquah Schools Foundation and be accompanied by a nominal donation at www.isfdn.org/donate. Thank you.

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