My students made self portraits with construction paper, tissue paper and paint.
This project is always a hit with the kids and parents. I love it because it involves lots of good art concepts such as color mixing with paints, shades and tints, proportion, facial details and collage techniques.
We start by creating the background with tissue paper and paint. The kids are encouraged to experiment with color mixing. I demonstrate how to make colors lighter by adding white and darker by mixing with black (tints and shades). There’s no formal color wheel lesson, but I wanted the kids to just mix on their own and see what they can create.
After the paint is dry, we cut out shirts and decorated them with patterns. Then we went through the steps to create our self-portrait by cutting out the head shape, adding the facial features and hair with construction paper.
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Love these, Marcia!
Those are just beautiful! I love the simplicity and the colours! Your students did a great job!
These are wonderful. Did they stick the tissue paper on the backgrounds as well as paint?
Yes, they glued down tissue paper first and then added paint. Thanks!
What type of paper did you use for the children’s bodies and faces?
We used regular construction paper. I usually buy the Tru-Ray Fade Resistant paper. I also like the multicultural packs of paper to get a variety of skin tones. Here: http://www.enasco.com/product/9730927