Monochromatic Grid Portriats

Hi all!  This is a lesson I did with my sixth graders this year.  In the past I did try it with my fifth graders, as well, but they did tend to struggle a bit.  As for anything, it helps to be well-prepared and very organized.



I did this myself first, and I also created a hand out for students to plan with.



I also edited the students' photos first, to make them have more visible contrast.  The next time I do this, I plan to zoom in more, as well, to focus more on their faces.  You can see here, in my photo, how the contrast is less subtle than normal.



I also cut down each student's photo to 8x10", and the white paper we used was 16x20", to make for easy one and two inch grids.  Students made the one inch grid on the photo, and the two inch grid on the white paper, after watching me first.  I compared this to a "puzzle", saying it is easier to focus piece by piece, than on the whole puzzle at once.

I had them then find the different tints and shades and label them from darkest to lightest, using the numbers seen on the chart above.  The drawings looked kind of like topographical maps when finished.  Grids and pencil drawings took 2-3 45 class periods.



Next, we discussed color mixing, starting with lightest to darkest.  We used egg cartons and plastic bags (labeled with each student's name) to store the acrylic paints, which worked well, especially because I see my sixth graders every day for a quarter of the school year.



The kids then painted their different tints and shades onto the chart I made, so they could refer back later. to the corresponding numbers on the grid and drawn on their portraits.



You can see the different shapes showing various tints and shades....



Having the different colors mapped out ahead of time seemed strange to students, but it really helped later on.



The final step was to use a broadline sharpie marker to go over and smooth edges, or color in the very dark areas.  In the future I would actually eliminate the black paint, and just use white, the chosen color, and the black sharpie.  It is less confusing for color mixing, and it would cut down on wasted paint.  Aside from yellow, or possibly orange, I don't think the black is even necessary.



Thanks for stoppin' in :)