Teacher: Amber Couch

Grades: 9-12
Unit: Drawing: Portrait Drawing with History
Time: One week of classes

Summary: Students will draw their partners portraits, dressing them in an art historic
period clothing and accessories.
Rational: According to Erikson, students at this age are in the Identity vs. Role
confusion stage. This project helps students explore other cultures and other times, and
incorporate aspects of other cultures and how they can relate to certain aspects of their
lives.
Objectives: Students will draw the human face proportionally, and learn about the role of
portraiture in history using either pencil. They will then draw a classmates portrait using
shading, to resemble a person from an ancient culture, or time period. Students will use
all materials safely.
National Standards:
NVA 1: B) Know the differences between materials, techniques, and processes.
NVA 1: D) Use art materials and tools in a safe and responsible manner.
NVA 4: C) Demonstrate how history, culture,and the visual arts can influence
each other in making and studying works of art

Technology:

Eraser

Projector

Art history books

Computer

Ruler

Materials:

Smudge sticks

Pencils

Drawing paper

Vocabulary:
symmetry-two sides the same; a form of balance.
Proportion-refers to the relative size and scale of the various elements in a design.
Canon- Using an instrument to gauge unit of measurement in drawing.

Day 1: Lesson 1-Introduction to Portrait

Pretest:
Have students draw a mini portrait of their neighbor. Then ask the following questions after:

Did you draw your eyes sort of football-shaped?

Did you draw your mouth with a straight line where the lips meet each other?

Did you remember to draw the railroad tracks that run between your upper lip and the bottom of
your nose? (Most students dont.)

Did you draw your nose to look like Miss Piggys?

Instructional Input:
1. Tell students that they will now start a portrait drawing project.
2. Ask, Why do you think portraits were so popular for the rich and wealthy? What
were they made for?
3. Show mini PP, and point out historical portraits. (10-15)
4. Explain that this was the way the wealthy did this as a status symbol, and a show of
wealth since pigments were so hard to make and find.
5. After PP, pass out pre-test paper.
6. Tell students to pick one partner, and move to sit directly across from them in their
seat.
7. Hand out pre-test. (30 minutes)
8. Make sure students keep their pre-test to turn in with their final project.
9. If there is time, do a face proportion demonstration, showing how to divide the face
into sections, along with a brief explanation as to where the eyes, nose, mouth go.

10. Five minutes before the end of class, start clean up.
11. While students are cleaning, ask them questions about the PP:
Why did the popularity of drawing or painting realistic portraits change?
Why didnt people sign their work prior to the renaissance?
Day 2: Lesson 2-Modeling
12. Remind students that we are doing a portrait project, and pass out preliminary paper for
guided practice drawing the head. They must finish preliminary drawing and start final
draft the following day.
13. Explain the project briefly again, Handout sheets that show the face proportions,
and gain their attention for a demo on the board.
14. Demonstrate how to draw an upside down egg shape, then lightly sketch a guideline to
indicate the center of the face.
15. At this point, include a discussion about balance, pointing out that this is an example of
symmetrical balance.
16. Then show how to softly sketch guidelines to indicate the locations of facial features.
Locate the guidelines in the following ways:
17. Head: (Have students do guided practice for the head on preliminary paper)
a

Draw a very light line about halfway between the top of the skull and the bottom of
the chin. The line falls through the center of the eyes.

Sketch a guideline about half the distance between the eye line and the bottom of the
chin. That indicates where the bottom of the nose will be located.

Sketch a guideline for the middle of the lips about one-third of the distance between
the bottom of the nose and the chin.

The face is about three nose lengths tall.

The eyes are one eyes width apart. A third eye would fit exactly into the space
between the eyes.

The eyes and the tops of the ears are aligned with each other.

The tip of the nose and the earlobes are aligned with each other.

18. EYES:
a

The upper eyelid is usually slightly longer than the lower lid.

Study the shape of the tear ducts. Note that they are on the sides of the eyes nearest
the nose.

The lids slightly cover the eyeball. Therefore, you dont see the iris as a full circle
except when the person being drawn has a completely surprised or frightened look.

The folds of skin on the upper and lower lids allow the lids to slide over the eyeball.
The fold should be drawn in so that the eye appears to sit back in the eye socket
instead of sitting on top of the cheekbones.

The upper lid casts a slight shadow onto the eyeball; it is important to show these
shadows on the whites of the eyes so they dont look like they are popping out of the
head.

The sparkle (shiny place) on the eyeball makes it look alive. Make sure to treat the
sparkles on each eye the same, matching locations and shapes, so the eyes dont look
like theyre crossed or looking in different directions.

The eyebrows run along the bony ridge just above the eye, with the thickest part
toward the center.

Carefully study the eyelashes. They gently curve away from the lid and dont stick
straight out. Dont overemphasize them, or theyll look like spiders sitting on the
eyes!

19. NOSE:
a

The nose is roughly a triangular shape from between the eyes to the tip of the nose.

There is a ball of flesh at the end of the nose with nostrils flaring out from there.

Look for a shiny streak or highlight on the bridge of the nose and a rounder shiny
place on the tip of the nose. Those highlights will correspond to the direction and
intensity of the light source falling on them.

Note that the darkest values are located in the nostrils to make them appear to recede
up into the nose.

e
20. MOUTH:
a

The upper lip is slightly longer than the lower.

The upper lip often has a slightly pointed place in the center where it meets the lower
lip.

In usual lighting situations, the upper lip is darker than the lower.

The lower lip has a shiny area where the light falls on it.

The indentation under the lower lip will be darker than the lower lip itself.

Note the two ridges that run between the upper lip and the bottom of the nose, which
create variations in light and dark.

Show students where the final paper is (front desk, or back of room).

Students will then do independent practice.

Tell them to start with a generic face, then go back in and add features such as a
wider nose, squarer jaw, ect.

21. Five minutes before the end of class, start clean up.
Where on the face to you draw the eyes?
How do yo tell where to draw the ears?
How much space should you leave between the eyes?
Day 3 Lesson 3
22.Have students come in and get their projects, and settle into their seats.
23.Tell the students that you will be doing a demo on shading.
24.Hand out the shading packet, and show them the examples in there (it goes into
details about how to shade each area of the face).
25.Do a shading demo, shading around the nose, eyes, cheek, and chin explaining
about light source.
26.Explain that the lips have shadows around the corners, and that they also have
highlights.
27. Explain that artists have made parody paintings and drawings from portraits from
art history, from the Mona Lisa (selfies) and American Goth (Sheldon and Amy
from Big Bang Theory)
28.After shading, remind them to incorporate an aspect in the portrait from art history,
looking at references online or books in class. Add a feature from art history;
clothes, background, building, etc.

29.Students will do independent practice.

Day 4-5
30.Ask students if they have any questions, and review anything they say they dont
understand.
31.Walk around and observe students at work, and help those who ask for it.
32.If more than five students are struggling with one aspect, stop class and redemonstrate it.
33.Start clean up 7 minutes before the end of class.
34.Ask students questions while cleaning up:
What principle of art makes a face internally recognized as beautiful?
Why did the popularity of drawn or painted portraits decline in the 20th century?
What two facial features do you follow to make an ear proportionally the right
size?
Accommodations:
Physical disabilities: Students who are visually impaired may require extra one on one
time. Allow student to take a picture of their partner, to blow up the details so they see the
geometric shapes of the face easier. They will receive a modified rubric. If the student has
a physical disability, such as motor skills or broken arm, they may do a similar or
alternative project. Students will have an alternative rubric or grading scale.
Cognitive disabilities: Students will be graded on observed effort, instead of the final
product. They will have an alternative rubric or grading scale.
ELL: Students who are English language learners will receive extra one-on-one
instruction, along with vocabulary words in their native language if it can be translated.
MI: Spacial, Interpersonal.

Name________________________________________________Block______________
Name of partner I am drawing:_______________________________________________
Portrait Drawing Pre-test
Choose a partner and draw their face.

Portrait Drawing Art 1:

Name of artist:___________________________Name of Model:______________

Circle the one you think apply to your artwork:

CATEGORY

100-90

89-79

FACIAL FEATURES

All basic facial features

are included and placed
correctly: eyes, ears,
nose, mouth, hair. Drew
facial features that are
characteristic of partner.

All basic features are Eyes, nose mouth and More than one basic
included and placed hair are included, but facial feature is
correctly.
may not be placed
missing.
correctly.

PROPORTION

All above features are

placed in proportion to
each other.

All included facial

features are in relative
proportion to each
other.

At least half of the

facial features are not
drawn in proportion to
where they should be
or 1 or 2 are missing.

Some facial features

are there but are not
drawn in proportion or
at least half are
missing.

DETAILS

Included at least 4
advanced features and
details, such as
eyebrows, eyelashes,
neck, eye glasses,
including long, short,
curly straight hair.
Shading and hair
direction is done
correctly.

Included 3 advanced
features from the list
on the left. Some
shading was done on
facial features and
hair..

Included 1-2 advanced

features from the list
on the left. Little
shading was done on
facial features or hair.

Included 1 advanced
feature from the list on
the left.

Clothing and accessories

are easily identified to a
culture or period of time
in art history. Used
materials in a safe
manner.

Clothing and
accessories are
somewhat easy to
identify to a culture or
period of time in art
history. Used
materials in a safe
manner.

Clothing and
accessories are
vaguely similar to a
culture or time in art
history. Used most
materials in a safe
manner.

Clothing and
accessories are
unidentifiable to a
culture or period of
time in art history.

Art History Reference

and Safety

78-68

What did you like/dislike about this project? What was challenging or fun?

Reference Material:

67-57

No shading was
attempted.

Didnt use materials

safely.

_____/100

http://rabittooth.deviantart.com/

American Gothic, 1930. X. Grant Wood.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Gothic