Picasso Faces

Picasso Faces-

Began this 5th grade lesson by viewing some of Pablo Picasso famous paintings. The one we focused on was his "Girl Before the Mirror." We then discussed the characteristic of the abstract painting. Some of the characteristics that were noteworthy were the use of shapes, color, and line. Then we learned about the profile face used in Picasso painting and learned how to draw one by looking at an image of the face of the nickel. We then practiced by drawing the profile view of someone in our class but used the a technique called blind drawing where we only look at our subject and not our drawing. The second practice we did was just a normal profile drawing of our partner.

Now we began our project by taking out our white construction paper and began making our Picasso inspired art projects. We first drew the face in pencil and then later added the color using oil pastels. Our Picasso faces needed to have the characteristics of abstract art just as Picasso's had. The faces we created needed to     include a profile line as well as four or more bright colors, and at least two different shapes and patterns. When we included all the criteria all the students had successful abstract works of art.

This lesson was very interesting because learning about an artist as famous as Picasso is necessary for young students. An extension activity to add to this project if the class allowed more time would be learning more about Picasso. A short art history lesson attached with this project would give the students more of a background on art and explain why Picasso is still viewed as one of the greatest artists that
ever lived.