5th Grade Self Portraits

During the filming process of claymation, I need another project going on at the same time in order to give the groups who are not filming something to work on.  For this project, we studied the work of Chuck Close.  We discuss Close's portrait work and talk about how his work has changed throughout the course of his career.  I take close-up digital photographs of each student that I then put a grid on in Photoshop and print out in black and white.  Each student creates a grid on a larger piece of paper and, like Close, works box by box in order to draw their face.  Many students are surprised at how realistic their work can be. This year, I gave students the option of shading with a pencil, using colored pencil, or using oil pastel to finish their work.