Self Portraits!

It's ME! Early Year Kindergarten Self Portraits

Today we did our first structured drawing class -- the theme was self portraits!

During today's class the children drew and then painted self portraits. When finished, these portraits will be displayed around MMS. They will also be on display at MMS Kindergarten graduation alongside a second self portrait that they will make at the end of the year. You won't believe how much they will grow as artists!

We began our class with some warm up drawing exercises. These are intended just to get the hands moving and to introduce the children to some of the shapes we will be using to draw the features of the face.

Then the kids drew a quick practice portrait. This is where we observed and discussed how the features of the face are arranged. Using a center line and two horizontal lines we divided the head into sections to make it easier to know where and how to add the features.

Then we worked as a class to create the portraits step by step. We began by adding the features one by one using pencil. Then the children traced all their lines with permanent marker to prepare their drawings for the addition of watercolors.

 

After that the children were introduced to using watercolors. We prepped our watercolors by wetting the paints and then began! The kids were encouraged to paint one space at a time and try to fill the whole page with color.  Beautiful results!

And finally, the children received their sketchbooks today! This is a space where they can do free work after they have completed their classwork. They were so excited to try their sketchbooks out, and the drawings were so lovely, I just had to share a few!

 

Parents: a note on viewing your child's art work.
I know that it can be very hard to refrain from comparing your child's work to others. In fact, it may be impossible. I volunteered for my daughters art class in kindergarten and had a terrible time not intervening to "correct" her when she started veering off the task the teacher had set.

Don't judge like I did! Just remember, when viewing what your child has created that the process and experience the children have while making the art is more important than the final product. They are just begin their journeys into creative expression and the most valuable thing that we can do to help them on their way is to truly value their experience and to support them as they explore new ways to express who they are.