A Fun Mixed-Media Exploration for Middle & High School
Portraits, for many students, are a scary proposition. Students are often self-conscious about their work. If it does not look "real" enough, they feel like they have failed, and they worry about the feedback they'll receive from peers. Face it, (pun intended) portraits are challenging.
I have recently explored using nail-polish remover to transfer laser-printed or photocopied images. Student enjoyed using this technique on their hallway perspective projects. The group I was teaching had all already completed grid portraits in a previous semester, so I knew those skills were unnecessary to include in this new approach.
I had also built up quite a lot of hand-painted paper from previous lessons, and it was time to use that. I decided to focus on collage for these portraits, adding in magazines, newspapers, printed papers, construction paper, and paint pens. Since this was going to be a new lesson, I needed to experiment a bit and do a few of myself. I hung them on my wall as students were working on a previous lesson. I noted they were asking questions, and thought the work was interesting, so I had piqued their interest. "Can we try that too?" they asked.
I have recently explored using nail-polish remover to transfer laser-printed or photocopied images. Student enjoyed using this technique on their hallway perspective projects. The group I was teaching had all already completed grid portraits in a previous semester, so I knew those skills were unnecessary to include in this new approach.
I had also built up quite a lot of hand-painted paper from previous lessons, and it was time to use that. I decided to focus on collage for these portraits, adding in magazines, newspapers, printed papers, construction paper, and paint pens. Since this was going to be a new lesson, I needed to experiment a bit and do a few of myself. I hung them on my wall as students were working on a previous lesson. I noted they were asking questions, and thought the work was interesting, so I had piqued their interest. "Can we try that too?" they asked.
I created a video tutorial with my last sample, and sent everyone a link so they could re-watch it as they worked. The hard part was to remember to always transfer the image to THE BACK of the collage material. This served two purposes. When printed, faces (and words) would be reversed. By transferring lines to the back of material, we did not need to erase or remove those lines. This meant images were much "cleaner" and would not be damaged by aggressive erasing.
I used Andy Warhol's Marylin series to show students that even "funky" prints that were misaligned held visual value. I reiterated this by pointing to Warhol's work when students sometimes complained that the printed image was not perfect. "This is not an A.I. project, you are not a computer" I would tell them. "These hand-made imperfections are what give your work character, and prove it is made by a human, not some computer pumping out posters."
I encouraged student to use paint pens to embellish their work Andy did. Highlight contours, make lines and shapes stand out. Though we used printed papers, we often added zentangle-like patterns to our work to enhance the visual drama.
Students knew that if they chose themselves or someone they know personally in their work that helps them score a bit higher on the self-expression portion of their rubric. I did allow those who asked to use images of their pets, but fur was challenging to transfer and often looked muddy. A few chose celebrities, and Andy Warhol would have loved that.
In retrospect, we found that the high contrast images worked best. Gray tones had difficulty transferring. I know come people like to use CitriSolv to transfer images, and it does work well when transferring to uncoated paper, but it did not work to transfer images to acrylic painted paper or magazines. I highly recommend that you try this out on your own, get comfortable with the technique, and try it with your students. I think you'll agree, the results were stunning!
Students knew that if they chose themselves or someone they know personally in their work that helps them score a bit higher on the self-expression portion of their rubric. I did allow those who asked to use images of their pets, but fur was challenging to transfer and often looked muddy. A few chose celebrities, and Andy Warhol would have loved that.
In retrospect, we found that the high contrast images worked best. Gray tones had difficulty transferring. I know come people like to use CitriSolv to transfer images, and it does work well when transferring to uncoated paper, but it did not work to transfer images to acrylic painted paper or magazines. I highly recommend that you try this out on your own, get comfortable with the technique, and try it with your students. I think you'll agree, the results were stunning!
For more art education resources please visit Firehouse Publications. or click on either of these two covers for 50 more lessons you can copy and use for all your students.
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