Post-it Portraits

​Every art 1 and 2 classes do a grid project. I try to vary the exploration so it's not repetitive, but it is an important skill they need to use in future classes. For my Art 1 classes, we did grids based on photos students took holding objects that symbolized their personalities. For art 2 we altered our appearance in various ways. We had flexible mirrors some used, others tied items to their face, or wrapped part of their features in tape, or string. The challenge was to now use the grid technique and apply it to an altered image of ourselves.
 
Art 1 focused on a Renaissance application to the portrait, so to switch things up, we went for a Pop Art connection with simple bold lines, and a patterned background in Art 2. There are many artists that could be used as a reference like Lichtenstein, Warhol, Britto, and more. To ensure a personal connection, student had to include a personally symbolic pattern in the background. This also helped give a little 3-D pop to the work as the patterns went "behind" the face in most cases. Varying the thickness of our markers helped this too.
 
Though I have seen pixilated Post-it murals, students expressed an interest in having their own image they could take home when done. Murals too require a large amount of Post-it notes. Each of our images were 8 x 10 notes, so 80 in all. (Get Super Sticky) That is 2 small packs of Post-it notes with 45 per pack. I found some at a deep discount and used those. The issue however, was how to play with the notes and create a base on which to draw. I solved that by having students put their grid images inside clear pouches, tracing their grid and image with Sharpie markers, and coloring on the back of the pouches with dry markers. By tracing the faces and grids with rulers, it enhanced the lines and made it much easier to do the grid process. The dry markers allowed students to change their color schemes too. Students had to count colors as well; I only allowed them 2 packs of 45. You could let them use more, but as a first time trial, I limited them to 2 colors.

Once the face was traced, and pattern decided, students used 2 large sheets of drawing paper (18 x 24 in.) to tack down their Post-it notes. This paper is perfect size as eight-3 inch notes can fit horizontally. Because of space limitations we did 5 rows of 8 on each page. This helped with storage. 80 inch pages would have just been too large to deal with. As students worked, I gave different "tips of the day" to help them along: Crosshatching tips, line thickness tips, how to draw a nose tutorial, etc. We used oak tag to make tracing templates for the background patterns, though some students worked organically. The drawings were done in pencil, then with various thicknesses of black permanent marker. Some students added some pops of color, but there can be an issue of so much color, it's hard to see the image. Erasing can be a bit problematic as well, so students should work lightly. They were also warned to not touch the sticky portion of the notes as hand oils could make them less sticky.

​As they finished, projects were graded and photographed. Because they can be ephemeral and easily damaged (with regular sticky notes), photographing them was very important and gave them an excuse to use their cell phones. Some were transported to the walls, note by note, row by row. Some worked fine, but others fluttered to the ground. So we switched to just keeping them on our original large papers, joining them on the back with masking tape, and using clear tape to put them on school walls. That seemed to work best. After our display, the artwork returned to the room and a dot of glue was added to the backs of the notes to make it more permanent. Glue stick would work well too. Though some wanted to glue down the entire note, many agreed a little texture made it playful looking and added texture to the work.
 
I don't think I am the first person to approach portraits this way, but I was not able to find examples for my students, so I did one for myself to work out some issues. I think using "Super Sticky" notes would be better than the regular ones, but ours did do fine. I also do not know if they are archival or acid free, but one could cut out acid free construction paper to achieve similar results. Whatever you decide to do, It was a valuable experiment and experience.