One of the words was Honesty. After talking with my 4th grade students, we decided that a self-portrait is one of the most honest things that can be created in Art. When creating a self-portrait, you really have to be honest with yourself because there is no changing what you look like.
And, as it turns out, it just so happens that my librarian has a really great book on Chuck Close (for those of you who may not know, he is known for doing portraits and self-portraits). The book is titled Chuck Close: Face Book. My students and I looked at his book for our inspiration.
We started our project using a grid system. They used 9"x12" white paper and a ruler and made a 1-inch grid and outlined it with a Sharpie. Then they started to draw their self-portraits. I had them create a line drawing of their face. Then, I asked the students to be honest with themselves and think about the things that are important to them in their daily lives. I asked them to turn each grid square into a letter that would make up a word (I asked that the examples they used not be materialistic items).
Unfortunately, this project has taken a little longer then I thought, so I am posting a couple of the best examples so far, and when the portraits are finished, I will post them again.
