What is the purpose of a portrait?

How might an artist choose who to create a portrait of?

What roles can text play in works of art?

What might a group of portraits taken in a community communicate about that place?

All Levels

Ask students to consider their own community. Who are their neighbors? Have each student select a neighbor to create a profile of. Students will sketch the profile portrait of that person on a sheet of paper and cut it out similar to a silhouette. On the reverse, students may write a brief description or story about this person.

Some artists use a technique called contour drawing to create images similar to this lithograph. Contour drawing is a technique in which an artist sketches a subject by drawing a continuous line with the motion of their hand that results in an image that sometimes looks like an outline. The word contour means “outline” in French. Have students use charcoal to create a portrait or still-life in the contour drawing style. Encourage students to use one continuous line to complete their image.