Year 6 - Art and design
Raised portraits: representation through dots and relief
Charting self: exploring portrait and identity
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
Made in collaboration with October Gallery, in this unit pupils express personal identity through portraiture, material, memory and imagination. Pupils create textured paintings, symbolic surfaces, close-up feature portraits, and expressive self-maps that combine journey and face.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to create raised and dot portraits that explore how subjects are represented in art.
Key Notes
- There are many ways that artists have used dots to create images.
- The Benin bronzes were made to honour the Oba and record the kingdom's history and culture.
- Light and shadow can express status.
- Representation matters – images tell stories about inclusion and erasure.
Vocabulary To Learn
- Oba: in the Kingdom of Benin, the Oba was the spiritual, political, and cultural leader
- representation: how people or groups are shown or left out in art/media
- relief art: a type of artwork where shapes or images are raised above (or carved into) a flat surface
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Western portraits are the artworks where artists represent stauts effectively.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
There are many ways that artists have used dots to create images. The Benin bronzes were made to honour the Oba and record the kingdom's history and culture.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'Oba'
in the Kingdom of Benin, the Oba was the spiritual, political, and cultural leader.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Western portraits are the artworks where artists represent stauts effectively. Correction: Many artefacts and artworks around the world and throughout history do this.
More Lessons In This Unit
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