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Year 9 - Art and design

Exploring portraits through paint

Identity: exploring portraiture

Unit Summary

This unit explores portraiture's power in expressing identity, culture, and belief. Pupils will study artists who challenge stereotypes and explore power, representation, and concealment. They will develop critical thinking while reinforcing respect, tolerance, and self-expression.

Lesson Summary

You will learn to use a limited colour palette to paint a portrait.

Key Notes

  • The painted portrait is understood to have originated in Ancient Egypt, over 5,000 years ago
  • Paint allows artists to explore texture, colour, and form, capturing emotion and personality
  • The versatility of paint enables both realistic and abstract interpretations of a subject

Vocabulary To Learn

  • subject: the focus, topic, or image of an artwork, e.g. in a portrait, the subject is the person who has been painted
  • mood: the feeling or emotion a piece of art gives you (like happy, calm, or sad)
  • proportion: the size of one part of something compared to another part, especially how facial features, body parts or objects fit together

Common Mistakes To Avoid

  • The painted portrait only focuses on realism and accuracy in depicting the subject.

3 Quick Questions (With Answers)

1. Explain the lesson in two key points.

The painted portrait is understood to have originated in Ancient Egypt, over 5,000 years ago. Paint allows artists to explore texture, colour, and form, capturing emotion and personality.

2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'subject'

the focus, topic, or image of an artwork, e.g. in a portrait, the subject is the person who has been painted.

3. Correct this common mistake.

Mistake: The painted portrait only focuses on realism and accuracy in depicting the subject. Correction: While many portraits aim for realism, painting also allows for abstract and emotional interpretations, capturing the subject's personality, mood, and deeper meaning beyond just physical appearance.

More Lessons In This Unit

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