Year 9 - Art and design
What is a portrait?
Identity: exploring portraiture
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
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 explain how artists use a range of creative tools to represent themselves and other people.
Key Notes
- A portrait is a representation of a person, usually focusing on their face, expression, and identity.
- Portraits are found across art, craft, and design celebrating individuality.
- Artists often use a multidisciplinary approach when creating portraits.
Vocabulary To Learn
- portrait: a representation of a person, usually focussing on their face, expression and identity
- represent: to show or stand for something, often in a visual or symbolic way
- gestural: the application of media in free sweeping gestures
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Portraits must always show the person directly.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
A portrait is a representation of a person, usually focusing on their face, expression, and identity. Portraits are found across art, craft, and design celebrating individuality.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'portrait'
a representation of a person, usually focussing on their face, expression and identity.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Portraits must always show the person directly. Correction: A portrait can also include symbolic representations, like objects that reflect the person's personality or even something as unique as a sample of their DNA.
More Lessons In This Unit
Browse all guides in the Year 9 Art and design guide library.