Picasso Portraits

First Grade Art
2 Class Periods

Picasso Portraits, First Grade Art Lesson

Lesson Introduction:

Students learned a brief biography about artist Pablo Picasso via a power point that I created.  We also examined more closely his Cubism style of painting. I shared with students this YouTube clip on the difference between realism and cubism.  Portraits: Cubism Art Lesson  Please note, I did not share the last few minutes of the video where there is a lesson on how to make a cubist portrait.  I wanted to present my own directions for that part of the lesson.

Pablo Picasso in his studio.

Day 1

Students were given a 12 x 18 inch piece of construction paper.  I selected a color for each section I taught, just to make it easier for me to keep track of the classes, but you could open this up for student choice.

Students then chose a 6 x 9 inch piece of construction paper for their shirt for their portrait.  Students were shown how to cut two corners off to create the shoulders.  This was then glued to the bottom of the 12 x 18 inch piece of construction paper.

I tried to have various skin tone papers available for students to choose from.  For the head I had paper cut 7 x 9 inches and the neck 3 x 5 inches.  We started with the neck piece.  Students were instructed to glue it so it looked like it was coming out of the shirt versus resting on top of the shirt.

The head was created next.  Students round all four corners on the 7 x 9 inch construction paper to give the head an oval shape.  This was then glued on top of the neck.

For the remaining part of class students were shown how to create different types of hair styles.  I turned them loose on the construction paper scrap bucket for this part of the lesson.  I demonstrated folding and curling paper, as well how to make short and long hair styles.

Names were placed on the back and handed in.

Day 2

Before this class period took place, I created handouts that had various eyes, nose and mouth pieces on them.  If you did not want to take the time to do this step, you could have students just hunt for these pieces out of a magazine.

Students cut from my handouts two eyes, a nose and a mouth that they liked.  I reminded them that it was ok for them not to match and the placement of these features could be off centered to help with the Cubism feel of the piece.

After the pieces were glued down, students were able to use markers to add details such as coloring in the eyes or lips or adding details to the shirt.  I also allowed them to use the construction paper bins to create other things for their portrait like necklaces, hats, bows, etc.

The final step was to glue 1 x 1 inch pattern pieces of paper around the border of the composition.

Students Examples: