Colored Paper Self-Portrait
PART ONE: CONTOUR DRAWING
I began with my students' school portraits and brought them into Photoshop where I used the "Artistic Cutout" filter. I made sure the filter produced "simple" shapes so that my students could easily redraw them on a larger sheet of paper (scaled up x 2). At the same time, I made sure the filter didn't oversimplify the shapes that could potentially render the face beyond recognition.
The students drew a grid onto their printout. Each square is equaled to one inch, six squares wide and nine squares tall.
(6"x9")
The students drew a grid onto their printout. Each square is equaled to one inch, six squares wide and nine squares tall.
(6"x9")
Draw another grid onto a 12"x18" --6 squares across, 9 squares down. The squares are doubled to 2-inches.
First, students were instructed to draw the outline of their silhouette.
First, students were instructed to draw the outline of their silhouette.
Students were instructed to draw using the grid system, square-by-square.
Facial features were drawn last.
PART TWO: Tracing and Colored Paper
Tracing the image: Students were given a large sheet of tracing paper. Only the image was traced, not the grid.
Students chose a base color and a silhouette color. They were instructed to label their colors directly on their printout shapes and to make sure the color values corresponded with grays (lights and darks) in the photo.
The next big shape after the silhouette is the interior shape that includes the face and neck. Students were instructed to retrace this part. All tracings were to be done on the reverse side -- doing this will allow a graphite transfer to take place.
My next large shape was light blue.
Be sure to reverse your tracing paper and add a little pressure when transferring.
Precise cutting: Notice the orientation of my shape. It's also important to take your time when cutting small areas. This will ensure a clean cut/look and help maintain the identity of your subject.
Fitting The Pieces
This next piece has not yet been glued. It's a good idea to hold off until you get some more interior pieces cut out before gluing too early. It's possible the colors won't work and it could save you time in the long run.
This next piece has not yet been glued. It's a good idea to hold off until you get some more interior pieces cut out before gluing too early. It's possible the colors won't work and it could save you time in the long run.
Click on photo to enlarge and find comments about the process.
