A Different Kind of Portrait

I am most like my bird Snow on my shelf because I want to be free, I want to be adventurous, I love to sing.   I am also like the baseball because I am strong, powerful, hard.          Melissa, grade 3

                                                                            
What objects would you gather to tell the story of  your life experience? Would it be an old photo of your grandparents, a treasured letter, or maybe a pair of shoes that bring back memories of that long summer?  In this lesson, the cupboard became a vessel on which to place these items held dear.

I am most like the soccer ball because I am fast, strong and black like the soccer ball.  I am also like gold because I am cool like gold.
Maverick, grade 3

I am most like the cell phone because I am smart  like the cell phone, strong like the cell phone and unbreakable
like the cell phone.  I am also like the candle on my shelf because I am bright like the candle.
Amer, grade 3

I am most like the Rockets poster on my shelf because I am strong like a bull.  I run fast like a lion and flexible like clay.
I am also like the mountains on my shelf because I am an artist.  
Ian, grade 3





Although most self-portraits have the artist's image, some do not, as we can see in Vincent van Gogh's Chair With His Pipe




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Class Discussion/Process:

Describe/Analize

Describe the chair - looks handmade, looks old, simple, may be from the past
Describe the room- floor looks like it's from another place, tile, not very many decorations, simple

Interrpret

What clues can you find that may tell us about this artist?  - pipe/smoker, only one chair so this person may live alone, not very wealthy because there isn't anything fancy


Now compare to Gauguin's chair




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This is the handout that I passed out on how to draw a cupboard.  It is not perfectly drawn as that was my intention.  I  wanted them to understand the goal was the journey thus all the parts would come together beautifully  in the end.