Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I hope you're having a good day.

My name is Esther.

Some people call me Miss Esther, and I'm an artist and art teacher, and today I'm very excited to share this lesson with you.

The lesson's called Raised Portraits: Representation Through Dots and Relief, and it's part of our unit Charting Self: Exploring Portrait and Identity.

Let's get started.

The outcome for the end of the lesson today is that you will be able to create raised and dot portraits that explore how subjects are represented in art.

We have some keywords here for our lesson.

I'll say them and then we'll have a deeper look at the meanings.

You might know some of these keywords already.

The first keyword is Oba.

Second keyword is representation, and the third keyword is relief art.

And Oba is very important in the Kingdom of Benin.

Oba was and is the spiritual, political, and cultural leader.

Representation is how people are shown or left out in art or media.

We'll have a talk about that a bit later on in the lesson.

Relief art is a type of artwork where shapes or images are raised above, or carved into a flat surface.

We'll come back to these keywords throughout the lesson.

We have our lesson outline here, making raised portraits: representation through dots and relief.

Firstly, we're going to explore dots in art.

Secondly, we'll have a look at representation and status, and lastly, we'll be building raised portraits.

We'll start by exploring dots in art.

We have a beautiful painting here to look at and a question: What do you notice about how the artist has applied the paint, put the paint onto the canvas? I'll give you the title of the artwork and the name of the artist.

This is by Georges Seurat and it's called The Channel of Gravelines in the Direction of the Sea." Pause the video and have conversation as a group about what you can see in this work of art.

I hope you enjoyed your conversation about this piece of art, and I'm wondering if you noticed that this painting is made up of small dots of paint.

There are many ways that artists have used dots to create images.

The Western art movement known as pointillism is one well-known example in Western art.

Could you look at the two images in the screen and just think about what the two images have in common.

Talk to a partner.

Keep looking at the screen and have a quick conversation.

What do you notice? What do you see? There are lots of different ways of making art using a pattern of dots.

Many Indigenous peoples, for example, the Anangu of Australia, have used dot patterns for storytelling, decoration, and ceremonial art over many generations.

Digital artists might also use pixels, which are tiny dots of color on a screen, to compose images, connecting traditional dot techniques with contemporary technology.

I wonder if you've created your own images before or used digital art in this way? We have a check for understanding to do together.

Which of the following Western art movements is known for using dots as a primary technique? Primary technique just means it's the main technique of making an artwork.

Is it A: Cubism, B: Pointillism or C: Fauvism? Pause the video and talk as a group about whether it's A, B, or C.

Restart the video when you've had your conversations.

Did you get the answer B? It's the correct answer.

Pointillism.

Well done for sharing your thoughts with each other.

This toy from the nineties is a form of art made with pins that form dots.

You press an object or a body part into the blunt metal pins on the back of the device.

The pins on the front of the device are then raised and they create relief art of the object you pressed.

Here we can see a face that's been pressed in.

We have an amazing artist to think about as well today.

Artist Alexis Peskine makes portraits by hammering hundreds of nails into wooden panels.

The head of each nail is like a raised dot.

When viewed from a distance, these tiny nails form powerful, dignified faces, often of African and diasporic subjects.

Peskine transforms nails, which are an everyday material, into something monumental.

He also uses gold leaf and stains the wood in the background with coffee and mud.

We have a check for understanding here.

What technique does artist Alexis Peskine use to create his portraits? Is it A: quick brush strokes with paint? Is it B: dots, nails, or small repeated marks? Or C: collage and torn paper? Talk to a partner about what you think Alexis Peskine uses to make his artwork.

Pause the video and restart when you've had your conversations.

Great sharing of your ideas about artist Alexis Peskine.

Did you get answer B, dots, nails, or small repeated marks? That's the correct answer.

We're going to be exploring dots in art.

This is one way you could make a form of dot art.

You could use an A4 closeup photograph of a face and cover a selected area of the photograph with some tracing paper.

It's important that it's a closeup and you'll see why as we go further along.

Now it's time for you to make a decision, make a choice.

Stamp white dots over the tracing where you feel the face is raised.

If we're talking about the face, the raised areas, so we're looking at maybe the nose, the lips, maybe the cheeks as well.

So really thinking about where would the face be raised.

You can look in the photograph of where light and shadow forms as a bit of a guide.

When you've explored dotting, you could remove your tracing paper and lay it on black card to see what has been captured in your artwork.

We have another check for understanding here, whether the question is true, thumbs up, or false, whether the answer to the question is true or false.

You stamp white dots on the tracing paper where you think the face is raised in the photograph.

Is this true or false? Pause the video and talk as a group about whether you think this is true or false.

Restart the video after you've had your conversation.

Great conversations.

Did you get the answer that this is true? Stamping white dots on the tracing paper over the raised areas of the face helps capture the texture and form in the dot art.

If you put dots everywhere, it would be very hard to see where the highlights of the face were.

Well done for giving your feedback to that question.

Fantastic.

We're ready now for Task A.

Create a piece of art using dots.

You could use the tracing paper method and as you work, discuss the outcomes with each other.

Pause the video and practice exploring dots in art.

Restart the video when you've done Task A.

Well done for your amazing explorations.

I hope you had fun choosing where the highlights of the face were.

You should have created a piece of art using dots, and here is an example.

Sofia says, "Dots that I placed closer together created a darker tone, and if I left a wider space, then that part of the face appeared lighter.

I could use this to show the shapes and shadows better." Andeep said, "The dots make the face look softer and more peaceful.

It feels calm instead of rushed." Jacob adds, "The slow process helps the artist to really notice the person's features and think about who they are." All great points to think about.

We're ready now for our second learning cycle, which is looking at representation and status through dots and relief in art.

What do you notice first about the figure in this relief art: their pose, clothes or surface detail? Think about how has the artist shown the status or importance of the person? You could think about how they're standing, what they're holding, how they're looking out at you.

How do the shadows and lights in the artwork shape how we see this person? Does this person have more importance because of the shadows and light? Pause the video and talk as a group about what you are noticing first in this artwork.

Great conversations.

We've got some thoughts from Sofia, Andeep and Jacob again.

Sofia says, "I noticed the pose first.

The figure is standing straight and facing forward, which makes them look confident and important." Andeep says, "The artist use lots of jewelry and patterns on the body to show that this person is important, maybe a leader or someone close to the king." Jacob says, "The background patterns make the figures stand out, almost glowing, so we focus on them as someone important or sacred." Really interesting thoughts there.

Thanks, Sofia, Andeep and Jacob.

This is a Benin bronze plaque and it's a great example of raised or relief art that uses light and shadow to emphasize the status of the subject.

The figure is sculpted in what's called high relief, meaning it projects outward from the flat background.

The background is what we call recessed, so behind the figure, so the figure's really standing out physically from the plaque.

It's not just being drawn or painted.

It's actually sticking out, so you can't miss that figure.

When we think about representation and status, we can think about the use of light and shadow.

The raised areas catch the light and the recessed areas create some natural shadows.

The shadows that we're seeing can help define the details of the figure: the face, the hair style, jewelry and patterned decorations on the torso and limbs.

The way it's made draws our attention to that.

The interplay of light and shadow enhances the texture, depth and the visual impact.

That means how it captures your eye as you maybe walk past it.

We have a check for understanding to do together.

The Benin bronze plaque is.

A: a painting, B: raised relief art, or C: a sculpture? What do you think? Is it A, B or C? Pause the video and have a conversation with a partner.

Restart the video when you've decided.

Did you get the answer B, raised relief art? That is the correct answer.

Well done for sharing your thoughts.

We've got some more information to look at here.

It's historical information.

The Benin bronzes were made by artists in the Kingdom of Benin, now Nigeria, to honor the Oba and record the kingdom's history and culture.

These bronzes celebrated identity, power, and craftsmanship.

In 1897, many of these artworks was stolen by the British and displayed in European museums. This was called the sacking of Benin when Benin city was burnt to the ground by British troops.

When art is removed from its culture, it can lose part of its meaning.

The symbols and stories might be misunderstood or told from a different point of view.

We've got a check for understanding here.

We're going to think about what was the intention, the purpose of the Benin bronzes when they were first made? Was it A: to decorate European museums? Was it B: to honor the Oba, the king? Or was it C: to record Benin's history and culture? Pause the video and talk as a group about your thoughts around this history.

Fantastic conversations.

It's really interesting to look at history from a different lens and artwork can help us to do that.

I'm wondering if you got the answers B and C: to honor the Oba, the king, and to record Benin's history and culture.

Well done for sharing your thoughts.

We're going to look now at another artist called Rembrandt.

In Europe, artists such as Rembrandt use light and shadow in portraits to express power and emotion.

He often focused on individuals from his own society, a bit like Alexis Peskine.

In contrast, the Benin bronzes often highlight community, heritage and collective pride.

The relief art and other artifacts often show the Oba surrounded by attendants, warriors and courtiers.

These scenes celebrate the structure and unity of Benin society, showing how different roles work together to support the kingdom, to support the whole.

Oh, we have an amazing sculpture here to look at.

Representation in art is important because it shapes how we see ourselves, others, and the world around us.

When people see their identities, cultures, and experiences reflected in art, it helps them feel visible and valued.

You can think about this in terms of yourself.

How many times have you seen someone in a paper, on a TV, on a wall, in a school display that looks like you? So representation is really specific.

It's not just about your identity, it's also about how you look, what you treasure and where you are.

So we have a check for understanding again.

Why is representation important in art? A: it decides who is seen, remembered, or valued in history, B: it makes art more expensive, C: it makes all artworks look the same? Pause the video and talk as a small group about these different answers that you could give.

Restart the video when you've had your conversation.

What ideas did you come up with? Let's have a look at the answer.

The answer's A, it decides who is seen, remembered, or valued in history.

We're ready now for Task B.

Choose and describe someone you know who isn't often celebrated: a family member, friend, local worker, or a historical or cultural figure who deserves more recognition.

They will become the subject of your relief art.

We have lots of local heroes around us that help us every day.

Pause the video and talk and draw and think about who you could represent, who is often not seen.

It might be people in your family or people in the local community who are important to you.

Restart the video when you've had a conversation or done some sketching or decided as a group who you'd like to celebrate.

Wonderful to think about all those people that we could celebrate, that are part of our lives.

You might have heard some conversations like Jacob.

Jacob says, "I want people to see my grandmother as powerful and dignified.

She's so important to our family and she's at the center of all of our family gatherings.

She's the one who has the most stories and information about our family history." She sounds extremely important, Jacob.

We're ready now for the end activity of our lesson, building our raised portrait.

Just going back to our artist, our amazing artist, Alexis Peskine.

Peskine uses raised materials such as nails, beads, or metallic surfaces to represent and honor people who are not always seen or celebrated in traditional art.

The materials that he uses and the surfaces that he makes can communicate more meaning and not just the appearance of the person.

We have a check for understanding here.

What idea does Alexis Peskine explore through his raised portraits? Is it A: representing people who are often unseen or overlooked? Is it B: making art based on famous celebrities? Or is it C: drawing only landscapes? Pause the video and have a conversation with a partner about your answer.

Restart the video when you are ready.

Great conversations.

Did you get this answer? The answer was A.

His work really is about representing people who are often unseen or overlooked, and he uses his family members and the people he knows as his subjects.

We're going to start now thinking about how to build our raised portraits.

To make a piece of relief art, you can lightly sketch your chosen subject and then add glue and string on the main lines.

So you can see there's a pencil sketch and then the artist is adding some lines of blue, and in the very last picture we can see that the string has been added on top.

You could use a stick or the end of a paint brush to push the string into place.

The stick's really handy for the string because it's hard to control and this helps you to kind of put it where you want it to go.

Continue to build up the portrait, creating patterns in string as you go.

Really have fun exploring this way of working and enjoy it.

We're thinking and making as usual.

So as you go along, think about how the surface is starting to change.

Where you want your portrait to rise up? Which areas do you want the person to look at and notice? A bit like a Benin plaque.

Can you make a rhythm with the string? You can see here that the string portrait is dry.

There's no white glue visible.

When your string portrait is dry, you can use chalk and pastel to add some more light and shadow.

So the first thing in Task C really is to think about how your piece of relief art that you're going to make considers representation and the status of your chosen subjects.

Consider how you want them to be seen, how you want them to be valued by other people, and use light and shadow as your tools for communicating that with your audience, like the artists that we've looked at.

Have an amazing time building your raised portraits.

Pause the video and restart when you've done Task C.

Fantastic work.

It's really great to see you taking some risks and exploring a material like an artist.

Materials aren't there just to do what we want.

They're actually there to inform what we do as makers as well.

You might have, during your time making your string portrait made a piece of relief art that considers representation and status of your chosen subject, how they're important to you.

There are so many possible outcomes.

You might have used your pastel to add light and shadow.

You might have decided, "No, I'd like to add paint at a later stage." You could have decided to paint the top of your string.

It's all really up to you where you take these techniques, and I hope you've enjoyed thinking about who we look at in the world and how we look at them.

Here's a summary of our amazing time together being artists and makers.

We thought about the many ways that artists have used dots to create images over time, and in the present moment, looking at the artist, Alexis Peskine, the Benin bronzes were made to honor the Oba and record the kingdom's history and culture.

Light and shadow can express status.

Making something pop draws people's attention.

Representation matters, images tell stories about inclusion and erasure.

I hope to see you soon in another art lesson.

Bye for now.