Hello, everyone.

How are you today? I hope you're feeling good.

My name is Miss Afzal, and I'll be your art teacher for today.

I'm looking forward to this because today's subject is something that I find really interesting.

We're looking at portraits.

In particular, we are looking at power in portraits.

Who holds the power? How do we show this, who has power, who doesn't have power? Unsurprisingly, the title of our lesson is "Exploring power in the portrait." It comes from the unit of work Identity: exploring portraiture.

So I hope you're up for some exploration.

Let's find out who holds power.

How do we show who has the power in a portrait? And of course, we're going to get into creating some portraits of our own, which I hope you're looking forward to.

I certainly am.

If you're ready, we'll begin.

The outcome for our lesson is: I can create a cut out figure that shows power and presence.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through each of them.

Representation, status, pose, and gaze.

What do these words mean? Representation means groups which have been included in artworks and/or have made artworks.

Status: a person's level of importance, rank, or social standing.

Pose: the way someone stands or sits to show a certain feeling, attitude, or idea.

And gaze: how the subject's eyes are directed, whether they're looking directly at the viewer or in a different direction.

These are our keywords: representation, status, pose, and gaze.

Our lesson is called "Portraiture in art," and it has two learning cycles.

The first learning cycle is identifying what is important in a portrait.

The next is expressing power in a life-size figure.

Yes, you're going to be creating life-size portraits.

I'm really excited for us to get to that part.

But we are going to begin by identifying what is important in a portrait.

Portraits tell us more than just what someone looked like.

And in this portrait, we can see Henry II holding church and Richard I.

Pause the video and share with someone, what do you think this portrait of Henry II and Richard I is telling us? Aside from how they looked.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

And we're going to be exploring more about what else it is that portraits show us other than how someone looks.

Throughout history, portraits have been used to represent status, importance, and power.

Perhaps that's something you said in your earlier answer.

What do you think makes a portrait feel powerful? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Let's explore this a little bit more.

What makes a portrait feel powerful? Power in a portrait can be communicated in two main ways.

Directly through the subjects.

Their pose.

Are they sitting? Are they in a standing posture? Their gaze.

Where are they looking? Directly at the viewer or elsewhere? The composition, their placement in the frame.

Are they in the centre of the frame? Are they off to the side? And also indirectly through symbolic elements.

For example, objects.

Perhaps they're holding an object as in the portrait we looked at previously where Henry II was holding church.

Clothes, what they wear and why.

And colours, what kind of mood or message is conveyed through the colours.

So power in a portrait can be communicated both directly through the subjects and indirectly through symbolic elements.

And we can see here a statue of Queen Victoria.

Pause the video and share with someone, what do you think this statue of Queen Victoria is communicating in terms of power? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

So what makes a pose powerful? And remember, a pose is how someone stands or sits to show a certain feeling, attitude, or idea.

So with a partner, I would like you to explore body positions that show power or emotion.

Imagine a figure inside a cardboard frame like a window or painting.

And examples might include jumping or stepping out of the frame, pushing against the edges of the frame, arms stretched wide.

So pause the video while you and a partner explore body positions that show power or emotion.

Thanks for having a go at that.

Can stillness be powerful? Pause the video and share your answers to that question with someone nearby.

Raphael's "Portrait of a Young Woman" doesn't move, smile broadly, or take up much space, but her calm, direct gaze still holds our attention over 500 years later.

In Lina Iris Viktor's contemporary portrait "Eleventh," the subject wears a painted black mask and is surrounded by gold, holding our attention in powerful stillness.

I wonder if you've seen a portrait of someone where there's a real sense of stillness.

Share with someone nearby if you've had that experience.

Thanks for sharing.

A direct gaze can show confidence, power, or even challenge the viewer.

And remember, gaze means how the subject's eyes are directed.

They could be directed directly at the viewer or in another direction.

Where is this subject looking? Pause the video and share with someone.

She's looking directly at us, directly at the viewer.

Take a moment to reflect and consider her gaze and how she's composed within the image.

We can see that her eyes meet ours.

It's a direct gaze.

She's front and centre, filling most of the frame, and this can communicate power and control.

Check for understanding.

True or false? The subject's gaze does not help communicate power in a portrait.

Pause the video and decide whether this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

The gaze, especially one where the subject looks directly at the viewer, can be used to signal confidence, authority, or confrontation.

Thanks for sharing your answers.

In many traditional royal portraits, large accessories like crowns, dresses, or robes help show a person's status and power by making them take up more physical space.

And here we can see the Victoria Memorial in London.

Pause the video and share with someone, what do you notice about the space that Queen Victoria is taking up in this memorial? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Yeah, we can see she's taking up quite a lot of space.

She's got vast robes on reaching down beneath her feet.

She's carrying lots of objects.

She's wearing a crown.

She's definitely taking up some physical space and giving a sense of power and authority.

A famous portrait of Queen Elizabeth I is known as the "Armada Portrait." It's full of symbols of status and power.

And remember, status means a person's level of importance, rank, or social standing.

So what are some of these symbols of status and power? Well, she has battleships behind her, a globe under her hand, a huge expensive dress.

What might these symbols say about her? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Let's hear from Lucas and Laura.

"The ships in the background could represent a strong navy." That's true.

Really good point, Lucas.

And from Laura, "Her hand is on the globe.

It's like she controls the world or has power over it." Again, very true at this point in history.

Let's have a check for understanding.

Which is the most accurate statement about how symbols can convey power in a portrait? A, symbols are used to decorate the background and don't have much meaning or status.

B, symbols can communicate wealth, status, and control without using words.

C, symbols are only used in portraits of kings and queens to show status.

Pause the video and decide which of these is the most accurate statement about how symbols can convey power in a portrait.

Well done if you selected answer B.

Indeed, symbols can communicate wealth, status, and control without using words.

So let's look at identifying what is important in a portrait.

Many historical portraits were of wealthy patrons who could afford the cost.

Some artists chose to create self-portraits, allowing them freedom from patron constraints and model fees.

Are there any other benefits to making a self-portrait? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your answers.

I'm loving the self-portrait of Aisha.

Making a self-portrait might benefit an artist by providing opportunities for artistic freedom, self-expression, skill development, legacy, introspection, self-reflection.

"Self-Portrait," 1914, by Sir Stanley Spencer; "Self-Portrait with Charlie," 2005, by David Hockney; "Time Flies," 1929, by Frida Kahlo; and "Self-Portrait," 2023, by Joy Labinjo are some examples of self-portraits, and there are many, many more.

Really worth delving into artists' self-portraits.

Check for understanding.

Fill in the gaps in the statements below.

Making a self-portrait might benefit an artist by providing opportunities for artistic, self-expression, development, legacy, and introspection or self.

So pause the video here while you fill in those three gaps in the statements below.

What did you come up with? Hopefully this, hopefully these words, artistic freedom, skill development, and self-reflection.

All wonderful benefits an artist might receive from self-portraiture.

Sometimes artists choose to paint the lives of ordinary people and workers.

These artworks can show social class or hierarchy using composition and symbols.

Ordinary people are often shown equal in size, while powerful figures are made to stand out or dominate the scene.

Artists have responded to the world around them, using their work to comment on politics, social change, or the value of everyday people.

Tao Aimin, "Women's River" is an artwork made from old wooden washboards that women once used to do laundry in rural China.

By turning these tools into a flowing sculpture, Tao shows respect for women's hard work, work that often goes unnoticed, and reminds us how everyday objects can carry powerful stories.

Vera Mukhina's powerful sculpture from the Soviet union, "Worker and Kolkhoz Woman," 1937, shows a male worker and a female farmer holding tools together.

It symbolises equality and the idealised working class during a time when art was used as political propaganda.

It's time for your first task.

First of all, I would like you to identify and label the important elements of a portrait which communicate the information about the subject.

So select a portrait, place this in the centre of your page, and draw or write labels identifying elements of the portrait which you think are important.

Consider the composition, the subject's pose, gaze, and symbols of status.

Add anything else that you know about this work.

So pause here while you have a go at this task.

Great to be back with you.

Your work may have looked like this.

Perhaps you labelled the front and centre composition, the stillness of the pose, cultural pattern, symbols, the direct gaze, facial paint and symbolism related to status.

Well done for having a go at this task.

And now we're on to our next learning cycle, expressing power in a life-size figure.

Oh yes, we are getting down to creating some art of our own.

Lucas and Izzy are discussing what kinds of people have been left out of portrait history.

"Working class people, women, and people from different cultures were often left out or pushed to the background." "Those without wealth or power, like disabled people and marginalised groups were often left out too." Really, really sad truths.

Thanks for sharing.

This has meant that there's been a lack of representation or problematic representation within portraiture.

Lack of representation leads to erasure of identity, culture, history, misrepresentation or stereotypes.

The idea that some people aren't important enough to be remembered.

Lack of representation is very sad.

It's a serious matter.

And we can see in the image here a Bedouin girl in a hijab headdress.

Again, perhaps someone that maybe hasn't been represented so much in art.

How many Bedouin girls have you seen in hijab headdresses in galleries that you've visited? Check for understanding.

Underrepresentation in art can lead to, A, more realistic portraits being made; B, too many people becoming famous; C, certain groups being ignored or made invisible; D, artists having less money for materials.

Pause the video while you select your answer.

Well done if you selected answer C.

Indeed, certain groups being ignored or made invisible is what underrepresentation in art can lead to.

Can you think of examples where portraiture doesn't represent your story or your community? Pause the video while you do this.

Let's hear some responses.

Andeep.

"I think young artists don't get taken seriously unless they're already famous or online." Really good point.

And Alex.

"There should be more spaces where people our age can show art that tells our story." Hear, hear, Alex.

Modern artists respond to lack of representation by creating portraits of underrepresented people, placing figures in powerful poses, making art that is big, public, or physical, it takes up space.

And here we can see an example of a portrait, really large public street art portrait.

Modern artists that use physical presence in their work to create powerful portraits of overlooked people and stories include: Studio Lenca: joyful cardboard figures and scenes celebrating overlooked communities.

Swoon: life-sized paper portraits of real people on the streets, reclaiming space for those often left out of galleries.

Love that.

And Mohamad Khayata, Syrian refugee artist in Lebanon, creates large characters with distorted proportions, which embody the distorted realities of refugees.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Making a portrait larger and taking up more space can make the subject seem more important.

Pause the video and decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected true.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Changing the scale of a portrait and allowing the subject to take up more space can make them appear more important, powerful, or dominant.

Some artists stretch, bend, or simplify the human form to communicate presence, emotion, or action.

Studio Lenca does this too, but with a twist.

His figures wear everyday cultural items, like exaggerated wide-brimmed hats proudly worn like a crown, making the figures have importance.

These ordinary objects become bold and proud, helping the figures take up space and celebrate identity.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Portraits have to be realistic to be powerful.

Pause the video and decide if this is true or false.

Well done if you selected false.

And now I'd like you to say a little more about your answer.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Portraits can be abstract, simplified, or stylized, and still express emotion, identity, and presence powerfully.

How could you create a life-size figure that shows power through a physical presence? Think about pose.

How is the figure standing, stretching, or moving? Gaze, are they looking directly at us, looking away or somewhere else? Scale and position.

Do they fill the space? Are they breaking out of the frame? Are they realistic or distorted? Details.

What are they wearing? Are there symbols or objects that add meanings? So making a life-size cutout figure can be done by drawing a life-size silhouette on card, fun.

Rolling paint or ink for the background.

And then painting or collaging powerful symbols or accessories.

So a bit more detail on this.

So first of all, plan and create your life-size figure.

Think about a pose and stance.

How can you show power? Trace around a life-size model or project a silhouette onto paper or card.

Experiment with accessories like hats or props to add size and presence.

And then cut out your figure from recycled cardboard.

Use rollers and ink to cover large areas of your life-size figure.

Choose a limited colour scheme to make your figure bold and eye-catching, like in Studio Lenca's work.

And then add expression and meaning.

Simplify the facial features, focus on shape, emotion, and the gaze.

Paint symbols or details that help tell your figure's story or represent identity, power, or culture.

So it's time for your task.

I'd like you to do this to create a life-size cutout figure that portrays a powerful or confident subject.

Think about how size, pose, and gaze can show power.

Add bold accessories like hats, colours, or props to enhance the figure's presence or confidence.

Pause the video while you have a go at this task.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

How did you get on at creating a life-size cutout figure that portrays a powerful or confident subject? Your work may have looked like this.

Here's Laura reflecting.

"We worked as a group to trace a life-size silhouette.

We chose a running pose and direct gaze to show confidence." I like that.

"Two bright colours create impact, inspired by Studio Lenca.

The wide-brimmed hat adds presence by taking up space." Wonderful.

And here's Andeep.

"We looked at historical revolutionary costumes and combined the strong silhouette with bright, playful symbolism of flowers to challenge traditional ideas of power." Yes, I love that.

Flowers can bring power.

Next, I would like you to discuss how you could display your cutout figures around the room or in a chosen space.

So reflect upon: how does your figure take up space on its own? What message or presence does it have? How do the figures look together as a group? What impact did they make as a collective portrait? And how has this made you consider who gets seen and who takes up space? Pause the video while you have a go at this next part of your task.

How did you get on? You may have reflected in this way.

Here's Izzy.

"Let's put them in the drama studio and use the theatre lights on them to create dramatic shadows." Andeep: "We could make them freestanding and exhibit them in a hall or public space." And Sofia: "We could create a display on a wall." Love all of these ideas.

I hope you've enjoyed sharing yours and creating your figures and displays.

In our lesson "Exploring power in a portrait," we have covered the following.

Painting people has always been important to artists and historically has been used to reinforce the status and power of the subject.

The composition, gaze, and pose of the subject, as well as the use of symbols, can create a sense of power in the portrait.

Artists have also created self-portraits or images of ordinary people for a range of reasons.

The history of the portrait highlights a lack of representation, but artists are changing this narrative.

Thanks for exploring portraiture and power in the portrait together.

It was really interesting to get into all of this with you today, and I hope you enjoyed the lesson.

I'll see you at another art lesson soon.

In the meantime, stay creative.