Lesson video

Hello, everyone.

How are you doing? Hope you're really well.

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

I'm feeling really excited about that because today we're looking at something that really interests me, which is identity.

In particular, how do we reveal or conceal identity through portraiture? Our lesson is called "Using portraiture to reveal and conceal identities," and it comes from the unit of work Identity: exploring portraiture.

I hope you're interested in identities in portraiture, and if you've got some enthusiasm, focus, and curiosity, I think we are all set to begin.

The outcome for today's lesson is: I can play with negative space and mark-making to create an expressive portrait.

We have some keywords in our lesson today.

Let's go through them.

Conceal, reveal, positive space, negative space, and silhouette.

Conceal means to hide or obscure parts of something.

To reveal means to show or uncover something that might not be obvious.

Positive space: the area occupied by the main subject.

Negative space: the empty area around or within a subject in an artwork.

And silhouette: a dark shape or outline, usually filled with black.

These are our keywords: conceal, reveal, positive space, negative space, and silhouette.

Today's lesson is called "Using portraiture to reveal and conceal identities," and it consists of three learning cycles.

First of all, draw silhouettes using positive and negative space.

Next, play with expressive surfaces.

And finally, layering foreground and background.

Let's begin with draw silhouettes using positive and negative space.

Can you tell who someone is without seeing their face? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

Portraits don't always show every detail.

Some conceal, reveal, simplify, or abstract identity.

Traditional portraits show a person's face and expression.

Some artists challenge this by concealing features or using visual cues to focus on deeper identity, emotions, or themes.

A visual cue is anything we can see that helps tell us something about the subject.

What can you guess about this person from the visual cues in this portrait? What's visible, what might be hidden? Pause the video and share with someone.

Here's Jacob.

"This person looks stressed or tired.

Even though their face is hidden, the overflowing work around them is visible." Yeah, really looks like things are creeping up on top of them, and the way they're holding their head in their hands is really showing their stress.

Aspects of identity conveyed using visual cues can include: appearance, ethnicity, gender, faith or cultural identity, sexuality, nationality, self-image, disability, and personality.

Let's have a check for understanding.

True or false? Portraits only convey appearance to the audience.

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.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Portraits can convey many aspects of an individual's identity to the audience using visual cues.

A silhouette is the solid shape or outline of a person or object, usually shown in one colour, often black, with no details inside.

It shows the outside shape, like a shadow.

Silhouettes hide the face but keep the figure's shape, leaving us to wonder about the emotions or story behind it.

Pause the video and share with someone, what do you think the story is behind this image? Thanks for sharing your ideas.

They really look like they're in motion of one kind or another.

Can't tell if it's forwards or backwards.

Artists can use techniques like positive and negative space to conceal and reveal parts of a person's identity.

Positive space is the part of an artwork that shows the main subject, like the person in a portrait.

Negative space is the empty space around or between the subject.

Playing with positive and negative space can be used to shape and define the subject, creating balance and contrast.

Looking at positive and negative space can help simplify complex shapes in the foreground and background.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Silhouettes can create a sense of mystery or suggest emotion.

Pause the video while you 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.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this.

Without facial features, the posture, shape, or surrounding space can communicate feelings or themes.

Portraits can challenge how we see people.

Artists don't always follow traditional rules.

Artists might use unexpected materials, intentionally leave out facial features or details.

Negative space may look empty, but artists use it intentionally to focus on shape, emotion, or story without showing everything.

I love the material used in this image on the screen that looks like a cyanotype, a very early photographic method of using sunlight to create an image.

And I love how that is what's been used to create this silhouette.

These artists conceal and reveal the figure to express feeling and story.

Martha Ann Honeywell created folk art silhouettes as an accessible type of portrait at a time before cameras were invented.

Keith Vaughan used beach photos as inspiration.

In "Drawing of men playing with a ball on a beach," 1941-44, he used line and space to capture energy, movement, and the human body.

Amy Dury uses cutout silhouettes focusing on body language, often leaving figures unfinished to make us think about what is left out.

And Yasmin Sison-Ching blurs and erases figures in her painting "Boy Blue," 2012, to explore how memory fades, changes, or can feel painful.

So many artists working with concealing and revealing the figure to express feeling and story.

Hmm, why would an artist leave out certain details? Pause the video and share with someone.

Why do you think? Thanks for sharing your answers.

By concealing certain aspects like facial features or physical traits, the artist invites us to think about what we don't see.

This technique can help challenge traditional stereotypes and make us focus on emotions, stories, and ideas that are hidden.

Check for understanding.

When artists conceal certain parts of a portrait, it encourages the viewer to ask: what's and why? Is the missing word realistic, missing, or coloured? Pause the video and share.

Well done if you chose the word missing.

Missing was missing.

Where do artists get the image for their silhouette from? Pause the video and share with someone.

Do you have any ideas where artists may get their images for silhouettes from? They might take a photograph or use an old photograph, look in books or at images online, work from life.

Once you have an image, you might glue it onto paper and cut it out to a silhouette.

Silhouettes can be drawn freehand using positive space.

Artists might use black ink or paint to carefully draw the shape without using pencil lines, focus on the outline of the body or face to carefully observe the shape instead of guessing.

Another way to draw a silhouette is by using negative space, by painting or colouring around the figures, not inside it, with no pencil lines.

It's helpful to forget that it's a person.

Just focus on the shapes around them.

This method helps to train the eye and can improve drawing skills.

When creating a positive and negative silhouette drawing, don't worry if the proportions aren't perfect.

This can give your silhouette more personality and character.

It's time for your first task.

I would like you to draw silhouettes using positive and negative space techniques.

Reflect on how the absence of detail can convey emotion and identity.

You could sketch each other or use images of different poses, recording only the silhouette.

Focus on the shape and movement, not details or proportions.

Show emotion through the body's posture, happy, sad, et cetera.

Think about how the silhouette can reveal or conceal identity.

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

So how did you get on with drawing your silhouettes using positive and negative space techniques? And reflecting on how the absence of detail can convey emotion and identity, you may have said: "It was interesting to explore different ways of seeing the figure.

Even without detailed features, the silhouettes still express something about the person's mood or story." Great observation, Sam.

And now we're on to our next learning cycle, play with expressive surfaces.

Lucas and Izzy are discussing the impact of a background on an expressive portrait.

"The background really matters depending on the materials and how the marks are made.

It can change how we read the portrait." Great point.

"Rough or messy marks might show emotion, and soft ones could feel calm or distant." Artists often experiment with background surfaces to explore mood, story, or identity.

Robert Czibi uses image transfer and watercolour on paper to explore concealed aspects of identity.

In his portrait "Autumn," he blends traditional Roma patterns with layered textures, showing how culture can be reimagined in new ways.

His work looks at how cultural elements can be borrowed and reshaped through art, challenging what people expect from Roma identity and expression.

Check for understanding.

What can experimenting with background and mark-making help an artist do in a portrait? Is it A, make the person look more realistic; B, show emotion or hidden parts of identity; C, keep the background neat and empty; or D, copy traditional patterns exactly? Pause the video while you decide.

Well done if you selected B.

Experimenting with background and mark-making can help an artist show emotion or hidden parts of identity in a portrait.

Backgrounds can have a big impact when experimenting with expressive portraits.

Amy Dury uses cutout silhouettes, often leaving figures unfinished to make us think about what is left out.

You might be inspired by Amy Dury's practise and explore selecting a limited colour palette, including a mix of dark and light areas, playing with different types of mark-making to create mood and texture.

You can use any media such as watercolour, acrylic paint, pencils or pens to create an expressive background.

Mix materials if you want to create different textures and effects.

Unusual materials like coffee or food products like soy sauce can be a fun way to explore background mark-making.

What could you use to create interesting stains, textures, and tones? Pause the video and share with someone.

Thanks for sharing your ideas.

You can use ink to play with outlining the negative space, and don't be too precious.

Let the ink run, blot, or bleed.

Add marks with media such as charcoal, biro, and pencil to create definition.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Experimenting with a range of tools, materials, and techniques can create interesting background surfaces.

Pause the video while you 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.

Pause the video while you do this.

Perhaps you said something like this: using different materials and techniques adds texture, depth, and visual interest.

And now it's time for your task.

I would like you to develop backgrounds using various media to reveal expressive surfaces.

Experiment with different materials, paint, pens, ink, or unusual items like coffee.

Create a background that reflects the mood or emotion of your silhouette portrait.

Use techniques like layering, contrasting darks and lights, and mark-making to reveal texture and depth.

So pause the video while you have a go at developing your background using various media to reveal expressive surfaces.

I'll see you when you're finished.

All right.

How did you get on with that task? Your work may have looked like this.

Here's Sofia.

"My backgrounds have quite a different feeling to them.

I enjoyed working quickly and not worrying about the end result." Yeah, I love that.

Quite light and playful with it.

And now we're on to our final learning cycle, layering foreground and background.

Layering is an effective tool to play with composition and balance in a portrait.

By combining colours, patterns, and textures, artists can reveal or conceal aspects of identity, creating depth and meaning.

Check for understanding.

True or false? Layering in a portrait is only used as a decorative element.

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.

By layering colours, patterns, and textures, artists can reveal or hide certain aspects of identity, adding depth and emotion to the artwork.

These artists use layering of colour and pattern, often blending the figure with the background.

Keith Piper layers cutout figures, photos, and patterns in "The Seven Rages of Man," 1989 to '90, to explore race and identity.

Rina Banerjee layers materials like feathers and beads to explore migration and cultural exchange.

Eileen Agar creates dreamlike portraits with abstract patterns and colours reflecting her inner world.

And Yinka Shonibare layers silhouettes and collage elements in his twin series.

So many artists working with layering of colour and pattern.

To create a portrait that layers a silhouette with an expressive background, you might place your silhouette cutout over one of your expressive backgrounds, or draw your silhouette freehand.

Cut out your silhouette or paint over the surface, then lift the silhouette to reveal the negative space of the figure.

So you cut out your silhouette, paint over your silhouette cutout, and lift to reveal negative space of the figure.

Layering can involve adding or cutting away and experimenting with placement.

This image shows how layering a coloured background behind the cutout changes its overall look and feel.

Layering different background papers lets you quickly explore how colour and pattern can change the mood of a composition.

Check for understanding.

Fill in the gaps.

Layering can involve or away, and experimenting with placement.

Pause the video while you fill in the two words that are missing.

Well done if you filled in the gaps with the words adding and cutting.

Layering can involve adding or cutting away, and experimenting with placement.

And now it's time for your final task.

I would like you to create a portrait that layers a silhouette with an expressive background.

First of all, place your silhouette cutout over one of your expressive backgrounds or draw your silhouette freehand.

Next, cut out your silhouette or paint over the surface, then lift the silhouette to reveal the negative space of the figure.

Consider how the background reflects the mood and composition not shown through facial features.

Reflect on your portraits.

How could you explore the techniques and theme further? Pause the video while you have a go at this multi-stage task.

And I'll see when you're finished.

So how did you get on with creating a portrait that layers a silhouette with an expressive background? Your work may look like this.

Here's Laura.

"Different backgrounds changed the mood of my silhouette.

Light and patterned felt energetic, while dark looked more moody.

I'd love to try this silhouette technique on a large piece of me and my friends." Oh, that's wonderful.

I love how you're thinking about how else you could be using these techniques.

In our lesson, "Using portraiture to reveal and conceal identities," we've covered the following.

Artists use positive and negative space in portraits to focus on what's shown and what's left out, making us think about the hidden parts.

Portraits can reveal and conceal details of a person's appearance, letting us explore other ideas about their identity.

Artists can use different techniques like silhouettes to show people in new ways, not just the usual way we expect to see them.

Thank you, everyone, for joining in with this lesson.

It was so great exploring portraiture through positive and negative space, what's revealed, what's concealed, and having a go at creating silhouettes.

I loved how you found an expressive silhouette and some wonderful expressive backgrounds and techniques for your portraits, and I'm really impressed with what you've created.

I hope you've enjoyed this lesson, I really have, and I look forward to seeing you at another art lesson soon.

Until then, stay creative.