Drawing: use tone and colour for facial expressions
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can use tone and colour to express emotions in portraits.
Key learning points
- Tone in art refers to the lightness or darkness of a colour.
- Facial expressions reflect human emotions.
- Colours can be used to convey different emotions in art.
- Using tone and colour can enhance the expressiveness of a portrait.
Keywords
Tone - how light or dark something is
Colour - an object’s appearance as a result of the way it reflects or emits light
Facial expression - the appearance of the face that shows feelings and emotions
Tint - is where an artist adds colour to white to create a lighter version of the colour
Shade - is where an artist adds black to a colour to darken it
Common misconception
Colours are neutral and do not evoke emotion.
Colours can evoke a wide range of different emotions. For example, blue might suggest calmness while red might indicate anger.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to observe how light and shadow fall on a face by using a light source and a mirror. Demonstrate blending techniques and emphasise how tone and colour work together to express emotions.
Equipment
Paints, paintbrushes, water in cups, palette for mixing paintings, pencils, pencil colours, pastels, paper.
Licence
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Which of these are examples of warm colours?
Q2.Why is it important to study facial expression in art?
Q3.What is the role of colour in portraits?
Q4.What happens when you tint red?
Q5.Why is it important to observe facial expressions closely?
Q6.Match the colours with the correct group.
secondary colours
tertiary colours
primary colours
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is tone in art?
Q2.What is one way colour can affect the mood of a portrait?
Q3.To create a sense of sadness in a portrait, you might use …
Q4.How can you check if a drawing captures the intended emotion?
Q5.Why is it helpful to blend tones in a portrait?
Q6.What is the main purpose of using tone and colour in facial expressions?
To help you plan your 5 art and design lesson on: Drawing: use tone and colour for facial expressions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 art and design lesson on: Drawing: use tone and colour for facial expressions, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 art and design lessons from the Photography and painting: facial expressions in portraiture unit, dive into the full primary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.