Painting: finalising a facial expression painting
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can add expressive details to enhance a painted facial expression.
Key learning points
- Identify and apply finishing techniques such as blending, adding highlights, and creating texture.
- Use colour, tone, and contrast effectively to enhance a painting.
- Evaluate and refine an artwork as it progresses.
Keywords
Detail - a small part of something that adds to its overall appearance
Brush technique - the method of applying paint with a brush to create different effects
Contrast - the difference between light and dark
Blending - mixing colours or shades together smoothly
Common misconception
The largest features of a facial expression convey the most emotion.
Applying details and small adjustments to a facial expression such as tone, texture and highlights can make them more dynamic, expressive and realistic.
Teacher tip
Encourage pupils to focus on small details like highlights, shadows, and texture to enhance expression. Use questioning to guide reflection: "What emotion do you see?" "How does tone or texture amplify it?" Celebrate progress, emphasising that refinement is part of the creative process.
Equipment
Paints, paintbrushes, water in pots, palette for mixing paintings, pencils, rubbers, paper.
Licence
Lesson video
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Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.How can eyebrows change an expression?
Q2.What does red often symbolise in a painting?
Q3.What does the term 'proportion' refer to?
Q4.What is meant by a ‘facial expression’?
Q5.What is the role of finishing touches?
Q6.Texture is an element of art that refers to how something or the appearance of a surface.
Assessment exit quiz
5 Questions
Q1.What can texture help to show in a painting?
Q2. are areas where the light hits a subject.
Q3.What technique would you use to show fine details, like wrinkles or hair strands?
Q4.Why is contrast important in portrait painting?
Q5.What is a good way to improve your painting when refining it?
To help you plan your 5 art and design lesson on: Painting: finalising a facial expression painting, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 5 art and design lesson on: Painting: finalising a facial expression painting, 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.