Exploring portraits through paint
I can use a limited colour palette to paint a portrait.
Exploring portraits through paint
I can use a limited colour palette to paint a portrait.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- The painted portrait is understood to have originated in Ancient Egypt, over 5,000 years ago
- Paint allows artists to explore texture, colour, and form, capturing emotion and personality
- The versatility of paint enables both realistic and abstract interpretations of a subject
Keywords
Subject - the focus, topic, or image of an artwork, e.g. in a portrait, the subject is the person who has been painted
Mood - the feeling or emotion a piece of art gives you (like happy, calm, or sad)
Proportion - the size of one part of something compared to another part, especially how facial features, body parts or objects fit together
Common misconception
The painted portrait only focuses on realism and accuracy in depicting the subject.
While many portraits aim for realism, painting also allows for abstract and emotional interpretations, capturing the subject's personality, mood, and deeper meaning beyond just physical appearance.
To help you plan your year 9 art and design lesson on: Exploring portraits through paint, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 9 art and design lesson on: Exploring portraits through paint, 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 3 art and design lessons from the Identity: exploring portraiture unit, dive into the full secondary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Images of portraits, drawing materials and paper (preferably thick enough for wet media), paint, selection of brushes (round and flat head if possible), water and palette. Editing app optional.
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
The relationship between parts of the face.
The way paint is applied using a brush.
The emotion shown on the subject's face.
The focus, topic or image of an artwork.
Exit quiz
6 Questions
Complex forms are changed into basic, simple shapes.
Features are resized or moved to show mood or style.
Some features are made bigger to show emotion or meaning.