UNIT 1 Surreal self-portrait Gr 8

Global Concept Key Concept Related Concept

Personal and cultural expression Creativity Innovation, Visual culture,

Expression

Statement of inquiry: With creativity, we can make a self-portrait that expresses deeper and
meaningful ideas about us.

Factual Questions:
Is there a pattern across the different portraits created by surrealists artists?

What were the most common strategies used by surrealist artists when making art?

Conceptual Question:
What was new about the strategies used by Surrealists?

How do I know how to connect with my identity creatively?

Debatable question:
Can portraits show more than the outside of me?

What makes an artwork Surreal?

Rene Magritte ● Leonora Carrington ● Max Ernst

During this unit, you will consider how your creativity can be developed when creating a portrait. As a
starting point, you will study the Art Movement Surrealism to be inspired by the strategies of surrealist
artists like Magritte, Ernst, and Dali, among others.
You will learn the systems to draw and or compose a portrait with proportions, to use materials to turn
your drawing into a 3D piece, and how to select symbols to represent yourself.
You will document your research and creative processes in their journals.
We will study some artists from Surrealism like Leonora Carrington, Rene Magritte, Max Ernst,
Salvador Dali, etc.

You will understand:

 ● To be creative, we need to think in a different way to create something new.
● Creativity is a process that requires knowledge and inventiveness.

TASKS

We will start our first unit by talking about our ideas about CREATIVITY.

-What is creativity for you? Answer these questions individually. Take notes on a paper. (2
minutes)

-In groups of three share your answers. Then research on the internet what is the meaning of
creativity in art. Write on the same paper the information you collected and the source. (15
minutes)

-Observe artworks from Surrealism and discuss in groups and with the entire class, the common
patterns observed. You will receive a handout with pictures of the artworks.

-Explore drawing something realistically and then unusually.

● Draw one of your hands on an A4 paper. It could be just an outline or a tonal drawing.
 ● Draw the same hand but this time merge an object that you have with your hand. This drawing
should be presented in another A4 paper.

Do not forget to write your name.

How did you feel while you make both drawings? Did you feel differently?

● What do you think about creativity? Write a short paragraph to conclude what is your idea
about Creativity.