IGCSE ART PROJECT

Art and Emotion

Symbolic Portrait Project

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

 Develop ideas through
Develop investigations, demonstrating
critical understanding of sources

Refine work by exploring ideas,

selecting and experimenting
with appropriate media, Refine
materials, techniques and
processes

Objestives
Record ideas, observations and
Record insights relevant to intentions as
work progresses

Present a personal and

meaningful response that
realizes intentions and Present
demonstrates understanding of
visual language
The Grid
Technique
• 5000BC
• Ancient Egyptians were
the first to use the grid
method
• Once they had a clearly
outlined composition
divided into sections by
the grid, they could then
just scale it up to the size
of the wall.
Photorealist- Chuck Close July 5, 1940

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=milXH-433vs&t=3s
Jason de Graaf 1971 Canadian
ron mueck
born 1948 Australia now live in
London

Hyper-realism
“My paintings are about staging an alternate
reality, the illusion of verisimilitude on the
painted surface, filtered so that it expresses
my unique vision. Though my paintings may
appear photoreal my goal is not to reproduce
or document faithfully what I see one hundred
percent, but also to create the illusion of depth
and sense of presence not found in
photographs.”
Jason de Graaf
 Values Study
Use the grid technique to create a
portrait (use a 2B- 4B Pencil.)
Your focus should be on the
accuracy of proportion and tonal
values.
‘Grids break down a picture into manageable sized pieces. You only need to focus on one square at a time
and, before you know it, you have a great drawing staring you in the face!’

How to Set Up a Grid For Your Drawing - YouTube

Points to remember:
Points to remember:
• Draw your grid lines lightly so you can erase them later
• Draw your grid lines lightly so you can erase them later
• Make you grids is made of squares not rectangles
• Make you grids is made of squares not rectangles
• Measure all edges of your page to avoid distorting your
• Measure all edges of your page to avoid distorting your
image.
 Grid Method Task: Michael Phelps

Use the internet to search for a high contrasting, high resolution

black and white portrait photo of a person you find inspiring.

Photo suitability checklist:

•High quality/resolution

•The portrait must fill most of the page.

•High contrast between back shadows and white highlights

•Make sure you’re 100% happy you’ve found a stunning photo. 

Print and start use the grid technique to get your values and

proportions perfect!
 Student Examples:

Year 9 Year 12
Exploring identity – Symbolic
Self Portrait

• Create a mind map to investigate aspects

of your identity.

Identify one or two words that describe you

and come up with a symbol that represents
who you are.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

Portrait Artists – Avoid selecting unknown Artist on Pinterest or Instagram. Aim to select artist that are recognized by galleries and Art critics.

Look at one of the following artists to inform and inspire your style and technique.

•Henry Mattisse
•Yue Minjun – Chinese
•Kehinde Wiley's – African American

•Mahmoud Saïd - Egyptian

•Peter Howson – Scotland
•Jean hanna – Syrian •Jonathan Yeo- England
•Krastyo Todorov – Bulgarian Artist •Xu De Qi – China
•Manal deeb- Palestinian American artist
•Thongchai Srisukprasert –Thailand
•Shirin Neshat - iranian artist
•Amedeo Modigliani – Italy
•Mahmoud Sabri -iraqi

•Frank Shepard Fairey - American street artist

•Frida Kahlo - Mexico
•Mark Powell – American
 

 
Critical
Investigration – Artist
Model
Task 2 – Artist Study
look at 2-3 a internationally recognised portrait
artists to inform and inspire your experiments,
style and technique. See list of Artist on
previous slide.

Set you self up to succeed – Make sure you

choose an artist who’s technique challenges you
appropriately and where you can clearly
identify a unique use of the visual elements of
which to emulate. Choose an artist where you
have the opportunity to display your technical
ability.
• INQUIRY - Analyse your chosen Artwork in your
sketchbook.
• Identify and Analyse the Cultural Context, the formal qualities and the
function and purpose of the artist. These will influence your art-
making later.

• Formal Qualities
• Analyse the elements of art how they are used to communicate
intention:
• How has the artist used light? What effects does he achieve? (tone,
depth, form)
• What colours does the artist use? Why? How is colour organised?
(emotional, mood)
• What kind of shapes or forms can you find? How do they relate to
each other? What impact do they have on the piece? (overlapping,
proportions)
• What is the surface like? What kinds of textures can you see? How
are they achieved? (pattern. repetition, movement)
• How has the artist composed the picture? Does it influence the way
we react to it? (balance, variety, direction)
• How does the size of the Artwork impact the audience? (scale,
dominance)
• Cultural Context – The particular time, place,
culture and society in which the art was
produced.
• When was it made? Where was it made?
Who made it?
• What do you know about the artist? What
cultural or personal events influenced the
artist?
• How does the work relate to other art styles of
the time? What artistic influences was the
artist exposed to?
• Can you link it to other performing arts of the
period, such as film, music or literature?
• function and purpose

• What did the artist intend to achieve?

• What is it? What is it about? What is happening?
• Does the title change the way we see the work?
• Is it a realistic depiction?
• Have any parts been exaggerated or distorted? If so, why?
• What kind of reaction is the Artwork trying to evoke? Who is the
intended audience?
• What message does the work communicate? Is the message powerful
or subtle?
• Materials, conceptual and cultural significance
• Looking at the process means studying how the work was made and
what techniques were used to inform your own art-making approach.
• What materials and tools were used to make the piece?
• What role do these materials play in order to convey a message or
enhance the narrative?
• What elements of these artworks would you use in your own art piece
and why?
• Include colour images of the artist's work alongside your annotation.
Photoshoot
• Task 3.
• Photoshoot, take 20-30 carefully considered portrait
photos, taking into consideration your artist model.
• Tips for taking photos of your Artwork:
• You might want to experiment with natural lighting;
consider light and shadows carefully. High contrast
will help you to describe the form of the portrait.
(Taking a photo inside without appropriate lighting
will give you a low-quality image.)
• Reduce camera movement while taking the photo:
Support your camera with a surface, table-top.
• Make sure you don't have random objects in the
background.
• A great photo has the potential to inspire a great
painting!

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

Artist Intentions –
Task 4
• Communicate your artist
intentions explaining which
elements of each Artists work you
will use to inform your own.
• Experiment with a variety of
ideas, compositions, colour
palettes and textures. Review
and refine your ideas as they
progress in relation to your
intentions
Final Piece

• Task 5.
• Using the synergy of techniques to create a
portrait incorporating your symbol into your
composition.
• Think about the expression, colour, and
background that would best communicate this
information. (you may choose to experiment
with text also)
• Good Luck!
 Cubism, Pablo Picasso
“Are we to paint what is on the face,
what is inside the face, or what is behind
it?”
Henry Mattisse
- France
Kehinde Wiley's –
African American
Mahmoud Saïd - Egypt
Jean Hanna - Syria
Krastyo Todorov
Bulgaria
Manal deeb
• Palestinian American artist
 This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND

Shirin Neshat - Iran

Mahmoud Sabri – Iraq
Frank Shepard Fairey - America
 Mark Powell – America

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA-NC

Yue Minjun – China

Peter Howson - Scotland
Jonathan Yeo- England
Xu De Qi - China
Thongchai
Srisukprasert
Thailand
 Expressionism,
Amedeo Modigliani
Italy

•Portrait of a young women, 1918

Self portrait, 1919

•Surrealism, Frida Kahlo –
Self portrait on the border
(1932) Mexico