Drawing Your Portrait: Renaissance Style

Part 1: The History Behind the Mona Lisa

For this unit we will be inspired by the renaissance artists and their use of proportion, shading and color to create our very own renaissance portrait drawings.

For this project we will:

• Study a brief history of the Renaissance and The Mona Lisa

• Begin practice sketches of facial features

Your homework assignment: Complete warm-up drawings for the portrait.  A copy of this handout is provided in google classroom.  

Drawing Your Portrait: Renaissance Style

Part 2: Drawing Your Portrait in Proportion

Many people make mistakes when drawing faces because they don't fully understand facial proportions. Proportion refers to the relationship in size and placement between one object and another. There are many formulas that one can adapt to draw the facial features in the

For this project we will:

• learn the rules of proportion in drawing the portrait

• practice drawing a face in proportion

• Draw your portrait using the rules of proportion and looking in the mirror.

Your homework assignment: After you have completed Activity 1, Drawing  the Proportioned face following the video, Look in the Mirror and transform that drawing to look like yourself, to complete Activity 2, Self portrait. Do NOT Change  the proportions of where the eyes, nose, mouth, ears fall on the face. Complete and submit in google classroom. 

Drawing Your Portrait: Renaissance Style

Part 3: Drawing Your Portrait in 3/4 View

A portrait is typically defined as a representation of a specific individual, such as the artist might meet in life. A portrait does not merely record someone’s features, however, but says something about who he or she is, offering a vivid sense of a real person’s presence. 

For this project we will:

• The history behind the 3/4-view portrait

• Practice drawing a face in 3/4 view proportion

• Draw your 3/4-view portrait using the rules of proportion and looking in the mirror.

Your homework assignment: After you have completed Activity 1, Drawing  the 3/4-view Proportioned face following the video, Look in the Mirror and transform that drawing to look like yourself, to complete Activity 2, Self portrait. Do NOT Change  the proportions of where the eyes, nose, mouth, ears fall on the face. Complete and submit in google classroom. 

Drawing Your Portrait: Renaissance Style

Part 4: How to Capture Your Mood In Your Portrait

The Mona Lisa is a visual representation of the ideal of happiness and the landscapes illustrated are very important. 

For this project we will:

• The history behind the mood of the Mona Lisa

• Brainstorm objects that may define that mood 

• Draw a background for your 3/4-view portrait that describes you overall mood.

Your homework assignment:

After you have completed your Brainstorm worksheet for your Portrait Background complete your background drawing  and submit in google classroom. 

Drawing Your Portrait: Renaissance Style

Part 5: Applying Chiaroscuro to shapes

During the Italian Renaissance, artists used this convention or formula for applying light and shadow to objects.  This practice made it possible for artists to create an illusion of depth by simply following a standard set of rules for applying light and shadow to a form.

For this project we will:

• Introduce the five step to chiaroscuro

• Apply the five steps of Chiaroscuro to a Sphere, Cylinder and Cone and finally a portrait. 

Your homework assignment:

After you have completed your classwork, Appling chiaroscuro to shapes,  submit in google classroom. 

Drawing Your Portrait: Renaissance Style

Part 6: Completing Your Portrait With Color And Emotion

Color is a key contributor to first impressions, and is backed by years of research involving psychology, physics, and color perception to form what is known as Color Theory. And just like anything else, color theory applies to art where the first impressions to your audience means so much.

For this project we will:

• Discover what emotions certain colors carry

• Apply color to communicate your emotions for your portrait.

Your homework assignment:

COMPLETE YOUR PORTRAIT!

Play with mixing colors and building layers as you apply your knowledge of chiaroscuro. In the end, your work should look like a crayon painting with many thick layers.

Submit your work in google classroom.