PABLO PICASSO: MEET THE ARTIST

Cubist Portraits in the Style of Picasso

Please allow 1 1/2 hours of classroom time

SUPPLIES

• 12 x 18 yellow construction paper - 1 per child (art closet)
• Black crayons - 1 per child (art closet)
• Tempera paints, an assortment of colors. We're using bright, unrealistic colors, not normal skin tones. (art closet) ART REPS IN BUNGALOWS WITH NO SINKS - YOU CAN USE OIL PASTELS INSTEAD OF PAINT.
• Paint brushes - 1 per child (art closet)
• Paint trays or paper plates to create paint palettes. These can be shared by 2-4 kids. (art closet)
• Paper cups filled with water (to wash out brushes) - 1 per child (art closet)
• Paper towels, folded into a square to create a blotter for brushes - 1 per child (BRING FROM HOME)
• Color copies of images mentioned in lesson to display on the overhead projector, or to pass around the classroom (art closet)

Optional worksheets:

• Worksheet with examples of Picasso style eyes, ears, and lips - 1 per child (art closet)
• How to Draw Hair for Boys and Girls - 1 per child (art closet)

*KINDER & 1st Grade: Instead of reading the Script below, please read the book, When Pigasso met Mootisse (art closet)

**2nd - 6th Grade: if you are only given 1 hour for the project, you can use oil pastels or read the book, Pablo Picasso by Mike Venezia (instead of the script) to save time.


Before you begin, write the artist's name on white board. The colored copies of images can be displayed on ELMO/overhead, or you can pass them around the room as you talk. 
 

SCRIPT

Remember the last time we did art together, we talked about Henri Matisse? The artist we're going to learn about today lived around the same time as Matisse. Just like Matisse, he invented a new way to do art. And like Matisse, he painted in many different styles. He also made sculptures, prints, drawings, pottery, and costumes and sets for plays. He even knew Matisse. Sometimes he and Matisse agreed about art and sometimes they didn't. But they ended up being friends, and both became very famous. The man we will learn about today is PABLO PICASSO!

(show all images on ELMO or overhead)

Pablo Picasso was born in Spain in 1881, but lived in France for most of his life. He lived to be 91 years old, and died in 1973 (make the connection between his life and when you were born). This is a portrait that Picasso painted of himself when he was 20 years old. His father was an artist and a teacher, and he wanted Picasso to become a famous artist one day. So Picasso learned to draw and paint before he could even walk and talk! He went to art school when he was very young, and moved to Paris, France to become an artist.

Here is Picasso in his art studio. You can see some of his paintings, sculptures, and pottery. Picasso was known for always wanting to create something new, so he made art in many different styles during his life. Here are a few portraits of his kids. Can anybody tell me what a portrait is? (It is a painting or photo of a person, often of their face, neck, and upper body, but it can be their whole body as well). 

 

• Do these portraits look like the same artist painted them? 
• Are they in the same style? 
• What can you tell me about these paintings of Picasso's kids (Paul, Paloma, and Maya)? Do they look real or abstract? 
• Can anyone tell me what "abstract" means? (It doesn't look like something in real life or like a photograph. It just gives you a feeling of a person, place, or thing.)
• What else do you notice? (Paul looks more realistic; Paloma is more abstract; Maya is showing signs of Cubism, etc.)
• Do you notice anything about the way he painted Maya's face? Picasso sometimes painted 2 different angles at the same time! (Show the kids how one eye is looking straight at them and the other eye looks more to the side). The eyes and nose don't look like they're in the right place! What do you think about that?

Many people were shocked when they first saw this kind of style, but they also appreciated how creative Picasso was. His style of painting changed depending on how he was feeling at the time. When he was just starting out as an artist, life was tough for him, and he was sad most of the time. Have you ever heard about "feeling blue?" Sometimes when people are sad, they say they're blue. So the art he created during this sad time in his life was called The Blue Period. Here's a painting from the Blue Period called the Old Guitarist.

Picasso didn't stay sad forever and it wasn't long before he changed his style. He fell in love and got married and his paintings became happier. When you're happy some people call this feeling "rosy," so these paintings are called the "rose" period. A rosy color is kind of reddish, warmer, and he used those warm colors to paint some circus performers that he knew.

Picasso changed his style again, and this time he invented a brand new way to paint. The camera had been invented not long before this time so it wasn't necessary for painters to paint things exactly the way they were anymore—you could just take a picture. So Picasso decided to draw things from all sides at the same time! Sometimes it looked like there were a bunch of little boxes or cubes, so they called this style of art, CUBISM.

Here is a famous painting from Picasso's Cubist period. 

• Can you tell what is going on in this painting? 
• Can you tell me how many people are in this painting? (3) 
• What are they doing? (playing instruments) What clues do you see? 
• Picasso loved music and this painting is called Three Musicians. Do you see the music? What instruments are they playing? (violin, clarinet/horn, accordion/keyboard).
• Does this look realistic?

Remember the portraits Picasso painted of his children? Remember the one of Maya and her doll? And how you can see her face from 2 angles at the same time? Picasso's Cubist portraits looked different from what people looked like in real life. He often used solid colors, patterns, angles, and shapes instead of realistic details. I want to show you 2 portraits of a woman named Dora Maar that he painted in this style. Afterwards, I'll show you a photo of the real Dora Maar so you can compare his artwork to the real person.

This painting is called Dora Maar Seated. You can see how one part of her face looks like it is staring straight at you, and the other part is more like a side view (point this out). {Art Rep: use a blank piece of paper to block the right side of her face.} You can see her hand and how it looks like she is looking at you, straight ahead—the front view. {Art Rep: now cover the other side of the face with the paper.} Now you are seeing the side view of her face. This is called the profile. Notice the eyes, nose, and mouth are turned sideways. He combined the front view and side view all into one face! 

Here's another painting of Dora Maar:

And here is a photograph of the real Dora Maar:

Here is another portrait called "Girl Before a Mirror." What can you tell me about the portrait? {Art Rep: you can point out color, pattern, shapes, 2 sides of the face.}

START THE ART PROJECT

INTRODUCTION Today we're going to make portraits in Picasso's style, showing 2 sides of the face at the same time! It can be a portrait of yourself, a friend, or an imaginary character. You can draw a girl or a boy. Picasso did not put the eyes side-by-side, so we're going to draw eyes that are uneven, and ears and eyebrows that might not match. We're also going to paint with bright, unrealistic colors, just like Picasso.

Art Rep: Have the children write their name on the back of the paper. Tell them we will be drawing with a black crayon, so each child should pick up their crayon and get ready to draw.

STEP-BY-STEP DRAWING INSTRUCTIONS

USE WORKSHEETS FOR INSPIRATION

PLEASE DRAW WITH THE KIDS ON THE WHITE BOARD OR ELMO

1. Draw a large U in the center of the paper
2. Connect the U with a curved line at the top to create a basic head shape
3. Draw two vertical lines under the head to create the body
4. Starting at the top of the face, draw a line down the middle that makes it look like a Picasso. The line starts at the top of the forehead, makes a zig-zag for the nose, then 2 bumps for the lips, and another bump for the chin. Take the line down to the bottom of the face so it's divided in half. This line down the middle creates the "profile" side of the face. 
5. Starting with the LEFT side, draw an eye looking to the side {the kids can review the worksheet for inspiration and practice drawing on the worksheet first if they like}. Then draw half of a mouth oriented to the side {view worksheet for inspiration}. This the "profile" side of the face.
6. On the RIGHT side of the face, draw an eye looking forward. Remember, Picasso didn't draw eyes that were side-by-side, they often didn't match. The kids can add eyebrows and eyelashes at this point. Then draw the mouth on the "front view" or "normal" side of the portrait. Are there other features the kids want to add to both sides, like cheeks or other shapes?
7. Add ears. They can be mismatched or uneven too.
8. Add hair. Picasso always drew his hair facing forward. Remind the kids that the hair will also be painted, so it should be an outline (and not a thin line). The hair can be long, short, spiky, whatever they like! You can refer to the "How to Draw Hair" worksheet if you want.

PAINT!

ART REPS in BUNGALOWS W/OUT SINKS: YOU CAN USE OIL PASTELS INSTEAD

The only rule is to choose 2 different colors for the face, one color for the left side and a different color for the right. Picasso used colors that didn't look real in his portraits, so we'll also use bright colors that don't look real.

NOTE: PLEASE HAVE THE KIDS CLEAN THEIR BRUSHES BETWEEN COLORS BY FIRST SWISHING THEM IN WATER AND THEN WIPING EXCESS WATER OFF ON THE FOLDED PAPER TOWEL. WE DON'T WANT THE COLORS TO GET MIXED UP AND MUDDY.

1. Ask the kids to choose a color for the left side of the face first (pink, red, blue, green, purple, etc). Leave the eyes, mouth, and hair blank for now. These will be painted at the end.
2. Now paint the right side of the face in a different color, leaving the eyes, mouth, and hair blank for now.
3. Finally, the kids can fill in the eyes, ears, mouth, hair and any other details with different colors of their choosing.
4. Now the kids can paint the background with complementary colors. Picasso often used patterns in his paintings, so you can encourage the kids to also paint patterns in the background or on the body. Remind younger kids that a pattern is a repeating line, color, or shape (like circle-square-circle or red-blue-yellow).

Congratulations! You just made a CUBIST portrait in the style of Picasso! 

MUSIC NOTES Picasso and the famous Russian composer Igor Stravinsky were good friends. If you'd like to play Stravinsky in the background while the kids paint, consider The Rite of Spring or his Firebird Suite. The easiest way to do this is to bring a bluetooth speaker from home and play the music via your smart phone. Some classrooms have CD players (check with your teacher).

Examples