Year 1 Art

Collage – portraits

This half term in year one the children have been learning about portraits and collage. They looked at lots of different examples of portraits including self portraits. They looked at their own faces in a mirror and talked about what features they could see and where they were on their face. Next, they had a go at drawing their own faces in their sketchbooks and we shared the story ‘The Colours Of Us’ which looks at different skin tones. We had a lovely discussion about how everyone is different and unique. The children learnt how to mix a skin tone colour using powder paints. They made a light and a dark skin tone. They used the skin tone papers to then make the basis of their portrait. 

They learnt about a female artist called Brianna McCarthy who lives in Trinidad and Tobago. She makes bright, colourful portraits using colour, shape and pattern. Her work is influenced by the bright colours of Trinidad and Tobago. Year 1 used colours, shapes and pattern to create their own portraits. They had to place the features carefully to make sure they were in the right place. They also used some pen and pastel work to add smaller details. The children were encouraged to be creative. I think they did a brilliant job!