Portrait drawing

By trade, I'm a teacher, primarily in the early years,and art instruction for all ages. I left teaching to explore travel and other business ventures but I do adore teaching so I decided to offer an art class for teens. I have a brilliant group and am so grateful.

Last week we drew portraits. We began by drawing a portrait prior to receiving instructions as a before picture, which was followed by a step-by-step tutorial. They had a great class and all of their "after" drawings were a success. I noticed some remained in their habits and didn't adopt some of the new tools, so in this week's class, I added a twist.

When they arrived they each sat in front of a blank sheet of paper, and they were instructed not to touch it until we began. The instructions were as followed, we would draw one step and then pass the page to the next person going clockwise. Step by step we followed this process. I watch kids being challenged having to navigate the other's contributions. As we progressed we encountered issues with proportion guides being placed in incorrectly leaving eyebrows too high and noses much too long.

Giggles and hilarity ensued and everyone was having a good time.
When we reflected upon our finished pieces we could see how learning the proper proportioning can really transform the skills of the artist, also it helps us learn what we can distort for caricatures.

Next week we will try again but they will all be the police sketch artists to identify the person who stole my tacos!!