This creative project provides an opportunity to reflect upon someone you love and create a paper portrait using materials you can find around your home. This project is a wonderful way for you to collaborate with a partner to create a collage portrait of someone (human or animal) you both know and adore.
Designed to encourage creative exploration and experimentation, this activity makes use of materials that can be found at home. Follow along using the video demonstration above or instructions below. You can also download the lesson plan.
Materials
-
Paper to work with (sketchbook or drawing paper, copy paper, a paper bag, or file folder)
-
Glue stick, Elmer’s glue, carpenter’s glue, or tape
-
Colored pencils, markers, or pens
-
Scissors (optional)
Activity Instructions
-
Brainstorm who you would like to depict for your portrait.
-
What do you love about them?
-
What do they like to do?
-
Where do they like to go?
-
What colors make you think of them?
-
-
Decide on a background paper and cut or tear shapes from your variety of papers into shapes that you’d like to use for the collage.
-
If you are working as a team, one person could draw the shapes and one person could cut, or one person could suggest ideas while the other artist makes the shapes by drawing, cutting or tearing. Collaboration in any form is fun!
-
Glue or tape the shapes onto your background paper in a way that is pleasing to you. If you are using tape, feel free to make the tape part of your design and don’t be afraid to let it show. Overlapping shapes and going off the page with shapes are encouraged!
-
Elaborate on your ideas and add to your design with your colored pencils, markers, or pens. Voila!