Picasso Portraits

In Under the Influence of Art, I decided it was time to paint. I repeated a project I've done in previous classes, based on Picasso. We started by looking at portraits Picasso had done, some realistic and some abstract. We looked at his color choice as well. The students drew self portraits in pencil (though, I also let them draw anyone else, including their pets or a fictional character). Then they went over the image in black marker. Lastly, they chose one color with which to work. I gave them that one color, along with a little black and a little white. Using these colors and water, they created different shades and tints. They then labeled the pictures their "blue period" or their "yellow period" depending on their color choice, just as Picasso went through his different periods.