Self-portrait with the threes

The focus for term 2 for the primary 3 is on line drawing from observation.... 

(A) i started with asking the pupils to draw a self-portrait from looking at their photos as a pre - teaching activity for comparison purpose at the end of the term ... i would say, none was fantastic.... oopx.... but no worries, it's my job to make some of them fantastic by the end of the term.... =P 

(B) Then i took photos of each and every kiddo in my P3 art class showing 4 expressions - 喜怒哀乐 - and printed them in A4 size... 

(C) I taught them how to trace the their photos with the help of newspapers ... this first activity was just to let them be familiar with the lines that made up their faces... they would realise that in order to get a trace that looked exactly like them, they had to follow all the lines very accurately.... 

(D) This segment consisted of 3 x 1 hour lessons where I continued to let the pupils practice identifying the lines on their faces using the printmaking technique picked up from Ms April Ng during the last 2 workshops.... the kids had lots of fun rolling the different colour block printing ink onto the acrylic board and getting their faces printed onto the art paper..... the headache was always the huge mess at the end of every lesson due to all the washing... i wish i have an artroom assistant who can help in preparing all the materials before the class and also to help with all the washing... =S

note the missing eyebrows and lower lip???? oopx... that's what happens when not all the lines were accounted for... 

side note: see all the brayer marks on the paper???? so DUN ever purchase brayers/rollers from sesco... 真的是一分钱，一分货... i had no choice as due to bulk purchase, I had to make my purchase via gebiz/ITQ and could only choose the cheapest quote... seriously, it is not as cost saving as the system hopes it will be cos i plan to throw the inferior ones away soon and to buy the better quality one in smaller quantities from other more trustworthy suppliers just so that i do not cross the 3k mark ... =S 

(E) The second last lesson of the term was a 30 minute observation drawing 'test'.... presenting some of my term 2 little artists' pre and post lessons work.... =) 


Little Artist Rui Yu

Little Artist Jeroy

Little Artist Kai Xin

Little Artist Wan Bin 

Little Artist Preeya

(F) the very last lesson was kept for reflection purposes... have started the pupils on art reflecting at least once a term for the P3 in semester 1 ... will try to increase it to at least 2 per term for semester 2.... =) 


compared to the cartoonish drawing before this term's lessons, i thought most of my kiddos had made a remarkable improvement in their observational drawing .... I am now thinking if i should introduce (will 9 year old be too young????) and how should i introduce 'value' to this group of little artists ..... 

anyway, I would grade myself a 7/10 given that it is my first attempt at teaching these lessons.... original idea was just to do portrait printmaking based on the scheme of work i created after attending Ms April Ng's lesson 3 years ago ... observational drawing was something that i added in this year ... 

and for next year, i would first get the pupils to use a marker to outline the lines on their photos to hep them visualise the lines better, then have them start practising their line recognition and drawing skill at the printmaking stage instead of tracing their photos... =)