Personal Layered Portraits

This term in Year 6, the children have been exploring the theme of identity through their Art lessons, creating thoughtful and expressive layered self-portraits. We began by revisiting portraiture, where the class worked hard to develop their observational drawing skills and refine their pencil control. It has been wonderful to see how their confidence and attention to detail has grown, particularly as they compared their work to previous years and focused on creating lighter, more controlled lines.

From there, the children designed and created personalised backgrounds, using colour, shape and texture to represent their personalities, interests and experiences. They then carefully layered their self-portraits on top, before spending time adding further texture and embellishments to bring even more meaning into their work. Throughout the project, the class have been learning that artists draw on their own culture, background and passions to create artwork that others can connect with, and that identity is made up of many different experiences. They have also explored how layering techniques can reflect this complexity and how we, as viewers, can 'read' artwork by interpreting elements such as line, colour and shape.

This project has truly allowed the Year 6 children to come into their own as artists. Their final pieces are incredibly personal, creative and thoughtful, something they should all be very proud of.