Kindergarten Self Portraits

Kindergarteners learned what a portrait is in Art. A portrait is a picture of a person. A self-portrait is a picture of you. We looked at American Gothic by American artist Grant Wood. We discussed what we saw-two grumpy, old, wrinkly people, a pitch fork, a house, and a barn. What do these details tell us about these people? We figured out that they must be farmers and that life on their farm must be hard. We then began our self portraits. Our goal was to draw ourselves using mirrors to help us see our hair style and color, eye color, clothes, etc. In our self-portrait we had to include details that told other people about our lives. We also had to include a background. We traced a circle for our head and a triangle for our bodies. Students used the triangle in different ways. Some girls used it to create a dress or skirt, while some boys flipped it over and added pants or shorts. If you ask your kindergarten artist, they should be able to explain how their self-portrait reveals details about their lives.