(Text)ural Self-Portrait

Middle school students always love a good selfie! I like this project because it is conceptual - students like this project because their artwork starts to look like themselves in one class period. Students not only make a self-portrait, but also capture other elements of their identity through hand written text to create value. I stole this idea from my wife, Jamie Lea Bertsch, who uses this project in a 2-Dimensional Concept course at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. 

Basically, I do a rapid photo shoot in class or students email me a selfie. I print off their images and show them how to do a quick carbon transfer (using charcoal on the back of their photo). Students trace areas of value with a pen over their photo. Using their text value scale and identity writing assignment as a reference, students begin to construct a self-portrait and freak out at how cool it looks! Lesson Plan, Project Rubric, Value Scale, Writing Prompt, and PDSA cycle attached.

Big thanks to the Marysville Middle School Media Lab for adding micrography to the vocab list! I get very excited about collaborating and sharing ideas with other artists and teachers, while honing in on my Professional Development Plan                                                          

Please feel free to email me with questions or feedback! josephbertsch@gmail.com

TEXTural Self-Portrait PDSA cycle.pdf     TEXTural Self-Portraits Identity Writing Prompt.pdf     TEXTural Self-Portrait Rubric.pdf     TEXTural Self-Portrait Value Scale.pdf     TEXTural Self-Portrait Lesson Plan.pdf