CALLIGRAM IDENTITY PORTRAIT

CALLIGRAM IDENTITY PORTRAIT

Learning Description

Students will explore self-portraits as a way to show who they are using colors, lines, and meaningful words or phrases. They will create a background that represents their personality, and use words and phrases that represent themselves to create the contour lines of their portrait.

 

Learning Targets

GRADE BAND: 4
CONTENT FOCUS: VISUAL ARTS & HEALTH
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"I Can" Statements

“I Can…”

  • I can use words to express and describe myself.
  • I can use color and line to express feelings and emotions.
  • I can create a self-portrait that expresses my identity.

Essential Questions

  • How can we use words to express our identity?
  • How can we use color and line to express our feelings and emotions?
  • What is identity?

 

Georgia Standards

Curriculum Standards

HE5.1 Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health.

HE5.1.c Describe and apply the basic health concept of mental and emotional well-being.

HE5.4 Students will demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

HE5.4.a Apply effective verbal and nonverbal communication skills to enhance health.

Arts Standards

VA5.CR.1 Engage in the creative process to generate and visualize ideas by using subject matter and symbols to communicate meaning.

VA5.PR.1 Plan and participate in appropriate exhibition(s) of works of art to develop identity of self as artist.

VA5.CR.5 Demonstrate an understanding of the safe and appropriate use of materials, tools, and equipment for a variety of artistic processes.

VA5.RE.1 Use a variety of approaches for art criticism and to critique personal works of art and the artwork of others to enhance visual literacy.

VA5.CN.3 Develop life skills through the study and production of art (e.g. collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, communication).

 

South Carolina Standards

Curriculum Standards

Standard 1: “Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health” (NHES, 2007).

M-5.1.1 Describe coping strategies to promote mental health.

Standard 7: “Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and avoid or reduce health risks” (NHES, 2007).

M-5.7.2 Demonstrate positive self-management skills.

Arts Standards

Anchor Standard 1: I can use the elements and principles of art to create artwork.

Benchmark VA.CR I can combine several elements of art to express ideas.

Indicator VA.CR NM.1.2 I can combine several elements of art to construct 2D or 3D artwork.

Anchor Standard 2: I can use different materials, techniques, and processes to make art.

Benchmark VA.CR NM.2 I can use some materials, techniques, and tools to create artwork.

Indicator VA.CR NM.2.1 I can use two-dimensional art materials to explore ways to make art.

Anchor Standard 4: I can organize work for presentation and documentation to reflect specific content, ideas, skills, and or media.

Benchmark VA.P NL.4 I can show and describe the idea of my artwork.

Indicator VA.P NL.4.2 I can describe my artwork.

 

Key Vocabulary

Content Vocabulary

  • Self-awareness - The ability to understand one’s own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts
  • Identity - The understanding of who someone is, encompassing the characteristics, beliefs, qualities, and experiences that define them as an individual or as part of a group
  • Feelings - The emotional responses we have to experiences, thoughts, or situations
  • Thoughts - The ideas, opinions, and mental images that form in our minds

Arts Vocabulary

  • Self-portrait - An artwork in which an artist creates a visual representation of themselves
  • Calligram - A type of visual poetry where the text is arranged to form a shape or image that reflects the content or theme of the words
  • Line - A continuous mark made on some surface by a moving point. It may be two dimensional, like a pencil mark on a paper or it may be three dimensional (wire) or implied (the edge of a shape or form) often it is an outline, contour or silhouette.
  • Contour line - A line that defines the edges and surface ridges of an object in drawing
  • Shape - A flat, enclosed line that is always two-dimensional and can be either geometric or organic
  • Pattern - Repetition of specific visual elements such as a unit of shape or form
  • Color - An element of art with three properties: 1) Hue: the name of the color, e.g. red, yellow, etc.; 2) Intensity: the purity and strength of the color (brightness or dullness); 3) Value: the lightness or darkness of the color (shades and tints)

Materials

 

Instructional Design

Opening/Activating Strategy

  • Look at examples of portraits engaging students in the See/Think/Wonder Artful Thinking Routine (example portraits: “The Frame” by Frida Kahlo, “Portrait of Pablo Picasso” by Juan Gris, and “Mystic Head: Ravenwings IV” by Alexej Von Jawlensky).
    • Ask students:
      • What do you see?
      • What do you think about what you see?
      • What do you wonder about what you see?
    • Ask students to identify lines, shapes, and colors that they see in the portraits and why they think the artists may have chosen them.
    • Discuss the different ways that artists choose to represent themselves and others.

Work Session

  • As a class, brainstorm words, phrases, and sentences that represent personal identity–What makes you, YOU?
    • This can be done in small groups or with a partner.
    • Students should write them down in their sketchbooks.
  • As a class, discuss common uses for color to express feelings and emotions.
    • Look at examples of artworks with strong use of color, such as Picasso’s Blue Period. Discuss the different feelings that the artwork evokes.
  • Have students select colors for their artwork. They can experiment with how the colors look together using colored pencils in their sketchbooks. Students should be able to connect the colors that they chose to the feelings they want to evoke in their artwork.
  • Discuss how different types of lines can express feelings and emotions.
    • Have students draw lines and shapes in their sketchbooks to represent the different words and phrases.
    • Students should then plan a pattern or design for the background of their portrait.
  • Students will create a contour drawing of themselves focusing on using simple lines.
    • Discuss contour line with students. Show students examples of artwork that uses contour lines.
    • Print pictures of students on 8.5x11 paper. Using tracing paper, students should trace the major lines using dull pencils or ebony pencils. Be sure that students are drawing dark, thick lines.
    • Have students flip the tracing paper over onto their watercolor paper. Using a pencil, have them trace over their lines. The image should lightly transfer onto the watercolor paper.
  • Students will then write the words or phrases from the brainstorming session directly over the lines drawn using fine line Sharpies. Once all words are written, students will go back and erase all pencil marks.
  • Tell students that they will now create a background for their self-portraits using the colors, patterns, and designs that they planned in their sketchbooks. Their artistic choices should reflect the emotions and ideas that they want to convey.
    • Students should draw first with pencil and then add color with colored pencil or watercolor.

A colorful abstract identity portrait of a face with geometric shapes in green, purple, and yellow tones. A blue circle is in the top left corner. Handwritten calligram text curves around the face and background, blending with the artwork.

 

 

Closing Reflection

  • Students will complete an Identity Artist Statement.
    • What techniques were used to make the art piece?
    • What does the artwork represent as far as your personal identity?
    • What would you want to tell others about your art?
    • Provide students the opportunity to share their self-portrait and describe the words or phrases they chose.

 

Assessments

Formative

  • Observe whether students are:
    • Able to identify how other artists use color, line, and shape to represent themselves in self-portraiture.
    • Using lines, shapes, patterns, and colors to express themselves during the planning process.
    • Using words and phrases to express themselves during the planning process.

Summative

 

Differentiation

Accelerated: 

  • Provide students with a choice of materials, including paint, markers, oil pastels.
  • Have students draw their self-portraits from observation rather than using tracing paper.

 

Remedial:

  • Provide specific questions for students to respond to in the What Makes You, YOU? brainstorming session.
  • Provide sentence starters for the artist statement or have students simply respond to the questions rather than writing in paragraph form.
  • Allow students to orally respond to artist statement questions rather than writing their answers.

 

Additional Resources

  • Color chart showing common color uses for feelings and emotions
  • Line chart that shows common uses for emotions or characteristics

 

Credits

U.S. Department of Education- STEM + the Art of Integrated Learning

Ideas contributed by: SAIL Grant Teacher Leaders–Chad Itnyre, Kristen Alvarez, Leah Patel, Lucerito Gonzalez, Tamu Clayton, Sandra Cash, Erin Smullen, Katy Betts

*This integrated lesson provides differentiated ideas and activities for educators that are aligned to a sampling of standards. Standards referenced at the time of publishing may differ based on each state’s adoption of new standards.

Revised and copyright:  August 2025 @ ArtsNOW

 

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