Expressing Our Emotions Through Portraiture

Total Class Periods to Complete: 3-4 periods

GRADE LEVEL: 5

Activator

"What emotions are easiest to show in art?"

Brainstorm colors, shapes, and lines associated with different emotions.

Take a look at Edvard Munch’s The Scream and other Expressionist portraits and the ways Expressionist artists use exaggerated color, line, and form to convey intense emotions.

Intro Into Expressionism

Click on the file to download.

Lesson Materials:

Canvas or thick watercolor paper
Acrylic paints (bright colors and neutrals)
Paintbrushes, sponges, palette knives
Oil pastels or chalk pastels
Textured materials (e.g., fabric, sandpaper, textured cardboard for pressing or layering effects)
Emotion wheel (for reference)
Iphone, or Camera
Printer
8.5x11 printer paper
Black Ink
Ebony pencil

Essential Questions:

How can we communicate emotions and personal stories through art?
How does the Expressionism art movement help artists express intense emotions?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will experiment with color, form, and texture to communicate emotions in a self-portrait.
Students will use elements of Expressionism to heighten the emotional impact of their artwork.

Georgia State Standards for Visual Arts (5th Grade):

VA5.CR.2: Create works of art that express a personal idea, mood, or feeling through the intentional use of colors, lines, shapes, textures, and images.
VA5.RE.1: Engage in discussions to describe subject matter, ideas, mood, or feeling conveyed through works of art.
VA5.CN.1: Relate artistic ideas and works to personal experience and the broader world.

Georgia State Science Standards (5th Grade):

S5CS1: Students will be aware of the importance of curiosity, honesty, openness, and skepticism in science and will exhibit these traits in their own efforts to understand how emotions are connected to biological processes.
S5CS8: Students will understand important features of the process of scientific inquiry and use communication, technology, and resources to explore concepts.

Resource Artists:

Edvard Munch’s The Scream
Portraits by Expressionist artists like Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Emil Nolde, to showcase different approaches to emotion.

Textured Self-Portrait Creation

Choosing an Emotion

Ask students to choose an emotion they feel strongly connected to. Using mirrors, they’ll study their facial expressions, paying attention to how their eyes, mouth, and eyebrows change with the emotion. They can also reference the emotion wheel for additional guidance on wording and expression

Photographing Expressions

Encourage students to take a photograph of

their expression. Have them print their photos in

black and white on 8.5x11 paper. They will outline

the major features in dark ebony pencil and transfer

this outline onto canvas or thick watercolor paper.

Creating a Textured Base

Once they’ve chosen the color scheme and mood for their portrait, students will begin layering their piece with a textured base to enhance the emotional expression. They can use:
Sponges or brushes to apply thick paint, creating a bumpy, rough texture ideal for intense emotions like anger or frustration.
Palette knives to create sharp or swirling patterns that convey a chaotic feeling.
Pressed objects such as sandpaper, fabric, or cardboard pieces, pressing them into wet paint to leave unique impressions. They can use anything around that provides texture. See the video above for more examples.

Adding Bold, Expressive Colors

Students will then layer bold, expressive colors that align with their chosen emotion. They may use:

Bold acrylic colors applied in thick strokes to emphasize areas of strong emotional impact.
Crayons or color pencils for softer, blended lines around key features, like the eyes or mouth, to bring out subtler aspects of the emotion.

Encourage students to use dynamic lines, exaggerated features, and color choices inspired by Expressionism to make their emotion clear.

Adding Facial Details

Finally, using color pencils, crayons, markers or ink pens, or a fine brush and paint, students will add details like the eyes, mouth, and eyebrows to further enhance the expression. They should keep these features exaggerated to heighten the emotional impact of their portrait or they can be softer depending on the mood of the portrait.

Collaboration

Peer Review among students:

Pair students for a “Two Stars and a Wish” critique, where they give each other two

positive comments and one suggestion to strengthen their work.

Class Gallery Walk among students:

Display completed portraits around the classroom. Each student adds a sticky note with the intended emotion, and classmates write their interpretations of the emotion conveyed on separate sticky notes.

Group Reflection:

Hold a reflection session where students discuss how their collage elements enhanced their ability to convey emotion and how others perceived it.

Science Collaboration:

Collaborate with a science teacher to introduce a mini-lesson on the science of emotions, focusing on the role of neurotransmitters and how the brain interprets feelings. Students could learn about how the brain associates colors and imagery with emotions, deepening their understanding of why artists choose certain colors or shapes to convey feelings.

Differentiation Options

Written Component:

For students with difficulty expressing emotions visually, allow them

to include descriptive words in their portrait. This could be words

directly on the artwork or a separate reflection on how the colors,

shapes, and images they chose relate to their emotions.

Adaptation for Students with Dyslexia:

Use visual emotion cards with images representing various feelings

as references. These cards help students identify and communicate

the emotion they want to depict.

Pre-Selected Color Palettes:

For students who need additional support, provide pre-selected colors and textures for specific emotions, such as warm colors for joy or cool colors for sadness.

Template with Key Features:

Provide students with some blank and some outlined templates of faces that include basic

features, allowing them to focus on textural and color choices without needing to draw

a realistic face.

Time and Task Management:

Break down the project into smaller, manageable parts with clear checkpoints and visuals for SPED and 504 plan students.

Rubric