Art Lesson - Foreshortening - Self Portraits

This is a good lesson to do with fifth graders. I did this lesson with my son's class a couple of weeks ago.

First I attempted to describe to them what foreshortening was. I was mainly trying to just introduce the word to them. I had an example of a drawing using foreshortening. I showed them my example first, and asked them who might see this view. I was pleased when they said an ant. Then we did the drawing together. First shoes, hands, head and body. We talked about the patterns on their shoes. They could try to simplifiy their shoes, or make up their own pattern. I talked about the details of the hands a little. We discussed breifly the basic porportions of a face... the eyes half way down the head, etc. I had them personalize their clothing and hair and maybe to add a hat. We drew in pencil first, then outlined in black markers. Finally they colored in with crayons. If they had time, I encouraged them to color the back ground, trying to make it a contrasting color. A background color really makes the design pop. Drawing the body was a little hard for some kids, so I was needed to help with that a little. It was a perfect lesson for fifth grade, not sure if I'd go much younger. It took the whole hour, with only a couple not finishing the project. That was perfect.
I like how Wesley (above) and DS (below) drew Mr. Toast and friends on their shirt. Even my son advertises for Etsy sellers!

I get my art lesson ideas from a lot of different sources. Sometimes they magically pop in my head. A lot of times just looking at adult art gives me an idea for a kid version. Other times I search books, and the web. This lesson came from theartkids. They have a lot of really good art lessons for kids.