Picasso Crafts
- The Girl Before the Mirror (Resource 1) is one of Pablo Picasso's most recognizable works. Look at this famous painting and consider the faces. Notice how Picasso left some realistic features in place, while playing with the color and shape of others. Using a white or pale colored pencil or crayon, draw an oval shaped face on a dark colored piece of construction paper. Use crayons, colored pencils or oil pastels for the rest of the project. Divide the face into two halves. Down the center of the line draw a nose and mouth. Paint the eyes, cheeks, ears, and hair differently on each half, using contrasting colors, expressions and size.
- Picasso's method of playing with perspective in portraits can fire up the imagination. For this craft, draw two portraits -- they can be self-portraits done from photographs or using a mirror, portraits of a friend or something from the imagination. One portrait is of a face looking forward, the other of the same face in profile. Cut both faces out, and cut both of them each into 4 pieces. Rearrange the pieces into a new face, using pieces from each perspective. Using rubber cement or a glue stick, affix the pieces to a thick piece of paper and admire your portrait and its playful perspective.
- Beyond faces, Picasso let his imagination run all over the entire human form. Showing students how to look at a human body and identify simple shapes can expand their vision and imagination for what is possible in a painting. For students and young artists who are not naturally inclined toward realistic painting and drawing, working with Picasso's gross shapes lends confidence and breeds enthusiasm. Show students Picasso's Portrait of Dora Maar (Resource 2) and shout out all the recognizable shapes that make up her form. Using a picture or a live model (students can draw each other seated), start with the face and draw a whole person using only the named shapes -- oval, square, rectangle, triangle. Use tempera paints to finish the project. Encourage high-contrast, bright colors.
- Picasso was an early adopter of collage, the art of pasting images and materials together. Young artists can use Picasso's collage work as a starting point for creating pieces that reflect their own experiences and imaginations. Show students Picasso's collage work, such as the iconic Guitar, Sheet Music and Wine Glass (Resource 3). Begin by offering a simple still life to draw using oil pastels. When the still life pieces are done, offer students a collection of flat-lying materials -- magazines, newspapers, scraps of paintings, photographs, paint samples, fabric and photographs -- paste and a fresh piece of tag board or paper. Allow them to cut up their own still life and rearrange it, plus add paint, pasted paper and fabric, and other items to the work.