Let’s make a selfie!
Self-Portraits are a great way to reflect on one’s own identity, improve observational drawing techniques, learn about colour and shape and to explore and experiment with design and composition. Group together your materials into colour groups and then have each child create a self-portrait using different materials in a single hue.
By grouping your materials into single colour sets, children can choose a colour and create their artwork using a single hue. Once complete, the self-portraits can be organised and hung as a giant rainbow mural, perfect for the start of school or for events such as Harmony Week!

Step 1To begin with you need to choose which colour you will be focusing on for your portrait. We have chosen blue and will use different materials and hues of blue. Take a cardboard square and use a wax crayon to cover the surface in a fun pattern.
Step 2Use a fan brush to cover the square and pattern in liquid watercolour. The wax crayon will create a resistance and reveal your fun pattern. Set the square aside to dry.
Step 3Take a second cardboard square and use a pencil to draw your self-portrait. Use a mirror to observe your face and the different characteristics. Think about where your eyes are in relation to your mouth and your ears to your nose. You want to sketch in the very basic outlines of what you see. Is your hair curly or straight? Long or short? Try to only draw what you see.
Step 4Use a black marker to trace over your pencil outline.
Step 5Use pencils to colour in your portrait. Start with a lighter hue and then go back in with darker hues. If you only have one hue of pencil, think about pressing harder or softer to build up tone and value. Look in the mirror and observe where the light is hitting. Places such as your nose, forehead and cheekbones stick out further and will receive more light. These areas should therefore be lighter in colour.
Step 6Once the highlights are completed, add a darker hue of your chosen colour to create shadows. Blend this into the highlights to achieve your mid tones.
Step 7Move onto markers to colour your hair. Markers create a nice strong pigment to contrast with the subtlety of the pencil. It’s best to leave markers for the hair only as when used on the face it can be too dark and take away from the features you have drawn.
Step 8Use scissors to carefully cut out your portrait. Adult supervision is recommended when using scissors. Your background from steps 1 & 2 should now be dry. Use a glue stick to fix your portrait onto your fun patterned background. Your selfie is now complete! Share with your friends or gather them all together to hang as a mural.