In this chapter, you will explore the different ways in which people are portrayed, draw your own friends by closely observing their physical features. You will then collaborate to compose a group portrait using everyone’s drawings.

Study artworks from history that depict people in many different ways.

In another exciting activity, you will examine various roles of people and the reasons behind their clothing choices and visualise the roles you would take on in future while creating an artwork.

Activity 1: Make Portraits

Have you ever wondered why we all look different even though our faces havethesameparts —eyes,eyebrows, nose, mouth, ears and hair?

Observe the faces of your classmates. Can you identify how their face is different from yours? Are their eyes smaller or is their forehead bigger? Do they wear spectacles? How do they comb their hair?

Split up into pairs for this activity and draw a portrait of your partner on an A4 sheet of paper.

Your portraits do not have to be picture perfect. You can add your own flavour to them.

Step 1: Make the shape of the face. Is it acircle,ovaloregg-shaped? Or, is it a rounded rectancle?

Step 2: Draw other features of their face. Observe the shape and size of the eyes, nose, eyebrows, lips, chin and ears. Pay attention to the space between the eyes, the distance between the hairline and eyebrow, and the length of the ears.

Step 3: Once you have your drawing ready, think about the colours you want to use for the portrait.

Step 4: Complete your portrait and share it with your peers. Discuss the similarities and differences in the facial features.

Step 5: Cut out your portraits along their edge.

Step 6: Prepare a large surface by joining many sheets of paper or any other material.

Step 7: Gather all the portraits and decide an arrangement for a group portrait of the whole class.

Step 8: Paste each portrait in a decided arrangement. Your class portrait is ready!

Activity 2: Through the Eyes of the Artists

Portraits are one way of depicting people. In portraits, the focus is on the face, head, neck and shoulders of a person, but it might include other parts of the body also. Artists have depicted people in many other ways.

Look at the images of the Buddha from different periods. Compare the styles, facial features, and discuss the similarities and differences in their characteristics.

Buddha represented in different time periods and styles

Activity 3: I Want to be …

What role would you like to play in other people’s life when you grow up?

Would you like to help people fix their bulbs? Or would you like to ensure that people remain fit?

Draw yourself performing these roles. It’s okay if you don’t know what roles you may want. You can freely imagine yourself in more than one role.

Draw three to five roles from the many choices you can think of.

Look at the drawings made by everyone in the class. Do you see anything typical in these drawings? Or anything that is unusual? Which drawings do you find interesting and why?

Activity 4: Clothes and Roles

How do you identify if someone is a painter or farmer? Do we all imagine the farmer in the same way or is there a difference? What are the similarities and differences? Let’s find out!

Draw a picture of a farmer the way you think of them. Look at all the drawings made in your class. What is the gender of the farmer? How tall or short are they? What is the farmer wearing?

Discuss and Talk About —

1. How did you take these decisions for your drawings?

2. Did you find farmers of all genders?

3. Where all have you seen pictures of farmers?

4. If they changed their clothes, would they stop being a farmer?

What musical instruments can you see in the given picture?

Like you observe your natural environment, observe people more closely. Notice that each of us is unique in the way we look and how we dress.

Observe and draw any three people in different roles around you. Imagine other roles they may have.

Now, look at the drawings made by your classmates. Who are the different people you see in the drawing? Have people of all genders been depicted in different roles?

Compare these drawings with that of the farmer. Did anything change in the way you worked out your ideas?

Continue: Observe people around you in your family and neighbourhood. Pay attention to what they wear. Draw one picture in the role you see them in. Draw another picture of them in the same clothes you see, but acting out a very different role. Make it uncommon and inspiring!