School level

What is a Portrait?

Added: 26 Feb 2020 Contributor: National Gallery of Ireland Resource type: Guide/notes / Tool / Primary Source / Worksheet / Activity

People and portraits are at the heart of the Gallery’s collection. This schools resource has been designed as both an introduction to portraiture and an in-depth exploration of key works in the National Portrait Collection. Primary and Post-Primary teachers can use it as a starting point for tailored lesson plans and all activities are adaptable for different ages and abilities. Looking and responding questions underpin the resource and enable students to develop visual literacy and critical thinking skills. Each portrait is accompanied by suggested activities that allow for creative practical exploration of the work and encourage students to further develop their understanding of the diversity of portraiture.
In 2019 we launched the Zurich Young Portrait Prize, an inclusive art competition for children and young people, up to the age of 18, of all abilities, from across the island of Ireland. We hope this resource will provide inspiration and ideas for your students to enter the Prize.

How it maps to the curriculum

1-2
3-4
5-6
Visual Arts

Strand: Paint and Colour

Strand unit: Looking and Responding

Content objective:
This resource should enable a child to:

  • look at and talk about his/her work, the work of other children and the work of artists

Suggestions for use: Looking and responding to works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits Potential to work across all six strands of the Visual Arts Curriculum Cross-curricular links with history, language & literacy


Strand: Paint and Colour

Strand unit: Painting

Content objective:
This resource should enable a child to:

  • discover colour in the visual environment and become sensitive to tonal variations between light and dark, and to variations in pure colour (hue)
  • discover colour, pattern and rhythm in natural and manufactured objects and interpret them in his/her work
  • discover harmony and contrast in natural and manufactured objects and through themes chosen for their colour possibilities
  • explore colour with a variety of materials and media
  • explore the relationship between how things feel and how they look
  • paint objects chosen for their colour possibilities
  • use colour expressively to interpret themes based on his/her personal or imaginative life

Suggestions for use: Looking and responding to works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits Potential to work across all six strands of the Visual Arts Curriculum Cross-curricular links with history, language & literacy

Strand: Paint and Colour

Strand unit: Looking and Responding

Content objective:
This resource should enable a child to:

  • look at and talk about his/her work, the work of other children and the work of artists

Suggestions for use: Looking and responding to works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits Potential to work across all six strands of the Visual Arts Curriculum Cross-curricular links with history, language & literacy


Strand: Paint and Colour

Strand unit: Painting

Content objective:
This resource should enable a child to:

  • discover colour in the visual environment and become sensitive to colour differences and tonal variations through colour mixing
  • discover harmony and contrast in natural and manufactured objects and through themes chosen for their colour possibilities
  • discover pattern and rhythm in natural and manufactured objects and use them purposefully in his/her work
  • explore colour with a variety of materials and media
  • explore the relationship between how things feel and how they look
  • express his/her imaginative life and interpret imaginative themes using colour expressively
  • make paintings based on recalled feelings and experiences, exploring the spatial effects of colour and tone, using overlapping, and with some consideration of scale
  • paint from observation

Suggestions for use: Looking and responding to works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits Potential to work across all six strands of the Visual Arts Curriculum Cross-curricular links with history, language & literacy

Strand: Paint and Colour

Strand unit: Looking and Responding

Content objective:
This resource should enable a child to:

  • look at and talk about his/her work, the work of other children and the work of artists

Suggestions for use: Looking and responding to works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits Potential to work across all six strands of the Visual Arts Curriculum Cross-curricular links with history, language & literacy


Strand: Paint and Colour

Strand unit: Painting

Content objective:
This resource should enable a child to:

  • become sensitive to increasingly subtle colour differences and tonal variations in natural and manufactured objects
  • discover harmony and contrast in natural and manufactured objects and through themes chosen for their colour possibilities
  • discover pattern and rhythm in natural and manufactured objects
  • explore colour with a variety of colour drawing instruments, media and techniques
  • explore the relationship between how things feel and how they look
  • express his/her imaginative life and interpret imaginative themes using colour expressively
  • make paintings based on recalled feelings and experiences and discover ways of achieving spatial effects
  • paint from observation

Suggestions for use: Looking and responding to works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits Potential to work across all six strands of the Visual Arts Curriculum Cross-curricular links with history, language & literacy

JC
Visual Art

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 01. Analyse Work

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 02. Respond to Artwork

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 03. Critique an Artwork

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 07. Examine Artist Methods & their Artwork

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 08. Historical & Contemporary Visual Art

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 09. Debate the Value Placed on Artwork

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 10. Art Elements & Design Principles in Art

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking

Strand: 01. Art

Strand unit: 13. Identify Media Used to Create Artwork

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Key Skills:

  • Being Creative
  • Communicating
  • Managing Information and Thinking
SC
Art

Strand: History & Appreciation

Strand unit: Art in Ireland

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits


Strand: History & Appreciation

Strand unit: European Art

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits


Strand: Useful Websites

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

TY
TY Subject Sampling

Strand: Art

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

LCA
Visual Art

Strand: Module 1 - Individuality & Identity

Strand unit: 1. Research

Suggestions for use: Critically analysing works in the Gallery's collection Ideas for creating your own portraits

Meta information

  • Asset type: Document
  • Language: English
  • Rights: All rights reserved
  • Cost: No
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