Students will learn that artists honor their heroes by creating portraits of them. Students will first brainstorm who is a hero in their life (answers can be specific names, jobs, or even animals).  Then students will create a work of art that memorializes the heroic qualities of this important person. 

Students will make connections between their personal experiences and a work of art and use visual analysis to describe a portrait.

Students will "read" a visual image very much like they would read words in a story.

Students will spend more time looking at details and write an imagined interview with a sitter.

Students will examine Charles-Antoine Coypel's "Self-Portrait" and understand what he shows in this work.

Students will use Van Gogh's "Portrait of Joseph Roulin" as inspiration for their own portraits of friends in the classroom.

Students write descriptions and create portraits of characters from the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen using a variety of media.

In this Thematic Exploration, students will explore the different ways artists represent individuals in portraits. They will learn to gather clues about the time period in which the portrait was created, the lives of the subjects, and the thoughts of the artists.

Using portraits from the VMFA's collection, students will explore the Who, What, When, Where, and Why of portraiture. Guiding questions are woven throughout the activity, alongside a close examination of seven different portraits from a variety of different eras and cultures. Students are encouraged to observe, interpret, analyze, and reflect thoughtfully in each step. This activity also includes summative reflection questions to wrap up the conversation, as well as an optional "Create Your Own Portrait" activity.

Students will compare and contrast an academic and an Impressionist portrait through a writing exercise and discussion. Each student will then write a formal commission letter to one of artists, requesting a portrait.