Expressive Self Portrait Using Chiaroscuro: Digital Painting

Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro is a technique in painting that uses tones, shades, shadows and highlights to create the illusion of three dimensions on two dimensional media. Developed in the Renaissance, chiaroscuro comes from the Italian words for bright or clear and dark or obscure. It is usually translated as 'light-dark'.

                                                                                           From www.wisegeek.com

ORIGIN mid 17th cent.: from Italian, from chiaro ëclear, brightí (from Latin clarus) + oscuro ëdark, obscureí (from Latin obscurus).

Due: 
One week

Project Description:
Using your mouse and/or a drawing tablet and stylus, draw and paint an expressive self-portrait from a digital photo that you have a friend take of you. The photo should have a dark background and a single light source directed towards the side of your face.

Objectives:

• Gain experience with the drawing tablet and stylus.
• Create a feeling of natural drawing using digital tools.
• Use line expressively.
• Create mood through color.
• Create the appearance of three-dimensional form via the technique of chiaroscuro.

Tools/Materials:
Adobe Photoshop

Parameters:
Format as follows:

• Width: 7.5 inches
• Height: 10 inches
• Resolution: 300 pixels/inch (Important: A lower resolution will result in a printed image of poorer quality.)
• Color Mode: RGB

Process:

1. Create a new document using the format above.

2. With partner(s) to help you manipulate the lighting and take the photograph, arrange photographs of yourself with a dark background and a single light source. Take a series of photographs.

3. Upload the photos into the Photos app of your computer

4. Open your best photograph in Photoshop.

5. Copy and paste the photograph into the new document (from step 1).

6. Lock the photograph layer.

7. Create a new layer above the photograph layer.

8. Using your mouse or a drawing tablet and stylus, trace the essential parts of the photo. Use line expressively.

9. Using different layers, differentiate the light, middle, and dark tones on the head, neck, and torso. Paint the shadows on one layer, the middle tones on a second layer, the lights on a third, and highlights and details on a fourth layer.


Grading Criteria:

• Proper formatting
• Skill with mouse and/or the tablet and stylus as drawing tools: Quality/naturalness of line.
• Expressiveness of line
• Expressiveness of color and style
• Three-dimensionality of the form via use of chiaroscuro
• Studio Habits of Mind

Tip to Get Started:
Study the work of Leonardo DaVinci, Michelangelo, and Rembrandt.


Helpful Resources:

• There are a number of books on painted portraits in the art room.
• More information on chiaroscuro can be found at Empty Easel: Chiaroscuro

Self Critique Questions:
Before turning in your work, ask yourself:

1. Is my artwork sufficiently expressive? What have I done to create that expressive quality (color, style, quality of line, facial expression, body language?)
2. Have I mastered the use of the drawing tablet? Does my mark-making look natural?
3. Does the image have enough visual impact? Will it catch and hold a viewer's attention?
4. Have I created a sense of three-dimensional form/volume by using light, middle, and dark tonal values (chiaroscuro)?