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Portraiture Stories by Rodriguez

Students combine art, angles and geometric shapes with portraiture in this project inspired by American artist Samuel Rodriguez.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • White Paper

Steps

  • Step 1

    Sam Rodriguez (b. 1981) is an American artist/illustrator. In his youth he painted graffiti murals. His style blends facial features, lettering, and abstract shapes to formulate visual narratives. Have students research his approach to his art and look at images of his work. How does color play a role in capturing the feeling of his subjects? He groups his work into three categories: nouns, verbs, and typography. How does he define and represent each?

  • Step 2

    Ask students to create a portrait in the style of Rodriguez. They might choose a public figure or family member as their subject, or it might be a self-portrait. Encourage them to use bright colors and various shapes in the art. They might also choose to add letters to their work, as Rodriguez often does.

  • Step 3

    Have students present their art and discuss the subject of their portrait and how the colors and shapes they incorporated contributed to the visual narrative.

Standards

ARTS: Speculate about processes an artist uses to create a work of art.

ARTS: Explore and invent art-making techniques and approaches.

Adaptations

In his youth, Sam Rodriguez spent a lot of time creating graffiti art. Have students explore street art and some notable artists, such as Cornbread, Lady Pink, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and others.

Have students investigate other artists who incorporate symbols or lettering in their work, such as Amber Goldhammer who uses graffiti-like lettering ("Wild Nights," "Paradise," and others) or Blayne Beacham Macauley ("Midnight in the Garden" and "They've all come to Look for America" are examples).