Have you ever met a person and wanted to know their life story?
Artists use portraits to depict a person’s appearance but also to tell us something about that individual’s life.
In this tutorial, we’ll make a collage portrait by choosing a person to act as the subject and adding objects and a location that are special to them.
Artist Bio
Saskatoon-based photographer Thelma Pepper captured portraits of ordinary women she met in Saskatoon care homes. She spent hours talking to them, recording their stories and travelling to their homesteads to photograph the landscapes they called home. Many of these places are familiar sites to those who have spent time in small-town Saskatchewan.
Supply List
- Reference photos
- Tracing paper (or other translucent paper)
- Colourful paper (construction paper, recycled books, or tissue paper)
- Sketchbook or scrap paper for brainstorming
- Drawing supplies (pencil, pens, markers, stencils, etc)
- Scissors
- Glue stick
Instructions
- Gather supplies
- Brainstorm your portrait by asking “Who, What, When, Where, Why”
- Make the collage portrait based on your brainstorm
- Draw your portrait freehand or trace from reference photos
- Use your portrait to tell a story about your special person