Topography Portraits

This lesson is designed for advanced or high school level art students. While my example is unfinished, I am hoping it is recognizable enough for viewers to make out who the subjects are. (Plus, painting eyes is hard!) This is a long process, but an interesting cross-curricular assignment. Someday, I will go back and finish the eyes, because it is rather creepy as it is. Materials: card stock, photographs, scissors, glue, tracing paper, pencils, acrylic paint. Lesson plan is available.

Unfinished "Step Brothers" (2017)

Tracing all the levels. I would not posterize the image to this many levels. Instead, I would do a maximum of 5 levels.

Use carbon paper under the tracing to imprint the image of each level onto the card stock. The tracing should be one level at a time, like 4 or 8, etc., because these levels will be layered to simulate a topographical map.

Image of level 8.

Cutting the levels out and checking how they layer.

Marked where level 8 lines up on 9.

Posterized image and laying out the depth levels.

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