Life etches itself onto our faces as we grow older, showing our violence, excesses, or kindnesses. -Rembrandt
Last week our family dove into sketching facial expressions with a simplified art study/project in the style of Rembrandt. If you fear art study – or if you don’t have special art supplies on hand – this is a fantastically simple art project. Less than 30 minutes, no special supplies, and just plain easy!
This art study focuses on facial expressions, although on the Rembrandt Picture Study pages in the Great Artists Picture Study Packet, I’ve included portraits that focus on the effects of light and shadows, which Rembrandt used to to add interest to the face in his portrait paintings.
First we have the supplies…
Rembrandt Art Study Project Supplies
- Rembrandt Art Study Pages (pictured at the top of this post) from the Great Artists Picture Study Packet
- Making Faces Template (Permission granted to use in a home or classroom setting. Refer to our Terms of Use.)
- Facial Expressions Face Parts (The original printable that’s visible in our photos was from the Let’s Face It website, which is no longer active.) You can also use faces from magazines or print and cut out the face parts of favorite cartoon characters!
- Scissors
- Colored Pencils
- Paper or cardstock (or watercolor paper if you’d like to paint the faces!)
- Optional: Markers (or watercolors if you’d like to paint the faces!)
And now the procedure…
First, we studied the Rembrandt Art Study Pages from the Great Artists Picture Study Packet. (Print out the Rembrandt Art Study Pages and discuss with your student(s) if you would like to incorporate picture study.)
Print out the Making Faces Template and the Facial Expressions Face Parts. Cut out the eyes and mouths of the Facial Expressions Printable.
Piece together facial expressions using the eyes and mouths, and sketch the expression you made!
And that’s it! Where’s my That Was Easy button?!? Seriously, it took me way longer to write this blog post than it did to coordinate the project with 4 students (which included a 2-year-old learning to use scissors), although perhaps some of my facial expressions looked a bit like this as the project was underway…
Considering facial expressions and the Rembrandt quote above, I’m wondering what will be etched into my face as I grow older? Will I have laugh lines or angry eyebrows? In this convicting moment, I’m feeling compelled to smile joyfully (or laugh maniacally?) as I publish this post.
Another way to expand upon this study is by using our Great Artist Notebooking Pages.
