:Portrait Pairs
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Approach: One to one Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus:   Students can identify and explain similarities and differences in a range of painting styles 
Resources:  10 pictures (ordered 1–10).
104Kb

Questions/instructions:
[Resource pictures not available on website]

Different artists paint people in different ways. Paintings of people are sometimes called portraits.
I’m going to give you copies of 10 paintings, and I want you to put them into pairs.
Each pair of pictures needs to be similar in the ways the artists have painted them.
 
% responses
y4
y8
Give student the 10 pictures ordered 1 – 10 to arrange into pairs.
Allow time. Record the pairings.		    
Matching similar styles of painting:






 Percentage of students who correctly matched pairs of paintings in the same style –    
pictures 1 and 9
65
80
pictures 2 and 7
47
64
pictures 3 and 10
32
54
pictures 4 and 6
47
59
pictures 5 and 8
42
55
Now let’s have a look at a pair of paintings.
Select pictures numbered 2 and 7.
Have a careful look at these two pictures, and think about the things that are similar about the way the artist has painted these two portraits.
Allow time.
Try to describe to me the things that are similar about the way the artist has painted these two portraits.
Student responds.		    
Identification of similarities in pictures 2 and 7:
– colours/tonal range used;
– style/technique (e.g. use of light/dark, mark making)
– subjects (e.g. common features)
rich artistic analysis
0
2
explains 3 features or elaborates well on 2 or more features
7
21
explains 2 features
32
44
explains 1 feature
46
29
any other response
15
4
Now let’s look at another two paintings. This time, there will be differences about the ways the artists have painted the two portraits.
Select pictures numbered 1 and 4, and give student time to examine the pictures.
Try to describe to me the things that are quite different about the ways the artists have painted these two portraits.		    
Identification of difference in pictures 1 and 4:
– brush strokes vs dotting
– background features vs. no    background
– movement vs no movement
–minimalist vs detail
rich artistic analysis
2
3
explains 3 features or elaborates well on 2 or more features
26
33
explains 2 features
39
42
explains 1 feature
31
21
any other response
2
1
Commentary:
Almost half of year 4 students and almost two thirds of year 8 students showed that they could match similar styles of painting from a selection of pictures. 39% of year 4 students and 67% of year 8 students could explain two more similarities of the style common to two paintings, whereas 67% of year 4 students and 78% of year 8 students could explain two or more differences in two paintings of different styles.  
 
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