Developing a Personal Art Series for a Portfolio

The basic idea of this ongoing series of art is to show growth and development in drawing and composition skills over a period of several years in elementary school.

My colleague and I have been involved in collecting a piece of art work from each child and compiling it until the end of 6th grade. Each student should include the following subjects in his or her art: plants, animals, buildings, vehicles, and people. They may find it more exciting to set the scene either indoors, or out. It can take place in a specific place or an imaginary place. The young artists start out drawing in #2 pencils.

We keep the drawings simple in 1st and 2nd grades by not coloring them. It is easier to see the forms and the students have more time to add details, without the complications of color.

By 3rd grade some students have time and patience to add the color and they really get finished as a full piece of art. We work in pencil first, go over the lines in permanent black marker and then use various colored material to finish the entire composition.

In 4th grade and above, I require each student to complete the personal art with more thought and planning about the subjects, to overlap the images, and to fully color or shade the images.

By the time we do this assignment in 5th and 6th grade the children often have a topic or idea in mind for the subject and are prepared to create. They can concentrate on the art skills needed to compose a full piece of art.

Mall Exhibit

I took a sampling of work from my students of grades 3 - 6 to the local mall for our annual Catholic Schools Exhibit. The display boards contained 2 -D work that has been completed since this fall. I am saving the sculptures and the masks for an exhibit coming up in March that has an attendant.

These 4 display boards contained the Personal Art Series done by 2 fifth grade students and 2 sixth graders. Each year since 1st grade they have made a sample drawing containing the following subjects: people, animal, building, vehicle, and plant. They may arrange it differently each time or the same. They challenge themselves to come up with a slightly different version each year as their skills and talents develop. It is fun to see this series come together as the students reach the upper elementary grades.

The idea came from a colleague of mine. She got these 2 groups started with the pencil drawings back in first and second grades. Because of her encouragement, I decided to add it to my curriculum. The children have grabbed on to the idea very well and they are amazing me with such creativity. I am so glad she didn't keep the idea to herself.

Personal Art Series by MorganM. grade 5



Personal Art Series by Ryan S. grade 5

Personal Art Series by Kellan D. grade 6

Artistic Statement: "It was really fun to make these. I hope I can keep doing them!"

Personal Art Series by Courtney F. grade 6

Artist Statement: "I like drawing in a lot of colors."