Third Grade Art Lesson 22

Looking at da Vinci, Part 1 Drawing Ourselves to Look Like the Mona Lisa

Objective:

The students will be familiar with da Vinci's Mona Lisa and create a self portrait using the Mona Lisa pose.

Materials:

Copy of Mona Lisa, white paper, mirror, pencil

Procedure:

Leonardo da Vinci was a brilliant Italian painter and inventor. As most of you already know, this is a painting called the Mona Lisa. Da Vinci did not complete a large number of paintings in his life, but this one was among his favorites as he always carried the painting with him wherever he went. Let's take a minute to examine this painting and become more familiar with its mysterious quality. Begin by looking at the portrait of the woman. She is dressed in typical Florentine style of the time. You may notice the slight upturned corners of her mouth. This, for the Florentines, was a sign of elegance. One of the things da Vinci was so famous for was his ability to create definition without hard edge lines. For example if you look closely at the Mona Lisa's eyes, it is difficult to define a sharp edge. Rather through shading, da Vinci blends the eyes subtly onto the face. This creates a mysterious quality about her eyes. In fact wherever you're standing in a room looking at the Mona Lisa, she appears to be looking specifically at you. Notice her composed, poised position, her hands folded gently in her lap, she sits at a three quarter view. Her clothes drape and fold across her shoulder and into her lap. Now let's look at the background. If you look carefully you'll notice that what is going on on the left side does not correspond to what is going on on the right side. The change is subtle, but the two backgrounds do not logically connect. Take a few moments to really look and examine the background Leondardo had put in his Mona Lisa painting. Now let's take out your white paper and mirror. Spend a while looking at your own eyes, nose, and mouth, examining them for shape, form, and value. I want you to put yourself in the same pose as the Mona Lisa. You're going to draw your self portrait, only Mona style. You will be drawing yourself from the waist up, sitting at a three quarter turn pose, and you may use your pencils to draw off an interesting and perhaps unusual background.

Conclusion:

What is the name of the artist that painted the Mona Lisa? Make sure you have your Mona style portrait drawn off so we can begin coloring in our next lesson.

Artwork and Examples used in this lesson

“Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci