Jean-Michel Basquiat

Create Artwork

Step 1: View the videos.

Take note of the work by Jean-Michel Basquiat; In particular the painting of people, heads and faces.

Step 2: Now pop on some music! (Always a great way to start any art activity)

*For this activity I suggest Jazz music. Basquiat loved Jazz music.

Step 3: Grab three different colored oil pastels. Choose colors that you like or colors that represent how you are feeling.

Put these in your non-dominant hand (that means the hand you DON’T usually draw with)

Now sit in front of your piece of paper and look at the size of the paper. Work big and try to fill up most of the space with your drawing.

Take one of the oil pastels and close your eyes.

Step 4: Keeping your eyes closed, listen to the music and let yourself react to the music as you draw. You are drawing yourself, your own face.

To help with this use the hand you are not drawing with to gently feel your face. When you feel your eyebrow – draw your eyebrow; when you feel your nose – you’re your nose.

Feeling with one hand and drawing with the other.

Concentrate on the music, how does it make you feel? Let the music help move your hand and influence the marks you make.

Swap oil pastels when you feel like it. You can make whatever marks you like – listen to the music it will help you decide. Just remember you need to draw your face: some eyes, a nose, ears, mouth and a big round head to fit them in. Try to draw for five minutes, and try not to forget any part of your face.

Step 5: Open your eyes. It will look strange and scribbly and you will probably laugh – all these are good!

Step 6: Cut out the head shape drawing and put it aside. Keep the piece of paper with the hole in it (where your head drawing used to be) You will use it soon. 

Step 7: Get a large colored piece of paper (in the image I have used two pieces joined on the back with masking tape)

Place the piece of paper with the missing head shape (from step 6) on top and glue it down to the colored paper.

Step 8: Cut out all the parts of your face: Eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth and ears. 

Step 9: Glue down all the parts of your face that you just cut out.

Step 10: To create a mouth, take the mouth you cut out (or a separate scrap piece of paper) and cut out lots of small rectangles for teeth.  Like a happy smiling skull.  Glue all the face parts down: eyes, the nose, the teeth, etc

Step 11: Use some scraps to add hair and clothes. You can choose whatever colour paper you want or use pieces of scrap paper. Magazines or newspaper work too.

Step 12a: Choose a dark or light-coloured oil pastel (It needs to stand out from the background coloured paper) to draw a line around the outside and on the inside of your portrait. See example.

Step 12b: Then, using a continuous line (that means use one long one line where your oil pastel is always touching the paper as you draw). Draw around all the face parts you glued down: eyes, nose, teeth etc..

See image.

Step 13: Now you can add other elements like arms, hands and bodies. Add some text from outcomes of *Activity A in the DISCUSSION part of this lesson.

Step 14: Paint or fill in the space around your portrait.

• You can use the music to help you choose colors and make marks with this final step.

• Like Basquiat, you are creating work that explores the dichotomy of experience.

• You have used music to transform internal feelings into experimental mark making.

• You have worked on a self-portrait that refers to what you look like and what you think and believe – referencing your mind/body connection.

Lesson shared from https://www.zartart.com.au/zartstatic/page/hey-hey-basquiat-self-portraits