Back to School Portrait, Rizzi Style

I’ve recently learned about an American pop artist, James Rizzi, who achieved fame for his childlike style, vibrant colors and zany imagery. He accumulated quite a body of work over his lifetime, from album covers to airplane painting, so I find it easy to get inspired by his style. 1. A sheet of watercolor paper is filled with all the doodle shapes that students can think of. They can personalize their art by adding symbols of what they are interested in: musical instruments, sports equipment, etc. When the paper is really filled up, the lines are traced with a black Sharpie and small shapes are colored in heavily with crayons. The background is painted with watercolor paint. I opted to paint around the crayon so that they colors would stay bright. 2. A half-size piece of watercolor paper is used to draw the student’s self portrait. To steer the students away from making small heads, require that the top touch the top of the paper. The face is traced with a Sharpie and all but the skin is colored with crayons. Skin color is mixed and painted last. Let all art dry and press under heavy books overnight to flatten. 4. The head is carefully cut out with scissors. It is glued to the background with some small bits of foam core in between to make it look raised, or 3D.