Digital Portrait Exploration

Overview

In this lesson (Lesson 9 of 30) from Mastering Portraiture Techniques, students begin using digital tools to explore portrait creation. They trial simple edits, experiment with facial features, and plan how their final portrait will be composed and edited.

Learning intentions

• Students will use digital tools and software features to create a portrait.
• Students will explore how changes to colour, tone, contrast and composition affect portrait meaning.
• Students will select an approach for their digital portrait based on their own portrait intentions.

Success criteria

• I can create a digital portrait using a chosen digital tool or software.
• I can manipulate portrait elements (e.g., colour/tone, facial feature placement, or background) to improve the image.
• I can use at least one digital technique intentionally (e.g., crop, layer, filter, brush/paint effect).
• I can explain how my digital changes improve the portrait.

Curriculum links

• Creating and responding to visual artworks with increasing use of digital technologies.
• Applying visual art processes to develop, refine and present artworks for a purpose and audience.
• Using visual conventions (composition, proportion, colour/tone, emphasis) to communicate ideas.
• Reflecting on artistic choices and using feedback to improve work.

Lesson structure (70 minutes)

1. 0–5 WALT check + focus question Teacher shares the WALT for the day: Use digital tools for portraiture. Students answer: “What changes in a digital portrait make the face look more expressive or realistic?”
2. 5–15 Demo: getting started in the software Teacher models opening a new file/canvas, importing or drawing a portrait base, and using key controls (brush/paint, selection/crop, basic colour/tone adjustments, and one layer or edit option). Students note steps in a short checklist.
3. 15–25 Feature practice: quick portrait edits Students complete a short “portrait starter” task: adjust one element at a time (e.g., change skin tone, brighten eyes, increase contrast, or reposition facial features using simple tools). Teacher circulates, prompting intentional choices.
4. 25–40 Guided exploration: composition and emphasis Students experiment with composition using cropping, zooming, and background simplification (blur/solid colour) to make the face the focus. They trial two options, then choose one direction for their final portrait.
5. 40–55 Create: build the digital portrait Students begin their own digital portrait, applying at least one intentional technique demonstrated earlier. Teacher supports correct tool use, file saving, and basic digital hygiene (naming files, saving versions).
6. 55–65 Artist reflection + feedback loop In pairs, students use a quick “Glow and Grow” prompt: one thing they have improved and one specific next step. Students revise one detail based on feedback.
7. 65–70 Exit ticket: explain your choices Students submit a brief statement: “My most effective digital technique today was ___ because ___.” Teacher checks understanding against the success criteria.

Resources

• Devices with access to an art-capable digital tool (e.g., Procreate/Painting app, Photoshop, Photopea, or a school-approved equivalent)
• Teacher demo device connected to projector/interactive screen
• Portrait starter image(s) or simple sketch templates (paper-based can be scanned/photographed for import)
• Headphones (optional) for quiet work time
• Printing or digital sharing method for teacher review (if available)
• Step-by-step student checklist (tool basics: crop/selection, brush/paint, colour/tone, save/version)
• Feedback sentence starters for “Glow and Grow”
• Example student work or teacher sample digital portrait (generic, non-copyright-restricted)

Assessment

• Formative: teacher observation during tool practice (intentional edits, correct use of tools, ability to save/organise work).
• Formative: pair feedback quality using Glow and Grow (specific next step, linked to portrait effect).
• Summative (within lesson): exit ticket explaining at least one technique and how it improves the portrait.

Differentiation

• Support: provide a mini tool guide with icons and short prompts; offer a ready-made base portrait template and allow “one-edit focus” (e.g., only tone and eyes) for students needing reduced load.
• Support: allow students to work from a scanned/photographed face sketch to reduce drawing demands; provide teacher check-ins at 5–minute intervals.
• Extension: students add complexity such as multiple layers, selective contrast (only face highlights), colour grading, and a purposeful background treatment that supports mood/identity.
• EAL/SEN: use visual checklists, model sentence frames (“I changed ___ to make ___”), and reduce written reading load; allow responses orally or via drawing annotations.