Harrison Educational Training
Judith Leyster was a successful artist in the Netherlads in the seventeenth century. It is thought that she painted a self-portrait of herself to advertise her abilities as an artist. In the painting she is dressed in a fancy dress and collar to show that she is successful. She painted herself smiling and looking straight at you to show that she was “happy and ready to work for you”. The lively violin player on her easel was her way of showing off another painting type.
Now encourage the children to draw a picture of themselves. What do they want people to know about them from looking at the picture? Ask the children to “begin with the end in mind” and choose five words that would describe themselves. Now ask them to show those five words in their picture of themselves in some way.
Image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Leyster.
"Self Portrait" by Judith Leyster
Painted in 1630 and hanging in the National Gallery of Art in the USA.
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