Everyone's an artist...

 

Five years ago on Thanksgiving Day, i had a make-shift art studio set up and asked everyone in the family to paint their self portraits.  Oh, they moaned and groaned about it at first..."I can't draw"..."i don't know how to paint"...but this little project turned out to be a very big hit.  The ones who complained the most about it, at first, turned out to be the ones who spent hours working on every little detail.  It was so fun seeing my dad and Mark's dad, deep in concentration with paintbrushes in hand, or my brother-in-law, Jimmy...who labored over paint colors.  There was football to be watched, but they voluntarily lingered in the studio perfecting their portraits.  

This project was inspired by an article I had read in Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion magazine about artist, Jan Dutcher.  She had invited her friends and neighbors over to paint their tiny self portraits on one canvas, which she hung in her house.  I thought i would take it a step further, by having my family paint on their own canvas, which we eventually hung up side by side.  My plan is to add to this wall of people we love...and we have over the years.  There are still many people {you know who you are} that i would love to see up there.  The kids were much younger that Thanksgiving Day, and have slowly requested to re-do their portraits.  I have obliged, but will always hang on to their originals.  G worked on his yesterday...so sweet:

I specifically asked everyone not to sign them on the front.  Everyone who comes over, loves to try to guess who is who. 

So, if you are looking for a fun activity for your family to do together this holiday season, this is your project!  Here's what you will need: 

• 8 x 10 canvases

• assorted acrylic paints - if you don't have any...just start with the basic colors...acrylics are easily mixed to make other colors.  In addition, make sure you have a flesh color, hair color {to match your family members}, black, white and brown.  Hobby Lobby carries small 2 oz. bottles of acrylics {Anita's brand is the cheapest}. 

• paint brushes...again, you can buy value packs of brushes at Michaels, HL and JoAnn...just make sure you have enough for everyone

• a drop cloth and paper towels

• ask everyone to bring an old tshirt to paint in or supply them for everyone if you are surprising them with this project.  Acrylic paints do not come out of fabric easily.

• Styrofoam plates to be used as paint palettes for mixing paints. 

• Mirrors...i had some and borrowed some...hand mirrors and table top mirrors.  Everyone needs their own.

Here's how we did it:  I had the table set up for 4-5 people at a time.  {We had about 17 people that year}.  If you have fewer people, you could all do it at the same time.  You may need more brushes and mirrors.  I told everyone to paint their background color first...any color they wanted and they could make a design on it or a border...total creative licence to do whatever they wanted.  While their background dried, they could take a break{about an hour}.  Then, the next group came in to do their background.  For those who didn't know where to begin, I told them to begin their portraits with the head...flesh colored and then add their features {hair, nose, eyes, mouth, etc...} and finally, their neck/shoulders.  I stayed nearby to help rinse out brushes, supply colors, etc... 

As you can see, everyone's style is vastly different and a fun reflection of who they are.  Everyone was really surprised to find how much they enjoyed it.  It was one of our most fun Thanksgiving Days, ever!

***If you should take on this project with your family and friends, please send me a picture...i'd love to see...and will post them here, too!

Comments

[Jen]

Love this post Lori! That ME article with Jan Dutcher's house is one of my all time favorites. I love the faces portrait idea and your interpretation with the separate canvases is so, so clever. Thanks for the step by step instructions, I might just try to muster up the patience to try this some day : ) The result looks great!

[reg]

that looks fab! i should try that out someday... when i have my own family and kids ;)

another variation is having everyone draw pictures of everyone! check out this sweet blog: http://isaacgracelily.blogspot.com/search?q=Family+Portrait+Party

ooh i'm so looking forward to having kids immediately if only for that. hahahaha :)

[MikPink]

the best part is g's sweet face in the mirror. i love that kid!! xo, pink

[stacey]

I love this idea!

[Rachel]

I *LOVE* your take on this! Breaking it up into multiple canvases is FANTASTIC! I have that ME article and have been meaning to do it forever. The holidays would be the perfect time. I'd love to link to this if you don't mind!

[Debbie]

I love this idea and hope you don't mind if I steal it.:)

[chelsea]

that is *so* cool :)

[Denise]

So, so cute!

[Heather]

Okay, this is AMAZING. I love it. I am going to come back and savor this post, but i'm in a hurry. I wanted to just tell you how much I love it, though! Maybe I will comment again once I have a chance to sit down and read the whole thing!
Heather

[luanne]

this is so charming! glad it was featured on www.oneprettything.com which was how i found you.

that ME jan dutcher article is my all time favorite, and i'd just looked at it again last week for inspiration. so i recognized the style immediately. but i love your twist of using the individual canvases which can be swapped out and rearranged and added to. genius!!

[Betsy]

This project would be awesome in my classroom! Thanks!

[alanna in Portland, Oregon]

Thanks for the post! It inspired our own portrait party http://paintedcats.blogspot.com/2008/12/christmas-portrait-party.html

[Heather]

Okay, I'm back to let you know that we did this on Christmas Eve! It was tons of fun! Thank you so much for sharing.

Here are our portraits: http://croqzine.com/blog/?p=788

[Anjeanette]

I just love the idea of the self portraits on your wall!! Thanks for great inspiration. I've never seen your blog before, but Im going to spend some time looking around now;)

thanks!!

[cheryl alt]

I have been turning my house upside down searching for that article! Do you happen to have a copy of the photo that was printed in the Home Companion magazine? (Or can you tell me what issue it was in?) I'm hoping to have my daughter's & her fiance's friends and family do this as a wedding gift and I would like to include a copy of the photo so they'll know what I'm talking about! Thank you so much. You are a life saver.

[Lisa]

I love your individual canvases! I also used this idea several years ago after being inspired by the ME article. We used the small 2x3 canvases to make a retirement gift for a dear friend.