Apr 18, 20203 min read

Giuseppe Arcimboldo Portrait Challenge

Updated: Jun 17, 2023

--A Remote Learning Art Lesson-

This art lesson was one of many that was taught online, via Zoom, during the pandemic. We were not able to meet in person but art classes continued virtually. The original art lesson was posted on the SeaSaw platform where students could access the materials including handouts and links during the week. During the pandemic I found that open ended art assignments worked very well especially because students were using whatever art supplies they had access to. I would think of several media options that explored a theme. Students selected options based on available materials and/or what inspired them...Today's theme was art history, students were introduced to a very intriguing artist, Giuseppe Arcimboldo! If we were able to take a virtual field trip together before creating art that became a memorable experience for students. For this remote learning art lesson we were able to watch a cartoon about the artist and play a few games (below). Finished art projects were turned in through SeaSaw or posted directly onto Artsonia. An art gallery for every art assignment was created on Artsonia, "The worlds largest collection of student art portfolios." As an art educator I highly recommend using the Artsonia platform. Creating online galleries and portfolios of students artwork brings family and community together! I often find that students will put more effort into an art project when they know it will be part of an online school gallery where their entire family can view it and leave comments for the artist.

Without further ado, I present, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, a remote learning art experiance...

Who is Giuseppe Arcimboldo?

Giuseppe Arcimboldowas born in Milan Italy, in 1527. He is most famous for his portraits of human heads made up of vegetables, fruit, flowers, and all sorts of other things.

What do you see?(Turn upside-down)

NOW what do you see?

Pretty cool huh?

Look at some of his other paintings. What do you notice? The entire faces are made of things like fruit, vegetables, flowers, kitchen items, and even sea creatures! Look closely at the faces. What do you see? Can you name ten different things Giuseppe used to make the faces?

The Animal Face Game - How Many Can You Find?

Today you will create art like Arcimboldo using materials of your choice!

Here are a few ideas…

You might decide to draw a portrait, only instead of drawing eyes, lips and a nose, you will be drawing vegetables and fruits or flowers as the features on the face! You may use pencil crayons, markers, pastels or paint to complete the portraits.

You might decide to create a collage. Look in the newspaper for food advertisements from the grocery store and cut out pictures of food. Look for ads from the hardware store and cut out pictures of tools or use pictures of cars to make a face out of. You will need newspapers, magazines, scissors, and glue.

You might decide to create a sculpture. You could make a plate portrait!

First find yourself a good size dinner plate. Next start looking around your house for objects that would be great as facial features. Arrange the objects on the plate until a portrait/face is revealed!If you want to use food please ask your parents first!

You might decide to use laundry to create a sculpted face.Usea pile of laundry as your palette of colors. Experiment with folding, twisting, and organizing your clothes to create a face. Here are examples...