Student Portrait Art: Inspiring Examples and Project Ideas
There is no doubt in my mind that showing students exemplary work raises attainment. I’m not sure whether it is because it shows them what someone their own age can achieve, makes expectations clearer, or whether some sort of magical osmosis is taking place. Whatever the reason, if you are teaching a portrait project, I hope the inspiring student portraits below will spark ideas, encourage discussion and show your students the many different ways they could approach their own work.
These portrait examples have been created by secondary, high school, GCSE and A-level art students using oil paint, acrylic, graphite, coloured pencil, charcoal and mixed media. The talented young artists deserve enormous congratulations, as do the teachers who have generously shared their work.
The sitter’s expression in the painting below conveys kindness and warmth, while the student’s handling of oil paint is excellent. Painting convincing skin tones requires careful observation and plenty of practice, and the subtle colour mixing here is superb.
My How to Paint Skin Tones lesson helps students practise this challenging skill.
Showing students accomplished portraits like this one helps to clarify what successful colour mixing can look like. Rather than simply telling students to mix more convincing skin tones, we can ask them to identify the subtle colours they can see and consider how these may have been created.
Student Antonia, who created the artwork below, studied the work of Caravaggio and Solly Smook. When taking her own photographs, she illuminated her sitters with strong, coloured lighting. The influence of both artists is clear, but Antonia has used their work to develop a distinctive portrait of her own. The artwork was created in acrylic paint. You can explore Antonia’s full chiaroscuro portrait project here.
Examples such as Antonia’s can also help students understand what it means to make a meaningful connection with an artist. She has not simply copied Caravaggio or Solly Smook; she has identified particular qualities in their work and used them to inform her own photography, lighting and painting.
The portrait below is another wonderful example of expertly mixed skin tones. The boldly blocked-in fabric contrasts beautifully with the smooth surface of the skin.
More Student Portrait Art: Inspiring Examples & Ideas
Students are often inspired by other students’ work. It can provide a starting point and spark new ideas that are personal to them.
The portrait below presented the student with numerous technical challenges, all of which have been handled skilfully. The wrinkled skin, wispy beard, plaited hair, cast shadows, folds of fabric and reflective beads combine to create a richly detailed and engaging portrait.
Just like looking at professional artists’ work, looking at successful student work encourages students to notice composition, colour, texture, tone and other formal elements. This can support discussion, analysis and critical thinking.
Below is another excellent student portrait created in oil paint. When painting pinkness in the skin or shadows beneath the eyes, it is easy for students to exaggerate the colours. This student has avoided that trap and created subtle, convincing skin tones. The understated background and clothing allow the face to command our attention, while the lines of the necklace lead the eye towards the carefully observed pendant.
Showing a wide range of portraits that use different media and compositions can open our students’ eyes to choices they could make and clearly demonstrate different approaches to the same task.
Graphite and Coloured Pencil Student Portraits
Michael’s portrait demonstrates how graphite and coloured pencils can be combined effectively. Colour has been used sparingly to describe an area of muscle and draw attention to the berries on the branches surrounding the face. Notice, too, how the strong diagonal composition gives the portrait a sense of movement.
Students do not always realise that they can combine materials until they see someone else do it successfully. Michael’s portrait demonstrates how graphite and coloured pencil can work together, encouraging students to consider unexpected combinations of media in their own work.
The detail, blending and creation of skin tones in the coloured pencil portrait below is superb. The student has chosen to contrast the realistic pencil work with the loose painting of the clothing. They used Prismacolor pencils.
Mixed Media Student Portraits
The artwork below, created by art student Vee, portrays a young girl travelling on the London Underground. Layers of paint form the foundation of the piece, with oil pastel used to add detail. The low viewpoint places us at the same level as the girl, creating an unusual and engaging composition. You can explore Vee’s complete project here.
Below, we can see a detail from a very large artwork, approximately A0 in size. This was not a final piece but an experiment exploring the combination of charcoal and acrylic paint. A level student Abigail was investigating the theme of domestic abuse and photographed a friend wearing theatrical make-up to simulate bruising. By restricting the acrylic paint to the bruised areas, she created a dramatic visual device that draws attention to the signs of abuse.
There is something joyous about the mixed-media portrait below. The hair has been drawn in black ballpoint pen, the face painted in acrylic and the clothing and background completed in watercolour. Combining such distinct media within one artwork can be difficult, but here they work together successfully.
GCSE student Viola created the artwork below using black ballpoint pen and acrylic paint on a map. She was inspired by the work of Ed Fairburn, and the influence of his map-based portraiture is clear. This is a useful example of how students can respond to an artist’s methods while selecting their own imagery and developing an individual outcome.
More Student Portrait Art: Inspiring Examples & Ideas
It’s clear that artist Mark Powell influenced the student who created the portraits below.
Showing students a varied collection of portraits helps to dispel the idea that there is one correct way to complete a portrait project. These examples demonstrate that successful outcomes can be realistic or expressive, carefully controlled or experimental, and created using a wide range of materials and processes.
The beautiful and unusual portrait below was created by A level art student Viola. A hyperrealistic pencil portrait is combined with a collage background and cut-out elements.
Strong examples are also valuable when students are assessing their own work. Comparing their portrait with a range of successful outcomes can help them recognise what is working, identify areas that could be developed and make more purposeful decisions about what to do next.
I hope this collection of student portrait art demonstrates just how varied a portrait project can be. Showing students a range of successful examples can raise expectations, introduce unfamiliar materials and techniques, and help them make informed decisions about their own work. Most importantly, these portraits show that there is no single correct approach: students can work from their own interests, choose media that suit their intentions and develop genuinely individual outcomes.
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