Summary
Expressing yourself can be difficult, but not when
you have the internet at your fingertips, especially with websites like
Picassohead. Picassohead offers a digital canvas and supplies the user with
facial features that almost look like they have been copy and pasted from Pablo
Picasso’s paintings. The possibilities are endless as you can use color on,
rotate, resize, and flip each feature. If you look past the apparent uses of
each feature it is possible to create complex facial characteristics and express
complex emotions.
Before creating my own Picassohead, I looked at the
website’s gallery. I was surprised at some of the ways people thought to use the
creation tools. I knew that I had to be open minded about my approach if I
wanted to create something unique like my fellow artists. Using mostly the eyebrow feature, I created the portrait displayed left. To view my portrait on the Picassohead website click here.
While my Picassohead may not look like me, it represents me in two ways 1) I made a curtain with lips to illustrate a stage; I’m a dancer and love to perform and 2) I went for a symmetrical look instead of taking a cubist approach as Pablo Picasso may have; I feel most comfortable when things are orderly.
This website was fun to use as I didn’t even know exactly what my portrait was going to end up looking like. At the start, I was going for unique and original. I tried to look at the facial features in unique ways and to use them differently. To my surprise, I ended up with the most typical looking female! If I were to create another Picassohead, I’m sure it would wind up looking wildly different.
Learning
Objective
At one point during the
creation process, I got frustrated that I could not move features once I placed
them on the “canvas.” I would try to move a small object and the boarder of a
larger object made it impossible for me to access what I wanted. However, I
discovered that by sending the larger feature backward, I could access the
smaller one. I had a feeling this would work as I am familiar with using the “Send
to Back” and “Send to Front” options available for pictures and clip art in
Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.
How
I Would Use It
Ice breakers can help you
and your students to feel more comfortable at the start of a new school year
and encourage classroom community. Since Picassohead has three step directions
and only requires the use of a mouse, it is a simple, low-risk, activity for
the computer lab which can allow students and even the teacher to introduce
themselves to a new class.
Standards
Reflection
Picassohead.com is a
virtual art gallery that can store your very own online creations. Using this
tool in the classroom would meet Standard
1 “b” of the ISTE-NETS-T’s standards. Creativity is often expressed when
old ideas are synthesized to create something new. By encouraging students to
use this tool, students will become inspired by the ideas of a famous artist to
express themselves and their ideas in ways never seen before. By stretching students’
imaginations through creativity, they are set on the road towards innovative
and inventive thought.
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