In Their Own Eyes | Grade 11 Self-Portraits

Our Grade 11 students have been busy working on their culminating project: graphite self-portraits. The self-portrait drawing project is a longstanding tradition at LCS; this assignment helps students focus on their drawing skills while exploring themes of self-identity.

Portraits are a historical pillar in art and can take years to master as artists learn to view themselves objectively and accurately represent their features. One of the highlights of this project is watching students produce artwork that they are proud of; we often see students begin to visualize themselves as artists after completing their portrait. 

Benita Boehringer ’22 spoke about the process of creating her self portrait and offered some tips for others approaching the challenging task. “Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, this will be exactly the same amount of a challenging and tedious process, but in the end, the one thing you have to do is trust the process [...] There are going to be times where you just want to lay the pencils down or erase half of your picture […] However, there is going to be a moment where you don’t want to give up anymore but finish what you have started.” 

Caye Fontecha ’22 also shared her experience with the project. "I’m finally done with my portrait after weeks of working on it, and I couldn’t feel more relieved and happy about it [...] Honestly, it has been the most fun art project I have ever done. It has helped me learn from my mistakes and grow stronger as a person and art student. Along my journey, I have learned many different things."

Congratulations to our art students for their perseverance and dedication to creating art!