Larger than Life

The fourth graders have been learning about the American artist Chuck Close in art class. Chuck Close was associated with photo realism, a movement which began in the late 1960's, in which scenes are painted in a style closely resembling photographs. He uses a grid system to transfer the images from the photo to his larger than life canvases. A stroke in 1989 left Close paralyzed; the heroic process of learning to paint from a wheelchair has transformed Close into an art-world legend and an excellent example of a person using the virtue of perseverance. The fourth graders used his grid system to draw their self portrait from a small photograph. They then finished the work of art by tracing over their image with glue and coloring in with pastels.

"What difference does it make whether you're looking at a photograph or looking at a still life in front of you? You still have to look." -Chuck Close