Year 7 Portraits - Pedare Christian College

Just over 100 Year 7 students are shaking their heads at Gina Rinehart. They know she missed the depth and quality captured in Namatjira’s layered, painterly approach— when her portrait from the Australia in Colour series made its way to the front pages and screens of media in 2024. Inspired by the social content, our Year 7 students at Pedare Christian College undertook a project to collect and create artworks of people who have profoundly impacted their lives.

Namatjira’s distinctive style broke barriers and became a gateway for our students to embrace expressive art-making. They particularly enjoyed working with primary colours to mix their own paints, an exercise that introduced them to the complexities of skin tones and the nuances of facial expressions and gestures in portraiture.

The series of artworks in, Australia in Colour, offered students a unique opportunity to delve deeper into the works of contemporary First Nations artists. This experience not only enriched their understanding of practical skills like colour theory and tonal variations but also encouraged them to experiment with painterly applications to convey emotion and depth.

The first task involved creating self-portraits using only black ink, focusing on tonal studies and facial proportions. This foundational exercise was followed by documenting nine individuals who influenced them. Through sketches and paintings, students thoughtfully considered the integration of backgrounds that connected their subjects with the student’s own narrative, culminating in a personal and reflective art collection.

The Visual Arts Team | Emily Kenny, Kai Benyk and Allison Fairey