AGNES Learns: Exploring form and pose with Rembrandt
The Bader Collection at Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Queen’s University has the most comprehensive collection of authenticated paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn and his circle in any institution within Canada. Rembrandt’s Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo (1658) is one of the most beloved works in the collection and the featured work for episode two of the AGNES Learns series. Explore this portrait through video and family-friendly activities.
Rembrandt was famous for the way he painted light and shadow using a technique called chiaroscuro—it’s one of the reasons the people in his paintings look so lifelike!
Take a look at light and shadow in Rembrandt’s work Portrait of a Man with Arms Akimbo with the following art activities you can do at home:
Draw a three-dimensional object
First, draw a circle. Using shading, try and make your circle look like a three-dimensional object, a sphere. Think about where the light is coming from and whether your sphere casts a shadow. It can help to grab a spherical object (like an orange or a ball) in real life. Shine a light on it and observe how light falls on it. Parts that are darker will look farther away than parts that are light. Try drawing a different form like a cube or a pyramid.
Play with light and pose
Grab a flashlight and go into a dark room or do this activity at night. Stand in front of a mirror and play with how the flashlight lights up your face. Try making different faces: scary, happy, sad. Try different poses: stand tall like the man in Rembrandt’s painting. Have someone take photographs of your different faces and poses.
Create a dramatic portrait
Choose a model for your portrait. A member of your family or a toy like a stuffed animal works well. Position your model near a source of light such as a lamp or a window so there are dramatic highlights and shadows like in Rembrandt’s portrait. Grab a pencil and paper and start your portrait by lightly sketching the outline of the head and features like the eyes, nose and mouth. Once you are happy with the face you’ve drawn, observe the shadows on your model’s face. Draw light shadows by pressing the pencil lightly, and deep shadows by pressing hard or layering (shading your pencil over one spot several times). Use an eraser to remove shading and create highlights and to clean up the edges.
For more activities related to this work, visit Agnes’s website and download the lesson plan.
About the Series
AGNES Learns is a digital resource for children and families. Artworks from the Agnes collection inspire fun ways to explore, understand and get creative.
Learn More About Rembrandt at AGNES
