Over and Above: The Truth about Me…
Clarence Carter was a famous American painter known for creating works depicting simple scenes with
hard, clean lines. During the 1950s and 1960s, he began a series of paintings called Over and Above, in
which he painted imaginary animals peering over a blank wall. Today, we are going to use that structure
as inspiration for own art.
Objective: Reveal something true about yourself.
Directions: You will be given a sheet of white computer paper. Fold the paper in half (hamburger style).
On the top part of the page, you will draw an image of yourself from the bridge of your nose—up. On the
bottom part of the page, you will write out a single statement that reveals some sort of truth about you.
This “truth” might be a confession, a belief statement, a secret, or some sort of fact related to you. Some
examples include:
I check behind the shower curtain every night before I go to bed. (Confession)
I believe we were created to love one another. (Belief statement)
I may say I hate Twilight, but I really do love sparkly vampires. (Secret)
I once “broke” my kidney. (Fact)
These statements need to be written neatly on the bottom of the page in marker. I suggest writing in
pencil first. The content may be humorous or serious, as long as you can explain why this “truth” is
important to you and reveals something significant about you.
On the back of your creation, write a brief explanation (Type 2 writing) sharing the story or significance
behind your truth statement. This explanation should be in paragraph form, indented and in complete
sentences. It should also be written in pencil so it does not bleed through the page. The purpose of this
paragraph is to share something meaningful about yourself to your teacher and to the class.
You will be graded on the following criteria:
Self Portrait: Your image is the “top” half of your face. It is neat and
colorful. It is obvious that you strongly attempted to depict yourself.
Truth Statement: Your statement is one complete sentence, reveals a
“truth” about yourself, and is neatly written in marker on the bottom
half of the page.
Explanation/Type 2: Your explanation is in paragraph form
(indented, complete sentences, topic/conclusion). It clearly and
specifically explains the context and/or meaning of your “truth”
statement.
Total: _____________/30
_________/10
_________/10
_________/10