Art of Ancient Times, Studio 1 5

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Blanche Houston
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1 Art of Ancient Times, Studio 1 5 Creating a Clay Relief Sculpture and an In-the-Round Sculpture In this studio you will make a relief sculpture and an in-the-round sculpture inspired by those created by the artists of ancient civilizations. Before You Begin For your clay-carving tools, gather items such as a plastic knife, craft stick, pencil, and toothpick. You may also want to obtain a small piece of sponge to use for smoothing the clay. Get two sturdy pieces of cardboard large enough to use as a temporary base for your clay projects, and an empty margarine tub or similar container. You may want to gather a few toothpicks to insert into the clay forms you make to give your figure added strength and support. Prepare the work area with newspaper, printer paper, or other similar paper. Store the clay in a plastic bag until you re ready to use it. Heads Up! You have five sessions in which to complete this studio, and you ll be making two clay projects. You ll need to finish carving them by the end of Studio 4 so that they have time to dry thoroughly before you paint them in Studio 5. To make each sculpture, start with a lump of clay no larger than a baseball. This is particularly important for the in-the-round sculpture, as the sculpture will need to be small enough to stand upright while the clay is still wet. Until you finish carving your sculptures, set them on a cardboard base and carefully place them inside a plastic bag after each session to keep them moist. Save this printout. Materials Required: cardboard, sturdy 2 container of water container, plastic, (margarine tub) newspaper paper towels white clay soft art pencil, 2b paper, printer Optional: sponge, small piece sketchbook books and magazines, photos of people rolling pin plastic knife craft stick toothpick 1 of 7

2 Planning Your Sculptures Step 1: Choose a Subject Decide what type of person you ll depict in the relief sculpture and the in-the-round sculpture. For example, you could sculpt an athlete, a student, or a dancer. Decide the pose for the figure. For the relief sculpture, also decide what type of background scenery you would like. You may find inspiration looking at photographs of people in books and magazines. Step 2: Sketch Plan your relief sculpture and in-the-round sculpture by sketching them on printer paper or in your sketchbook. Pay attention to the proportion of the figures and how each body part relates to the others in the pose you choose. For the relief sculpture, be sure to emphasize the figure so it stands out from the background scenery by doing any of the following: Make it the largest. Place it in the middle. Give it the most details or texture. For the in-the-round sculpture, think about how different body parts will extend forward or backward in space. You may want to make more than one quick sketch to show different views of the person. 2 of 7

3 Project 1: Relief Sculpture Step 1: Prepare the Clay 1. Roll a lump of clay about the size of a baseball between your palms to form a ball. Your hands and the air will dry the clay, so add water to your fingertips to keep the clay moist and soft. Whenever the clay cracks or starts to feel hard, add more water to your fingertips. 2. Place the ball on a cardboard base and flatten it into a slab by gently pounding it with your fist. The slab should be about 1 2 to 3 4 in. thick. If it is thinner, the relief sculpture will be too flimsy. You may wish to use a rolling pin to make the slab instead of pounding it with your fist. 3. You may leave the clay slab in its naturally flattened shape or use a plastic knife to trim the edges to form a rectangle. 4. Smooth any lumps and cracks with a fingertip dipped in water. A great way to smooth rough edges on clay shapes is with a moist piece of sponge. Step 2: Carve 1. Using a pencil or toothpick, lightly draw your figure onto the clay slab using your sketch as a guide. Size the parts of the body so that your figure has good proportion and looks realistic. Don t draw the background scenery yet. 2. With a plastic knife, scrape away some of the clay surrounding the figure so that the figure rises from the flat background. 3. Use any of these methods to give more definition to the figure: Flatten the clay to a thickness of about 1 2 to 3 4 inch. Scrape away clay where the figure recedes. You may try undercutting forms so they look detached from the background, but don t make them too fragile. Use any clay tool. Build up forms that project from the sculpture by pushing clay diagonally upward. Use your fingers or a clay tool to do the modeling. Use extra clay to make forms that project from the sculpture. Press them onto the relief sculpture and use your fingers or a tool to carefully and completely join and smooth the clay. 4. Smooth any unwanted lumps with a small paintbrush or a fingertip dipped in water. Lightly draw the figure onto the clay. Scrape away clay from around the figure. 3 of 7

4 Step 3: Add Detail 1. Using a pencil or toothpick, lightly draw the background scenery onto the clay slab using your sketch as a guide. 2. Carve the background scenery to give it some depth, but make the objects shallower than the figure so that the figure is emphasized. You can scrape away or build up clay to give form to the objects. 3. Add detail and texture to the relief using clay tools. Emphasize the figure by adding more detail and texture to it and less to the background scenery. Add realistic facial features, hair, clothing, and other details. Consider the size and placement of the facial features for good proportion. 4. Smooth any unwanted lumps with a small paintbrush or a fingertip dipped in water, or with a piece of moist sponge. 5. Make any final adjustments by working the clay with your fingers. 6. You may poke a hole near the top of the sculpture using a pencil or straw for hanging later. Don t make the hole too small, as the clay will shrink as it dries. 7. When you have finished, place your project in a safe place to air dry. If you have not finished, store the sculpture in a plastic bag so that it will not dry out. Lightly draw background scenery, and then carve it to create depth. Be sure to complete the steps for creating the relief sculpture up to this point by the end of studio session 4 so that the sculpture has time to dry thoroughly before you paint it. 4 of 7

5 Project 2: In-The-Round Sculpture For the in-the-round sculpture, use a lump of clay about the size of a baseball. You will pull pieces of clay off the original lump to make the individual forms of your figure. Step 1: Prepare the Slip and Base 1. Place a small piece of clay into an empty margarine tub or similar container. Add a small amount of water and stir it until you get a slippery mixture about the consistency of thin pancake mix. We call this liquid clay slip. You will use slip like glue to join the pieces of the sculpture. Cover the container and put it aside. 2. Prepare a small clay base for your sculpture by rolling a lump of clay between your palms to form a ball. Place the ball on a cardboard base and flatten it into a slab by gently pounding it with your fist. The slab should be about 1 2 to 3 4 in. thick. Flatten the clay for the base to a thickness of about 1 2 to 3 4 inch. Step 2: Make the Figure 1. To make the head, roll a lump of clay between the palms of your hands to form a ball. Gently roll it back and forth between your palms to form an oval or egg shape. Your hands and the air will dry the clay, so add water to your fingertips to keep the clay moist and soft. Whenever the clay cracks or starts to feel hard, add more water to your fingertips. 2. Roll another small ball of clay and gently flatten it to form a neck. 3. Roll another small ball of clay, and then roll it back and forth on the flat work area to form a thick cylinder for the body. Roll individual lumps of clay to form arms, legs, body, and head. Use small bits of clay to form hands and feet. 4. Roll another ball of clay, and then roll it back and forth to form a coil. Use a plastic knife to cut two arms and two legs from the coil. If the coil is not long enough, make another one. Press the legs on the flat work area to flatten the bottoms. 5. Use small bits of clay to form hands and feet. Use a plastic knife to cut two arms and two legs from the coil. 5 of 7

6 Step 3: Score, Apply Slip, and Join 1. Before joining the forms of the figure, you ll need to score and apply slip to them. Start by joining the feet to the legs, and then work your way up the figure to join the rest of the body parts. Use a plastic knife, toothpick, or pencil to scratch lines on the two surfaces where the two forms will join. We call this technique scoring. 2. Smear a little slip onto the two surfaces to cover the scoring. Scoring and slipping helps the forms stick together well. 3. Press the two forms together. 4. Use your fingers or a clay tool to smooth all of the seams between the two forms. It s important to join the pieces securely or they might fall apart as the clay dries. 5. Continue scoring, slipping, and joining until you have attached all of the forms. 6. Use your finger dipped in water to smooth any lumps and cracks. Another way to smooth clay is with a moist piece of sponge or a small paintbrush dipped in water. Step 4: Add Details 1. Add realistic eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. Either draw them with a pencil or toothpick or add small bits of clay. Consider the size and placement of the facial features for good proportion. 2. Make hair by attaching a flat piece of clay to the head or by scraping texture lines. 3. Draw lines on the hands for fingers, or carefully cut fingers apart using a plastic knife. 4. Add details that show the type of person you sculpted. For example, add a uniform and sports equipment to an athlete. Add details by drawing them with a pencil or toothpick, or by adding small bits of clay. Use a small paintbrush dipped in water to smooth out the details. Step 5: Pose the Figure 1. Pose the figure by bending the forms. You may want to give your figure the S-curve of a contrapposto pose, as seen in Spear Bearer. If your figure seems wobbly and won t stand upright, you can insert toothpicks into the torso or limbs for added support. 2. Attach your figure to the clay base that you prepared. Score and slip the surfaces that will join onto the base, and then smooth all the seams between the forms. 3. Make sure your sculpture is balanced. If it does not stand well, use an extra piece of clay to form a support. For example, make a clay baseball bat for an athlete that joins to the figure s hand and to the base. 4. Smooth any unwanted lumps with a fingertip dipped in water or a piece of moist sponge. Contrapposto pose Finished sculpture 5. Make any final adjustments by working the clay with your fingers. 6. When you have finished, place your project in a safe place to air dry. If you have not finished, store the sculpture in a plastic bag so that it will not dry out. 6 of 7

7 Be sure to complete the steps up to this point by the end of studio session 4 so that both sculptures have time to dry thoroughly before you paint them. Step 1: Paint the Sculpture Add color to your sculptures using watercolor paint. Your sculptures may be fragile, so handle them carefully at this stage. If you are using tube watercolors, squeeze a small amount of each color onto a palette. Mix new colors on the paint palette. Add enough water to your paint colors so that the paint spreads easily on the sculpture. The dry clay will absorb the watery paint quickly. Use less water when painting fine details. For realistic skin tones, you can either mix white and brown together, using more or less white to get the desired value, or mix white with a small amount of red, yellow, and blue. If you don t have white paint, add water to brown paint until you get the desired value. Use a small paintbrush for detailed designs and a larger one for filling in broad areas of color. For very fine details, you may want to use fine-tip markers instead of paint. When you have finished your studio project, answer the questions below. CHECKLIST Did you make quick sketches of a person for your relief sculpture and in-the-round sculpture? Did you make a clay slab for your relief sculpture? Did you scrape away or build up clay from the background to make figures rise in the relief sculpture? Did you add background scenery and details to the relief sculpture? Did you emphasize the figure in your relief sculpture? Did you make the figure in your relief with good proportion and realistic features? Did you make forms for the body parts of a figure in-the-round? Did you properly score, slip, and join the body parts together for your in-the-round sculpture? Did you add details to your in-the-round sculpture? Is the figure in your in-the-round sculpture balanced? Did you make the figure in your in-the-round sculpture with good proportion and realistic features? Did you pose your figure and add it to a base for your in-the-round sculpture? Did you add color to your two sculptures? Think about any special considerations you made when depicting a person in a relief sculpture versus an in-the-round sculpture. 7 of 7

UNIT 6 HAND CONSTRUCTION WITH STONEWARE

UNIT 6 HAND CONSTRUCTION WITH STONEWARE Refer to requirements Unit 6 on page 2 Requirements: Basic Information: Hand Construction with Stoneware: (1) Stoneware is more or less vitreous depending on the temperature to which it is fired. (2) Hobbyist