creative process Archive

All About Sculpture

Definition:  Sculpture is any art that is 3-DIMENSIONAL using a technique of adding or taking away from a 3-D form. 

A sculpture (medium) can be made from:

  • EARTH: clay, wood, sticks, marble, stone, dirt, rocks, sand, snow, ice, bone, cement, concrete
  • FIBER: paper, Paper-Mache, fabric, yarn, origami, hair, thread, leather, cardboard
  • METAL: copper, bronze, silver, gold, iron, aluminum, foil, steel, platinum, wire, tin
  • GLASS: stained glass, vases, tiles
  • Plastics: fiberglass, tape, glue, foam, Styrofoam, rubber, Wax
  • FOOD: candy, gum, chocolate, fruit, butter
  • Recycled stuff: machine parts, rubber, cans/tin, plastic bottles

What techniques do sculpture artists use? 

  1. Carving: taking stuff away to get the art (Relief)
  2. Casting: making a mold to get the art
  3. Assembling: putting stuff together to get the art
  4. Modeling: shaping and adding clay together to get the art

 The Power Point of Images for the Sculpture Lesson

A fill-in-the-blank SculptureWS Worksheet (I mostly use this for my SPED and ELL kids)

See the Sculpture Center for more about sculpture.

Pottery In Middle School

 Before students are able to begin the clay projects we go through a great deal of rules, methods and procedures. Doing clay in your middle school classroom can be a wonderful joy or a logistical and managerial nightmare. To insure that things run smoothly I make sure that kids understand the entire pottery making process. Using our art textbook, some informational videos and posters as well as class discussion we build a detailed vocabulary list of terms that will be important for our clay unit. Before the get to work we discuss these terms along with the general classroom rules and expectations about clay. Then they must draw a sketch of their plan in ACTUAL size (this helps me know how much clay they will need and how long the project will take) and indicate which nethod they will use (slab, pinch, or coil.)  Finally, they will begin working with their wet clay.

Before choice, when I taught full class lessons we would begin with a tile assignment. I will often still recommend this type of thing to students new to pottery clay. Becasue choice is becoming more important for my classroom.  They can choose the method type they will use and the size and difficulty of the project. I have several idea books along with step by step instructions for some projects. The important thing is for the students to go through the entire creative process.

TAB School Year 2004-2005

Paint 

 

 

My first year at my new school teaching full-time art. My classes are mixed grades 6th, 7th and 8th. I provided a structured guide through the basic elements of art and some basic pottery. Towards the end of the year I was working more and more towards a TAB~CHOICE environment. A sample of the activities that my students did this year include:

  • 3-D
    • Black and White Sculptures
    • Paper Mache’
    • Pottery
    • Found Object Sculptures
  • Digital Photoshop Projects
    • Distorted Faces
    • Warhol 6 Faces
    • Replace a Face
    • Digital Mandalas
    • Hand and Shoe Drawings
  • Drawing/Painting
    • Personal Color Wheels
    • Fabric Pattern
    • Far Away Fairy Tales
    • Altered Books
    • Elements Books
    • Monochromatic Paintings
    • Portrait Unit Watercolor Portraits
    • Printmaking

The 4 C’s of Art

Visual Arts programs in Everett Public Schools emphasizes the 4 C’s of Art while giving students the opportunity to work with a wide variety of methods and media. (This fits perfectly with TABChoice.)

The 4 C’s of Art areThe development of artistic skill/control over art tools and materials through deliberation and attention to detail.

Composition: Intentionally organizing Art Elements using the Art Principles to create a visually unified design.

Communication: Applying art knowledge and skill to express, identify, and evaluate ideas and feelings in artwork.
 
Creative Process: An approach to solving problems and expressing ideas in unique and personal ways.

The Creative Process includes the following steps:

Develop Your Perceptions:  Thinking about Experience

  • Recognize your aesthetic responses to the world
  • Pursue your interests through study, play, and work experiences
  • Foster relationships that strengthen you
  • Think about and analyze your experiences

Gather Ideas: Thinking of Possibilities

  • Brainstorm to solve problems
  • Research to look for ideas in the work of others
  • Think about and discuss your ideas
  • Write and sketch your ideas

Practice: Refining Your Work

  • Select ideas for development
  • Create detailed sketches/drafts
  • Organize materials and plan time to use them
  • Practice techniques
  • Get suggestions and help from others

Create: Making Your Product

  • Select your best idea for development
  • Plan your time to meet deadlines
  • Utilize techniques well
  • Revise work as needed to achieve goals of your project
  • Finish your work

Present: Sharing Your Work

  • Respect your work and the time and effort you put into it: don’t bend, fold, smear or crush it.
  • Mount/mat your work for display
  • Show your work to friends and family

Reflect: Evaluating Your Work

  • Self-evaluate your work honestly
  • Reflect on the strengths and weaknesses of the work
  • Think about what you learned
  • Think about what you need to learn/do better to improve your work

altered books

The steps of the Creative Process and how they can be correlated to the writing process:

  • Thinking About Your Experiences (research)
  • Gathering Your Ideas (free writing, brainstorming and research)
  • Planning and Practicing (drafting/ editing)
  • Creating Your Artwork (final draft)
  • Preparing Your Work for Display (reading/presenting)
  • Reflecting on Your Work (critiquing finished work)

This process is seen as cyclical, and the steps are not necessarily done in order.