My third graders have been hard at work on their first sculpture project and I am so proud of the results!
We started out studying the artwork of sculptor Alberto Giacometti. We talked about how this artist struggled with confidence in his work and how he would modify his pieces so much in the quest for realism that they would become drastically smaller and thinner as he worked. It is hard to imagine this struggle when we see how beautiful his forms look and how much interest is added through their imperfections. Many of us could identify with how frustrating it can be to try to make things look a certain a way in our own artwork, so making this connection helped us to relax a little and appreciate the beauty in all the things we create!
 |
| Alberto Giacometti |
Students then learned about the proportions of the human figure through a class-long figure drawing session. We discovered how difficult it can be to achieve accurate proportions in our drawings and some tricks to help us do so. Students then had the opportunity to pose and sketch their classmates in a series of interesting positions.
We used these sketches as inspiration for our sculptures, and students used pipe cleaners to make a wire armature for their figures. After gluing their sculptures onto a base, students posed and adjusted their figures to achieve a dynamic and interesting composition from all angles.
Students then worked to cover their sculptures in plaster. After a lot of wrapping and adjusting to make sure our sculptures stood securely, we were ready for paint! Students had their choice of colors of metallic paint to use to cover their pieces. We then practiced the dry brush technique and students had the option to dry brush black paint over their sculptures to make them look older.
There were so many skills and techniques learned and practiced in these pieces and they really challenged us along the way. I am so proud of how different all of these pieces look and how much care was put into every step of the process from deciding on a pose and creating an armature, to using plaster and paint!
