We make a George Segal style plaster sculpture

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Sculptor George Segal is known for his plaster sculptures of people. Segal created his sculptures by wrapping models with plaster cloth. (This is the same material that you may have had a doctor put on your broken arm.)

I decided that I would like to try it with our Intermediate/Advanced 3D class. This was our first attempt at doing this. We started with each student making a cast of an individual body part. After they were made, we hung them on the wall of the art room. After that, we began work on a full figure. After some discussion, we decided to just do the front side of the model and mount the cast onto a board.

The photos below document our progress throughout the project, from start to finish and final installation. For a first attempt at doing this, were were all quite pleased with how it came out.

(Click on the photos to see them at a larger size.)

George Segal, 1962

Our Artist-in-Residence Diane Kramer gives some assistance.

Beginning 3D - Assignment: "Prehistoric Venus" Sculpture

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Assignment for Monday, April 9, 2012


Venus of Lespugue, 23,ooo B.C., 6 inches tall, ivory carving

This class did this assignment last year. (Most of the students really enjoyed it, and their sculptures looked great!) Please follow the link to the blog post that was made at that time. Read the entire post and follow the directions. You will be required to answer some questions by making a "comment" at the bottom of the post.

Click HERE to link to the original post.

Plushies!

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One of the art courses that AAW offers is called Visual Art Studio. Students taking this class are embedded in our regular classes, and work more or less independently. They have to be approved by the art teacher to take this class. These kids are good artists, well-behaved, and highly motivated. Some of them do work similar to what we do in our regular classes, but others do things that we don't do but are of interest to them. Case in point: this student has made a "plushie" from scratch, and has done a beautiful job! She is also working on a complete fur suit (pics to come).



Student artist Angela Ulinski with her plushie

Int/Adv 3D Art assignment: Abstract Human Figure

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Sculpture by Henry Moore


This class did this assignment a couple years ago. Please follow the link to the post that was made at that time. Read the entire post, look at the pictures, and follow the directions. You will be required to answer some questions by making a "comment" at the bottom of the post.

If you have enough time, do an image search for other works by the artists shown, and print a few of them for reference/inspiration.

Click here to link to the original post.

Assignment: Papier-mâché Animals

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Beginning 3D Art


photo courtesy of www.shogai.co.uk

We are going to be making some papier-mache animals. This project has been done the last couple years; there is a previous blog post for this assignment. Click here, and follow the directions. There is one major CHANGE in the directions: you will NOT be posting any comments on the blog. Instead, simply PRINT some pictures that you like and that you think will be helpful to you in designing and making your sculpture (at least two pictures of animal sculptures and two of actual animals-- four total). You will turn these pictures in at the end of class. They will be returned tomorrow so you can start your project.

Teapot assignment (Int./Adv.) 1/4/12

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For your next project, you will make a teapot. This assignment was given last year; please see the AAW 3D ART blog post here. Read it and look at the pictures. NOTE: when you get to the part that says "DIRECTIONS for TODAY", ignore what is on THAT blog post and follow the directions BELOW on THIS blog post.


DIRECTIONS for TODAY:

Do your online research as indicated on the other blog post. Then, instead of making a comment, PRINT copies of teapots that you like. The idea here is to find some teapots that will inspire you in the creation of YOUR teapot.

TURN IN at least 5 pictures of teapots that you like. Do this by the end of class today. Make sure that they are stapled together, and put your name on the top page. They will be returned to you tomorrow during class.


FOR TOMORROW: be ready to start sketching up some ideas for your teapot design.


DUE DATE: Your teapot will be due on Thursday, January 19th. Friday the 20th is the last day of the semester. We will have a class critique on that day; it will also be a make-up day for people that have been out with excused absences.
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Assignment: Relief Tiles (3D Int/Adv)

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For your next project, you will be creating a set of relief tiles. Relief is a type of sculpture in which the design stands out from the surface. In stone or wood relief sculpture, the background must be cut away from the main object. In creating a relief sculpture in clay, you can cut the background away, add clay to the surface, or do both. Relief sculpture where the objects remain close to the surface is called low relief, and is sometime referred to as bas-relief. You probably have some low relief sculptures in your pocket or purse-- coins!



Relief tiles are essentially low relief sculptures.

The exact details of this assignment are yet to be determined; today you will be doing some research. You will probably be making four or six tiles for this project.

Please do some searching online for pictures of relief tiles. You may also want to take a look at some other relief sculpture as well.

TODAY'S ASSIGNMENT: find pictures of several relief tiles that you like, download the pics and drop them into a Word document. Print a copy to use as reference. Please turn this in at the end of class today; it will be returned to you during our next class period.
















Tiles from Pewabic Pottery in... Detroit!