Sculpture and Drawing

Awhile ago I wrote a post about a student who was inspired to create a sculpture from a mixed media painting she completed a couple of weeks prior.  I was really excited to see the student inspired by a drawing she had done earlier and reinterpreting it in 3D.

So I decided to revisit this idea during Sculpture Week camp which I have been teaching through North Vancouver Community Arts Council.

First I showed the students some different bust and why certain people are immortalized this way.  We discussed how they are done without color and so it becomes important to add interesting details to the sculpture.  And then I gave them some white Fimo to use to create a bust of their choice.

When they were finished, they all really wanted to paint them but I reminded them these were to be left white, like the bust we had studied, and that the paint would actually take away from all the interesting details of the sculptures they had created.

I'm not sure they were convinced but a quick trip to the playground to burn off some steam made the "no color" pill easier to swallow.

Once they came back to the studio, I thought it would be fun to have them do a color drawing of their bust in oil pastel.  A nice compromise since they were not painting their bust.

My original thought was to do a still life of the actual sculpture, but the students went an entirely different direction and two of them placed their sculptures in an environment as if it was a picture of the sculpture as a living thing.

so cool

I am thrilled with the results the children got and LOVE both works of art!

Mr. Penguin, 7 year old

Case in point.

Meet Mr. Penguin, a stylish gentleman with a knitted hat and scarf.  Using a toothpick as a pencil, the student created lots of interesting texture in her clay sculpture.

oil pastel, Mr. Penguin in the Arctic

And then Mr. Penguin in his natural environment!  

The student was so eager to start drawing that she began before I told her to "draw big".  She looked a bit stricken as the students did not do pencil sketches first and she already had her first black oil pastel marks on the paper.  I told her not to worry about it and continue on with her penguin and then put in a background.

I instructed her to cover the whole page in color, even if she wanted it to be white, to use the white oil pastel. 

How great are the northern lights?

And that fishing hole!!!!

And then a stroke of brilliance, the toothpick she had used "like a pencil" when working in clay made another appearance in the oil pastel when she did a bit of scratch art with it on the fish and the penguin wing.

I love these two works together. 

Penguin, 6 year old

Is this not the sweetest sculpture?  Look at the freckles on the cheeks!!  And those lovely big eyes where she indented the pupils like she saw done on some of the bust we looked at before starting the project.  

Love it.

oil pastel, 6 year old

At first the instruction to cover the entire page in color was daunting for this student and she actually had to take a moment in order to begin.  However as she started layering the oil pastel colors, she became more and more excited about the results and before she even realized it had the paper covered and this lovely picture.  I think she was quite proud of herself in the end and pleased with her work.

I love the composition of the piece.

And finally, Mr. Pickle.

Mr. Pickle, 8 year old

Who knew a pickle could be elevated to this level of cute?!  My husband wanted to know why he was so unhappy and I figure this is probably because he realized he was about to be eaten.

I think this came out so well and love all the detail she added to the humble pickle.

And then there is this, the drawing.

oil pastel, 8 year old

Here's another great example of a mistake being a stroke of brilliance.  Like the student who created the "Penguin in the Arctic", she began prior to me telling her to draw large and so her first pickle is the small circle containing the "P" in the bust stand.  I love that she did a drawing of her real life bust and I love that she didn't blink twice at utilizing what could of been considered a "ruined" drawing and by using her imagination came up with something much better than her original vision.

I am so pleased with the results of this project.  I love that the students were inspired to create a second work from a piece of their own original artwork.  It gives a much deserved sense of importance to their creations.  I know I will revisit this idea again in the future.  Sculpture and drawing are a great combination and I love that the entire thing has been inspired by a previous students stroke of genius many months ago.

This is truly one of the joys of working with children and their ability to help me grow as a teacher.