Submitted by: Linda Wood,
St. John's Lower School,
Houston, Texas
Unit: Sculpture -Assemblage -Art of Mexico
Lesson Plan: Wood Animalitos (Alebrijes)
Grade Level: elementary thru middle school (these are 5th grade)
School Web Site: St.
John's Lower School
Gallery
Alebrijes:
These imaginative creatures are called Alebrijes (ali-bre-haze).
In Mexico (Oaxaca) they are made from Copal wood which is native to Oaxaca,
Mexico. In Mexico, they are creatively carved by the artists hand, and
often painted by family members - no two pieces will ever be exactly
alike.Thes fancilful creations were made by assembling wood scraps and
taking the same care in painting the details.
Alebrijes
- Oaxacan Woodcarving - El Caracol Zapoteca Fine Oaxacan
Woodcarving Gallery. These are some of the finest examples I
have seen. Beautiful details - nice close up views. Educational site (as
well as commercial). This gallery does give art teachers permission to use
images provided you send them email first. If you want only a few - Fair
Use guidelines are permitted.
Tips and suggestions from Linda Woods:
I bought a sheet
of 3/4 inch plywood and had our maintenance department cut up the
pieces for the backs. I had wooden boards in 12 inch by 8 inch, 6x6
squares, 8x10, and a bunch of random sizes. Next year I am going to buy
1x2 or some molding for the legs and let him slice those up too, in
various lengths, for legs and necks. It's cheaper and if you buy the
precut long length sets, you will spend forever trying to match them
all up to sizes before your kids get to them. I will cut legs into 2",
3", 5", 7", 10" and 12" lengths, bundled up in groups of 4, totaling
about 76 sets for my 60 kids. I will subdivide those sets into three
groups with a full range of sizes...one for each class. Go heavier on
the 5-10 inch sets than on the 2,3,and 12 inch sets. Some kids may have
to make due with what is left, but you will get a lot of variety, and
they will be forced to think about how to make it work. Also, buy lots
of Sax little pieces, turned ends, and if they have any round pieces,
try to buy some of those. It's hard to know what to buy, just get more
than you think you need. (Note from Judy: Left over pieces can always
be used in a Louise Nevelson assemblage sculpture - none will go to
waste)
We used Sax Ultra Plus tempera on those Oaxacan Wooden Animals. The
colors of that paint are incredibly brilliant and the texture is like
acrylic. One coat covered anything! The animals are various sizes,
depending on how long the legs are, how long a neck, what size back
they choose. Size did not seem to make that much difference. For
example, one girl made a WONDERFUL little winged mouse
(Julia). It was the smallest one, but she took such time with her
patterns that she finished about when everyone else did. Hers is one of
my favorites. You could keep it small and have kids make bugs, etc. I
ordered just about every scrap box available (wood) from Sax. On some
of the scrap boxes I ordered three of each. The legs were 2", 3", 5"
7", 9" and 12" lengths. I had them bundled in groups of four before the kids got to them. I also had a miter saw/box and some
kids angled their leg ends to make giraffe like creatures. Linda also
had a drill, a vise, and some coping frame saws.
Note from Judy: When I did this with kids at
local art resource center - I went to every mill and lumber shop in town
and filled boxes with their scraps. I cut down some shapes -and left
others as is. I cut strips of wood for legs (taped four strips together)
cutting four legs at a time. The tape held them together in sets. Kids
weren't locked into those sets - I let them miss-match if needed. I got
freebie latex paint for our base coats (then we accented with
good acrylics). I was working on zero budget for my class - so all
materials had to be donated. I supplied a lot of the materials myself.