Submitted by: Lindsey Pearce,
Newman Smith High School, Carrollton, TX
UNIT: Ceramic - Sculpture (career connection)
Lesson: Hollow Form - Monsters - Beasties that never were
Grade Level: High School (adaptable to middle school)
click images for larger views
Summary: Students use pinch method to
create hollow forms. Slab cylinders for legs, coil and slab
decoration. This could have a career ed tie in - designing a
creature for a film. The above images are all made by the same
student who is doing a 3-D concentration on monsters. Jane
Hankins is one ceramic artist used for inspiration.
Objectives: Students
will
Materials:
- Gain appreciation for Medieval
art - Gargoyles/Beasties
- Design an original monster
- Create a hollow clay form -
combine hand building techniques
- Demonstrate craftsmanship in
construction and glazing
|
newsprint
for sketches - pencils
sculpture clay
canvas cloth
modeling tools
rolling pins and guide sticks
newspapers and/or balloons (optional)
glazes, underglazes, assorted brushes |
Resources:
Jane
Hankins other
Ceramic sculpture artists
Gargoyles (some
links on this page) Medieval Beasties
Optional: Oaxacan wood carved monsters and paper mach monsters
Animated video - Monsters, Inc.
(see some clips)
Instruction/Motivation
- Show examples of creatures made for
animation films - show short film segments
- Show slide/PowerPoint of Gargoyles
- Review hand building techniques -
demonstrate hollow form for body. Review scoring - correct way
of attaching pieces -- NOT to trap air.
- Review glazing
Procedures:
- Make several sketches of monsters. Select
best design for clay. Make a plan for construction (beginning
with hollow body form - made with two pinch pots).
- Make hollow body form - form two pinch
pots - trim top edge so edges will meet. Score and slip edges
and fuse seam. May use balloon to keep shape rounded (remove
balloon before firing). May use newspaper to support form
(remove before firing - or allow to burn out in kiln). Clay
should not be more than 1/2 thick. Paddle form to
desired shape. Make pin holes on bottom for air to escape.
- Form cylinder legs. Make hole in body
where legs are to attach. Do not trap air. Score and attach
using slip.
- Form two pinch pots to make head - fuse
together.... attach to body (be sure to poke hole in neck
though to body.
- Make thick coils for arms.... form hands
and feet. Attach when leather hard (score and apply slip).
- Add extra details - hair, wings, etc.
- Check to insure no trapped air - poke pin
holes in thick parts - Fire when bone dry
- Apply underglazes/glazes and fire.
- Write a reflection about the monster -
compare/contrast to gargoyles/beasties of the middle ages.
Write a story about the monster.
- Extension - make a movie poster of
monster showing environment.
Alternate finish: acrylic paints,
paint markers and puffy paints (see Oaxacan wood carvings for
inspiration)
Rubric: (adapted from Marianne Galyk)
|
Assessment Rubric
|
|
Student Name:
|
Class Period:
|
|
Assignment:
Ceramic
Monster
|
Date Completed:
|
|
Circle the
number in pencil that
best shows how well you feel that you completed that
criterion for the assignment.
|
Excellent
|
Good
|
Average
|
Needs
Improvement
|
Rate
Yourself
|
Teacher’s
Rating
|
|
Criteria 1 – planning sketches and
plan for construction. Written reflection
|
10
|
9 – 8
|
7
|
6 or less
|
|
|
|
Criteria 2 – Design and
construction of monster
|
10
|
9 – 8
|
7
|
6 or less
|
|
|
|
Criteria 3 – Glazing - aesthetics
|
10
|
9 – 8
|
7
|
6 or less
|
|
|
|
Criteria 4 – Effort: took time to
develop idea & complete project? (Didn’t rush.) Good
use of class time?
|
10
|
9 – 8
|
7
|
6 or less
|
|
|
|
Criteria 5 – Craftsmanship – Neat, clean & complete? Skillful use of the
art tools & media?
|
10
|
9 – 8
|
7
|
6 or less
|
|
|
|
Total:
50
(possible
points)
|
Grade:
|
|
|
|
|
Your Total
|
Teacher Total
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Student
Comments:
Teacher
Comments:
National Standards: Standards covered
would depend on how much art history your bring in
| 1.
Understanding and applying media, techniques, and
processes |
2.
Using knowledge of structures and functions |
4.
Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and
cultures |
5.
Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and
merits of their work and the work of others |
| Students
apply media, techniques, and processes with sufficient
skill, confidence, and sensitivity that their intentions
are carried out in their artworks |
Students
demonstrate the ability to form and defend judgments about
the characteristics and structures to accomplish
commercial, personal, communal, or other purposes of art |
Students
differentiate among a variety of historical and cultural
contexts in terms of characteristics and purposes of works
of art |
Students
identify intentions of those creating artworks, explore
the implications of various purposes, and justify their
analyses of purposes in particular works |
| Students
conceive and create works of visual art that demonstrate
an understanding of how the communication of their ideas
relates to the media, techniques, and processes they use |
Students
evaluate the effectiveness of artworks in terms of
organizational structures and functions |
Students
describe the function and explore the meaning of specific
art objects within varied cultures, times, and places |
Students
describe meanings of artworks by analyzing how specific
works are created and how they relate to historical and
cultural contexts |
| |
Students
create artworks that use organizational principles and
functions to solve specific visual arts problems |
Students
analyze relationships of works of art to one another in
terms of history, aesthetics, and culture, justifying
conclusions made in the analysis and using such
conclusions to inform their own art making |
Students
reflect analytically on various interpretations as a means
for understanding and evaluating works of visual art |
[MIDDLE
SCHOOL LESSONS] [HIGH SCHOOL
LESSONS]
|
