Modeling

L.E.Q.

How will you apply the Human Head measurements to a 3D portrait?

How does the artwork of sculptors change society?

Modeling is an ancient technique, as indicated by prehistoric clay figurines from Egypt and

the Middle East.

• early cultures shaped clay into human and animal figurines with symbolic meaning.

Modeling…is an additive process

is the working of materials with plasticity by hand to build up form.

Clay and wax are the most common modeling materials

The artist’s hands are the main tools.

Modeling for pottery sculpture

To withstand the stresses of firing, a large pottery sculpture must be hollow and of an even thickness.

2 ways to Model:

hollow modeling, (potter’s approach to form)

main forms of the clay model are built up directly as hollow forms with walls of a roughly even thickness.

methods for making hand-built pottery—coiling, pinching, and slabbing.

smaller forms and details are then added

finished work is allowed to dry out slowly and thoroughly before firing.

solid modeling (sculptor’s traditional approach to form)

sculpture is modeled in solid clay, over an armature

cut open and hollowed out

armature is removed.

pieces are rejoined and the work is dried out and fired.

Clay tools…

working with clay…

Wedging your clay is a very important step. It homogenizes the clay and removes air pockets.

One way of wedging clay is the cut and slap method. This method works best with five pounds or less of clay being worked at a time.

This is most easily accomplished with a plaster-topped or canvas surface wedging table with a cut wire stretched taut diagonally for cutting.

The lump of clay in this photo has just been cut across for the first time. You can see some of the many small air pockets present. Each of those pockets can cause serious problems when forming the clay if they were allowed to remain.

Cone wedging…

compacts with a spiral action and leaves it in a cone shape. This method is suitable for one to ten pounds.

Here we see clay that has been patted into a ball shape, ready to be wedged in the cone method.

As you are learning this method, work with a ball of clay about the size of a baseball or grapefruit.

Place the ball of clay on your wedging surface (canvas or plaster).

Place your right hand on the right-hand side of the clay and your left flat on the left side. Your left hand should be close to perpendicular to the table.

Push downward and away from you, working mainly with your right hand. The clay will move away from you slightly, leaving about one to two inches of clay jutting from the right side of the cone.

Using your left hand, rock the clay back toward you, so that it is standing on the one or two inch tail of clay left after the first step.

Apply a bit of rightward and downward pressure with the left hand as you bring the clay back.

As your left hand rolls the clay onto its tail and compresses down and to the right, the original tip of the cone will drift to the left and the tail should rumple up under the cone.

Repeat steps one and two for twenty to fifty cycles, until the clay is air-pocket free.

Spiral/ Cone We

dging

joining clay together…

SCORE scratch the surfaces to be joined

SLIPapply water/clay mixture

it’s like glue for clay

PRESSand add a coil, if needed to fill the seam

SMOOTHhide the jointed pieces of clay

ArmatureAn armature is an internal frame or skeleton which supports a modeled sculpture.

A typical armature for a small sculpture is made of wire, bent and twisted to form the basic shape or reusable materials like newspaper.

The newspaper will have to be bundled tight so that it doesn’t collapse

Self portrait or someone you know…

Physical model? or pictures?

Portrait Bust

using your knowledge from Drawing and Painting…

let’s practice?