Self Portrait Slabs

Self Portrait Slabs

8th Grade 

 

 

This was a project I did while student teaching. The students had a real fun time. They had to do a portrait of some sorts and I was tired of drawing and I am a sculpting major so I said CLAY! Also I wanted to make it look different then having them draw front view so I decided let talk about side views.

 

 
 

I made a power point that just briefly went over portrait artist (Picasso, Van Gogh, etc). Then I asked them where do you find side view portraits at? A funny thing is they were listing things that I didn’t even know! You can find side view shots on coins, mug shots, etc.

Starting out, I took each students picture asking them they can smile or do a funny face. I then enlarge the picture to an 8x10. I then rolled ALOT ALOT ALOT of clay and had a template of an 8x10 and cut out about a million it felt like 8x10 slabs. Then when it came to the day we talked about gridding. This really is the best thing for beginning drawers. So I showed them by demonstrating how to grid your picture and then coping that same measurement with the slab.

That took the class to just grid and talk about how the grids worked. The next time we talked about how the shape of our face is different from the front view shot. Really need to talk about the eyes, they seemed to not really comprehend that your eyes look more like triangle then almonds or circles.
 

When they started to sketch in the clay, I really had to keep explain that they need to follow what is in the box in the picture and apply the same lines in the same box on the clay. They started to get the hang of it. Some needed help but that is what I am there for!
 

Now depth was very difficult. I wanted the portrait to have some dimension to it so I had them carve their picture.HELPFUL HINT: I bought dollar store barbies and rip their heads off, I promise this is not a sick thing. It really did help them notice that the shape and depth of the face and how it looks rather than looking in a mirror. Just be careful they dont decide to draw on the heads. I had one kid draw a mustache on one. He then told me after he did it he regretted not giving him a goatee. Yaa it was actually funny but I had to not laugh..tough lol. STRESS to them that they do not need to dig at it or go all the way down, it will cause a hole and it will make their peice weak when fired. They really need to understand how part of your face sinks down.

Once they had the face on the clay they then had to smooth the grid lines out and cut out the outline of their head. Then I took over, I bisque fired them after a couple days of drying. They then applied glaze on their portrait and then wiped it off. This allowed the glazed to get into the lines bringing out the portrait. I then fired them again and BAM!!!