Lesson video

Welcome, to lesson five and final lesson in this ceramics unit.

My name is Liz and I'll be guiding you through this lesson.

Previously, you sculpted either an animal or flower out of clay.

And in this lesson we'll be adding the finishing touches.

So if you're ready to begin, let's make a start.

for this lesson you'll need your sketchbook and a pencil.

Some clay, the same type that you use to make your clay flower or animal.

You'll need a rolling pin, some clay tools and some wooden guides or cardboard ones.

You will also need a smooth surface to roll out your clay and cover it with canvas material or slightly damp tea towel or a plastic vinyl placemat and check the clay.

Doesn't stick to the surface when you roll it out.

You'll also need some paint and ideally it should be acrylic paint but if you don't have a acrylic paint you can use ready-mix paint with a small amount of PVA glue added to it.

You will need some PVA glue to make up your varnish later.

You'll also need some card to make a template and some scissors to cut it out.

And as you'll be working with clay, you'll need an apron or an old shirt or t-shirt to protect your clothes.

And for some of the activities you will need an adult to help or supervise you.

In this lesson, you will recap on your previous learning.

Make a clay plinth to sit your clay sculpture on.

Paint and varnish your clay work.

Decide where to display it.

And evaluate your finished piece.

And there will also be a unit recap at the end of the lesson.

Look out for the key words in the lesson they will be in a bold coloured font and keywords are: Plinth, a stand on which an artwork can be displayed.

And Display, to show your work for others to see.

Let's start with a recap on your previous learning, on the screen, you will see the names of three different techniques that are used when working with clay.

First one is impressing, second slabbing, third coiling.

And then three different pictures will also appear on the right hand side.

So here's the first one, then the second one and the third one.

What I'd like you to do is match the technique on the left-hand side to the picture on the right-hand side, that shows that technique Off you go.

Okay, let's take a look at the answers.

So the first one impressing that's matched to the picture in the middle and in the picture there is a tile and at the top of the tile, there's a clay stamp.

And the stamp has been used to impress a pattern into the clay.

The second answer, slabbing is matched to the picture at the bottom and there you can see piece of clay, two wooden guides and a rolling pin.

And the rolling pin is rolled across the clay to flatten out.

So the final one is coiling and that is matched to the picture at the top, which shows the start of making a coiled pot.

So how did you get.

Did you manage to correctly match them all? Is this statement true or false? Sculpting clay is when you shape or carve it with your hands and tools.

The answer is true.

Yes.

Sculpting is when you shape or carve clay with your hands and tools.

So previously you made either a clay flower or a clay animal.

And on the screen, you can see my two sculptures.

The flower is based on a rare flower called the American white water lily and the animal is endangered red Panda.

But by now your clay should have dried out so that it's ready for the next stage of making and adding the finishing touches.

So in order to display your work you will be making a plinth out of clay and you'll be able to sit your sculpture on top of this.

A plinth is a stand on which you can place your artwork.

You can either make a plinth by free modelling clay into the shape and height you like.

So the image on the far left of your screen is of a plinth, I made from air drying clay and I use my hands and clay tools to shape it into a cuboid.

You could shape it into a different shape.

And the important thing is you need to look at your clay sculpture and make sure you decide what sort of shape and size of plinth you'll need first before you make it.

You could also make a plinth by slabbing.

And if you remember, this is a technique of rolling out a piece of clay until it's flat.

You'll need to cut out a card template into the shape of the plinth that you would like then place the template onto the card and cut around it.

Now you also need to make your guides around two, three centimetres high.

And if you previously made your own cardboard guides you may need to join a couple of these together or add some further layers, taping them all up, to get the desired height that you need to fill a plinth.

And remember, you will need to guides, because when you roll out your clay, you need it to be an even thickness.

Now, instead of using a cardboard template if you have a pastry or a cookie cutter, instead, you could use that.

So again, roll out the clay and then with the pastry or cookie cutter, press it into the clay and then cut out the shape of your plinth.

Before you make your clay plinth, let's have a recap on the stages of making.

Step one, first decide on the shape and size of your plinth is circular, square, rectangular or a different shape of your choosing.

You decide what will work best for your sculpture.

Next, you need to cut template out of card.

You can use a ruler and pencil, draw your shape or you could draw objects onto the card.

When you're cutting out your template, ask an adult to help or supervise you with this.

And if you're not using card template you need to choose a pastry or cookie cutter.

That's the desired shape for your plinth.

Step three, decide what height you want your plinth to be, and between two centimetres and three centimetres high, will work well.

Then, roll out your clay to the height of your guides, and place the template on the clay.

Cut around the template, or if you're using a pastry or cookie cutter, press that into the clay and then cut out your shape.

Now alternatively, you can use free modelling to make a plinth, the shape and size you would like.

Just make sure that the top of the plinth is flat so that your sculpture can sit on it.

When you finish making your plinth, restart the video.

You will need to allow time for your plinth to dry so that you can add the finishing touches to both your sculpture and your plinth.

And for this next part of the lesson.

You'll need your paint, paint brushes, and PVA glue.

You will need to decide how you want to paint your sculpture and plinth.

And on the screen, you can see my two painted sculptures, on the left is my painted flower.

And I've used a similar colours to the actual colours of an American white water lily And these flowers have white petals with a tint of pink at the bottom of each petal and yellow stamens in the centre.

For my red Panda on the right, I took my inspiration from the work of Charlotte Mary Pack who paints her clay animals in pastel colours.

And pastels are pale colours that have a a base colour with lots of white added to it.

And my base colour was orange I created that by mixing yellow and red paint and then added plenty of white paint.

I also decided to paint the plinth the same colour as the red Panda because the Panda has a distinct stripe on its tail.

I've also painted in white stripes and I added black paint for the nose.

Now, when you've painted your plinth and sculpture, you'll need to leave them to dry and then finish them off with a layer of varnish to create a slightly shiny finish.

Now, to make your varnish you'll need to take some PVA glue add a small amount of water, give it a good mix and then carefully brush it all over your clay sculpture.

Now, your sculpture will be quite fragile.

So do take care.

So your turn now, paint your sculpture and your plinth.

Allow them time to dry and then cover them with varnish.

And then when you finished restart the video.

Now you have everything you need to display your work.

Well done.

Your clay work is finished now.

Now, now place your sculpture on the plinth and decide on the best position for it.

So I placed my Panda at a slight angle on the plinth.

And my flower is placed in the very centre.

Artwork may being displayed in an art gallery, studio or in a shop or it may be displayed at home perhaps on the shelf or a cabinet.

And it could also be displayed outside.

So decide where you'd like to display your work and then take a photograph of it to share with us.

Artists will usually evaluate their work whilst they're making it and when they finished it.

And this helps them to think about how the artwork was made and if their ideas and techniques worked as well as they hoped they would.

And they may also share it with others to ask their opinion.

If you can share your work with someone else and explain how you made it and what you are most proud of it.

Now, if you're able to stick the photograph you took of your work in your sketch book, or you can draw it and on the screen, you can see a page from my sketchbook, and here's my drawing of my clay sculpture.

And around my drawing I've added labels to explain what techniques I used and what materials I used.

And I'd also like you to write down in your sketchbook what you like best about your work.

So choose two or three things.

And one thing, two things that could be even better.

Now in my sketchbook, I've said that I really liked the way in which I've sculpted the shape of the head.

I also like my choice of pastel colour for the finishing touches.

But I do think that the texture for the fur could have been better.

I also think that my clay plinth could have be a little bit larger.

So your turn now, stick your photograph in your sketchbook if you can, or draw your clay sculpture.

And then write down two or three things that you like most about it and one or two things that could be even better.

And when you've done that restart the video.

Before we finish this unit on ceramics let's recap on your learning.

On the screen, you can see photographs, lots of different techniques that are used when working with clay.

Can you point to or say the number of the photograph that shows the slabbing technique? The answer is, number one.

And which number photograph is an example of impressing into clay? And the answer to that is number three.

And which one is an example of a clay sculpture? Yes.

That one is number eight.

And which number photograph is an example of some clay coils? So that one is number four and which number and photograph show the technique of joining clay slabs together? That one is number two.

And you may remember that to join the slabs together, you have to use the scoring and slip technique.

Now which photograph and number is an example of drawing into clay? Yes, that one is number seven And which one shows a coiled pot? That one is number five.

So just two more left Which photograph and number is an example of painting a design onto clay? The answer is number nine which leaves just one answer left.

So which one is an example of a pinch pot? Yes, there was only one left.

So that was number six.

So how did you get on, did you find all the correct answers? Well done for all of the amazing work you've done in this lesson and across the ceramics unit, and I hope it's inspired you to do even more clay work.

Now if you'd like to share any of your work, please ask your parents or carer to take a photograph of it and to share it with Oak National on Twitter tagging @OakNational and hashtag LearnwithOak.