Lesson video

Hello, and welcome to your art craft and design lesson.

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

And this lesson is the third lesson in the series of five on ceramics.

And previously we learned about pinching technique and the coiling technique, made a simple pinch pot and coil pots.

You also learned about how to press objects into clay, to create pattern and texture and came with your own designs that could be painted onto the surface of the clay.

And in this lesson, you'll be learning more techniques.

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

For this lesson, you will need the following equipment You will need your sketchbook, a pencil, some clay either natural earth and clay or air drying clay some clay tools and a smooth surface to work up.

Remember to cover the surface where the canvas material or you can use a slightly or use a plastic bond in place.

You'll also need an apron or an old shirt or t-shirt to cover up your clothes.

So in this lesson you will be recapping on your previous learning, you'll be exploring sculpture as an art form, looking at artworks to inspire you in your own making.

You'll also be experimenting with the technique of free modelling the clay and then you'll evaluate your making.

So look out for the key words in the lesson, and now be in a bold coloured format.

And the keywords are, sculpture.

Sculpture is a three dimensional piece of art which has been made by sculpting, carving or shaping materials such as stone, wood and clay.

Art installation.

This is a large scale artwork usually designed to fit in a specific space.

Free modelling, which is working by hand to change the shape of soft materials, such as clay And slip, a mixture of clay and water mixed together to make a liquid.

So let's start off with a recap and see what you can recall from your previous learning.

Do you think this statement is true or false.

Pinching technique is pressing and pinching out a ball of clay using the thumb and fingers.

True or false.

The answer is true.

The pinching technique is the pressing and pinching out a ball of clay using your thumb and fingers.

Next statement.

Colling is pushing objects into soft clay to create a design.

Is this true or is it false? So this answer is false.

Coiling is rolling clay out into long sausage like shapes.

So in this next part of the lesson, we will be looking at examples of different types of sculptures.

Sculpture are works of art that have three dimension they're not flat and you can view them from all sides.

They may be made using different techniques such as modelling, carving, joining and assembling.

And they may be made in materials such as, stone, wood, and clay.

So I'd like you to look at the four pictures on the screen and they're four pictures of different sculptures.

And what I'd like you to do is think about what material each of these sculptures is made out of.

So whether it's made out of wood, sand, clay, or metal.

Now can you match the picture to the correct material that's been used to make the sculpture? So the first sculpture has been made out of sand.

Second one has been made out of wood.

The third one has been made out of metal and this particular sculpture is made out of steel.

Final one is made out of clay.

Now there are many other materials that can be used to make sculptures, including recycle materials such as paper and card and natural materials such as leaves and stones.

Now in this lesson, you will be experimenting with using clay as a medium for making sculptures.

So before we begin experimenting with clay let's get inspired by looking at some artwork.

Now, the image on your screen is of an art installation by the artist Antony Gormley and it's called Field for the British Isles.

Now an art installation is a large scale artwork usually designed to fit in a specific space.

Now what can you see in the picture? What do you think it's made of? There are thousands of clay sculptures, which were made by around a hundred people, all of different ages.

Now the artist Antony Gormley, wanted this work to be a collaborative piece with lots of people contributing to it.

And sometimes artists and craftspeople work on their own producing their own piece of work.

And sometimes they'll work with others to realise their ideas.

Now each person was given some clay, set of instructions to make their clay sculpture.

It had to be hand sized, easy to hold, with two deep set eyes that were close together.

And they were given a pencil to make the eye on.

Each person made several of the clay figures that you can see in the art installation.

So how long do you think it took those people to make the clay figures? It took about a week to make them all.

And all the clay figures being placed on the floor of an art gallery.

And you can only view them from one side.

What does it make you think of when you look at the artwork and how does it make you feel? It makes me feel that I'm missing out on something important that a crowd has gathered.

And I can't see what they can see because I'm on the outside.

I'd like a pair of binoculars.

So I can see the figures right at the other end of the room.

I mean, I imagine each one will look different whether it's the height with the head and the body or the shape and position of the eyes.

So using Anthony Gormley work as inspiration, you will be creating your own clay figure.

So free modelling is working by hand to change the shape of soft materials, such as clay.

We're taking inspiration from Antony Gormley's, Field for the British Isles.

I'm modelling a figure out of a hand size of a drawing clay.

So firstly, I've taken my hand size lump of clay and I start to model it into a body and head.

Now I'm pressing and pinching the clay to get the shape I need.

And I also need to make sure that my finger can stand on its own.

So I'm pressing down on the base.

I keep doing this until I get the size of the body and head that I'm happy with.

So the next step will be to make the eyes.

And just as the people who made Anthony Gormley's figures for the art installation, I'll be using a pencil.

So I take a pencil, press it into the clay to make two eyes.

I need to apply enough pressure to make the eyes deep set but I don't want to press too hard in case my pencil pushes through to the other side of the clay head.

The sculptures in Field for the British Isles intentionally do not have any added details or texture.

And the idea being that they all look almost identical.

Now, I decided to experiment with adding detail and texture by touching some hair and impressive onto the body of my clay figure.

In the video you can see that I've got to slip taken piece of clay and I've pushed the clay through the slip.

Now doing this creates lots of tiny pieces of clay.

And these are ideal to use the hair.

I just scraped the little pieces of hair that I've made the clay hair out of the slip.

And then now on the mat next to my clay sculpture.

I've also mixed them slip, which is made of clay and water mixed together to make a liquid and slip is like a clay based glue.

That's used to securely join pieces of clay together.

And we used it previously to join the tiles of our open box.

The first thing I will do is sculp the top of the head, to create a rough surface using either a sharp pencil or a clay tool.

Then I apply the slip to the head also to the hair and then I press the hair down onto the top of the head, so as to join them together.

I'm just using a play tool gear to securely push the hair down onto the head.

Now I've also impressed with the clay stem into the body to create pattern and texture.

Now you can press with other objects too.

Like we did previously, where we used objects, such as a book, string or even an old toothbrush you can experiment and have it go with a few different ideas.

So now it's your turn have a play with your clay and model it into a head and body first.

And then when you've done that, use a pencil to create two eyes and then add some extra details.

So you could include some hair or if you wanted to, you can make a hat.

So you can see on the screen there's some different examples of patterns that I've made, two of them have got hats.

So just remember if you're going to attach the hat to the head, to skull the surface of the decided, the hat, and the head put some slip on both services and enjoying them together.

And then the two other examples they've got just different types of hair.

So have a little play around with different ideas.

And then when you've done that, press a pattern into the body of your figure.

Now, if you want to practise first, just try out your idea on a spare piece of clay first and just flatten the clay down your hand and then press objects into the clay to see which patterns and textures you like the look on.

Now you can always watch the video again if you need to remind you of how to make your clay figure and when you finish, restart the video.

So now you've made your clay sculpture.

I'd like you to draw a picture of it in your sketchbook.

Now on the screen you can say an example of a page from my sketchbook.

And I've also got my sketchbook in front of me.

And you can see that I stepped down a couple of pictures as well.

And these are of Antony Gormley art installation of Field for the British Isles.

And then I also drawn my clay sculpture and I chose to draw the one, I have a hat on it and then I've added labels to it to label what material I used and what techniques I used as well.

Now I'd like you to do the same.

I'd like you to draw your clay sculpture in your sketchbook and then add labels to it to show what material and techniques you've used.

Now there's keywords on the screen to help you.

You've got clay, score, texture, pattern, module, impress and sleep.

I'd like you to look at your clay sculpture and compare it to those made for Anthony Gormley art installation.

Now, what have you done that is the same and what is different about your work? And if you can, show someone else your work and if someone else has made a clay sculpture like you, you pay your work.

But if not, you can explain to someone how you made it.

Well done.

You've learned even more new techniques for working with clay in this lesson and your becoming quite the expert at working with clay.

Now, if you'd like to share your work with Oak National from this lesson, please ask your parent or carer to take a photograph of it and to share it with national on Twitter tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

See you in the next lesson.