School of the Arts Lesson 5
Sculpting a Human Face
age: 7th - 10th grade
lead instructor: SunHee Oberfoell
instructors: Madigan Young, Cari Ann Rasmussen, Sun Hee Oberfoell, & Tyler Bubser
date: 3/31/22
Iowa Learning Standards:
VA:Cr2.1.8a Demonstrate willingness to experiment, innovate, and take risks to pursue ideas, forms, and meanings that emerge in the process of artmaking or designing.
VA:Cr2.3.7a Apply visual organizational strategies to design and produce a work of art, design, or media that clearly communicates information or ideas
VA:Cr3.1.7a Reflect on and explain important information about personal artwork in an artist statement or another format.
Learning Objectives:
By the end the class, the learner will identify and create the primary structural aspects of shoulders, neck and head using clay
By the end of the class, the learner will define in clay the detailed facial features of eyes, nose, mouth, and ears.
By the end of the class, the learner will express one aspect of their identity using facial expressions in clay by changing the facial muscles and bone structure.
By the end of the class, the learner will sketch their self-portrait based on the golden ratio and proportions of face.
Summary
SunHee began the lesson by setting up the seating arrangements. Each spot had paper and a pencil, 3-4 playing card sized images of bust sculptures, and a name tag. She wanted the students to sit at their name tag spot instead of sitting with the same person as the past three weeks. The drawing paper allowed students to doodle during her presentation which is either a nice way to allow them to use their hands while they have to sit still, or a distraction from SunHee’s lesson. SunHee introduced herself and told the students they would learn how to sculpt a human face today. Then she dove into showing examples of some of her favorite sculpture artists, Franz Xaver Messenschmidt & Camille Claudel, in addition to showing her own work. She highlighted the way each artist used facial expression and body position to express certain emotions. Students practiced observing this by looking at their card images and writing what emotion they saw expressed in each bust sculpture.
The next part of SunHee’s lesson was about the technique of drawing, then sculpting the proportions of a human face. SunHee provided each studio with a packet showing the golden ratio of a human face, along with illustrations and instructions on drawing other parts of the face. This gave students a visual to copy while practicing. Students also had a mirror in front of them so they could use their own reflection as a model. After SunHee talked about the golden ratio and the proportions of the face, she had students start to practice a quick, undetailed, but proportional drawn bust of themselves. Once everyone had time to draw, SunHee moved on to how to sculpt using the same proportion rules. She talked about what a bust sculpture is and what a relief sculpture is. Then, she showed videos of a sculptor creating a bust and a relief of a human face. One thing she kept reminding students of was that the head is egg shaped, since that’s where the starting point is. Before having students dive into worktime, SunHee demonstrated how to begin a bust sculpture.
The final part of class was work time to sculpt a bust or relief portrait with clay. The instructors handed out 4 lbs of clay to each student, along with a cup full of ceramics tools. Instructors helped show students how to cut sections off using the wire tool and students began to shape their bust or relief portraits. Due to the lack of time, SunHee reminded students to focus mostly on proportions today, rather than details and nuances.
Final Outcomes
Each student ended up reaching a point where their bust had head, neck and shoulders shaped and features like eyes, nose, mouth and ears. A few students had added hair to theirs, but none quite had time to add details or think much about facial structures like cheekbones, dimples, etc. All students emphatically nodded when we asked if they were interested in saving the busts to continue working in our last week of the workshop. This response, in addition to the proportional and thoughtful sculptures that they had started, showed engagement and enjoyment with this lesson and medium. We ended the lesson first by spraying the busts with water and wrapping them up in plastic to preserve the malleability. Then, SunHee gathered the students to conclude the lesson. She asked if students were prompted to think about the expression of their sculptures, and how they would sculpt different muscles and features to achieve the expression, as they worked. Then she asked how they felt about this lesson. Students said they found working in 3D and with clay challenging but fun.
