Unit 5 Projects
Bust construction The way I constructed the bust was I first started with shaping the back of the head and neck. Next, I added clay onto the front of my clay piece to shape some sort of jawline so I could get a better feeling of the proportions of the facial features. I then started with the nose and shaped it for a long time to get it perfect after I was satisfied with the nose I started on the eyes by making two large holes and adding a ball to the center then made two strips for each eye to make a top eyelid and a bottom eyelid I then added the eyebrow bone. After I was happy with how that part of the face looked I tried and failed to make lips but I eventually got it by making two semi-thick strips placing them on the mouth area and making an indent on the top to symbolize the dip in the top of the lip. Once I finished all that I grabbed a large amount of clay in the shape of a rectangle so I could later form it into shoulds and collarbone. I then cut the back of the head and did a craniotomy before I gave up.
Reflection What I did well with this piece Is that I was very proud of the nose and how I got the jawline pretty proportional and the head shape I was also very proud of. Something that didn't go well was I wasn't happy with the eyes I didn't like how they looked more masculine and angry. The reason I stopped making this piece and scrapped it was that When I did the craniotomy I carved them out and I had to pop it back in some places were too thin and when I put the newspaper in it to keep the shape I had to add more clay to attach the back of the head it need up looking bumpy and messy and the sculpture almost looked a bit compresses And I wasn't happy with it so I didn't end up finishing.
Alebreje Construction . The way I constructed this piece was I first got a small square slab and carved out the shape of the stingray. After that, I had to add some volume so I rolled out a thin round piece placed it in the middle and blended it so the body in the middle could be more recognizable and defined after that I rolled out a piece of clay to mimic a tail but I didn't want to make the tail too thin so it is a bit thicker. Then I painted the piece by first doing a blue underglaze on the top and a white underglaze on the bottom. then on the top, I used yellow pink, and purple to make dots all around the top to sort of mimic the design seen on traditional alebrejes.
Reflection: what I did well was the whole construction of the animal itself I thought was pretty good. I love how it turned out and how it looked close to how I wanted it to look. something I could have improved was the painting aspect of the piece. I wish I had done the painting differently and I wish I used more time to work on it It looks a bit rushed and I did sort of rush through it but if I were to do it again I would paint it differently.
Current artist-inspired (Also my useful piece) -construction To construct this piece I used a plate I found and laid newspaper and then a large slab of clay on it. After I laid down the clay I spent a bit of time just smoothing the clay down and making sure there were no imperfections or bumps to make it easier to paint. After the plate had dried I carved the edges to make them all even. And then I removed the hard clay from the mold and the newspaper and began to carve the bottom of it so that the plate was thin enough. Then I painted a design inspired by some of Judy Chicago's pieces from The Dinner Party.
Reflection For this piece I was inspired by some of Judy Chicago's pieces and just the intricate designs that she has on her plates. I wish I could done a plate much closer to what one of hers was like I didn't incorporate her message into the plate something I do regret a bit and if I were to do it again I would try to incorporate that more. But something I did well was I liked how the structure of the plate came out all I would change is my painting choices and add more glaze because there were a few patches.
Mask Construction For my mask I had draped my slab of clay over a pineapple sort of mold just to get that symmetrical face sort of shape. I then smoothed out the clay on the mold to make it all even and nice and to be able to do more with and carve later. Then before letting my piece dry, I cut a large rectangle rounded the edges, and then placed it over the eye area of the mask. I then carved a few very random designs into it and then glazed it.
Reflection Something I had done well was a did like how the shape of the piece turned out. I like how the glaze made the mask look almost like some ancient artifact which I liked. But what I would do differently is I do wish as much as I liked my designs I wish I could have done something different with the designs and made them more textured and I wish I could have taken more time with it.
