Placed on a Pedestal: Famous Faces in Clay

Making Commemorative Portrait Busts

I'm a firm believer that the same basic content can be taught to any age student, as long as the ideas and vocabulary are tailored for the specific grade level. I have used this lesson with 5th graders and with my preservice students at the University of North Texas.


Artists have created portraits of people for thousands of years. In sculpture, a portrait of a    person’s face often includes the neck and part of the shoulders and chest. These artworks are called portrait busts - three-dimensional forms with height, width, and depth.

I asked my fifth grade students to each chose an historic or contemporary person to commemorate in a clay portrait bust (sometimes I assign self-portraits). 


Because my school had a character education program that provides posters that show images of students on architectural columns, I thought we could add pedestal columns this time for these commemorative clay busts. 

Objectives

Students will create a recognizable portrait bust of a famous person, historic or contemporary, and recognize different types of columns used in architecture.

Materials

earthenware or stoneware clay or self-hardening clay or similar materials; plastic or canvas   to cover tables; clay modeling tools; containers of water; paper towels; gallon-size plastic bags; masking tape; glazes or acrylic or watercolor paints

1.    Starting with the Columns

   
   

      To begin, we looked at images of the three main types of columns - Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian – and where we might find examples of them, both locally and around the world. Students then each rolled a short, thick cylinder of clay (about ¼ pound) for the base. To these they added decorations as desired, depending on the kind of column each wanted to create. (Small coils of clay work well for column details.) When the columns were complete, they were stored in plastic baggies and labeled with student names written on masking tape with a marker.

   
   

   The Portrait Bust

   
   

   
   

   
   

   Next, we viewed and discussed portrait busts from both historic and contemporary art, such as Jeff Koon’s Louis XIV, 1986, and Michael Jackson and Bubbles, 1988., Ah Xian’s Asian-inspired busts,  M. Houdon ‘s Benjamin Franklin, and Desiderio Settignano’s Laughing Boy. 

   
   

   
   

   After students decided on the subjects of their busts, each began with another piece of clay (about ¼ pound) and shaped it into a thick cylinder. Then they pinched and manipulated the clay to form a neck and shoulders. (Caution students to keep the neck thick enough to support the weight of the head.)

   
   

   Next students formed a round head and pressed the body to widen the shoulders a bit. At this point, students each unwrapped their previously completed columns and attached the bust to the column with slip, a mixture of water, clay, and a few drops of vinegar. Though students could alternately complete the entire bust before joining it to the column, I found it was easier for them to add delicate details by attaching the column at this step.

   
   

   Students shaped their portraits by hand and with clay tools such as craft sticks and pencils and added details such as hair, hats, glasses, clothing, etc., as desired. If they chose, students could use alphabet stamps to identify their portraits in the still wet clay. If this stage was not complete in one day, students stored their work in progress in the same baggies that held their columns.

   
   

   When the portraits were complete, I turned them over and pushed a pencil up through the middle from the bottom, taking care not to come out of the top of the head. This allowed the inside of the clay to dry  so that it wouldn’t explode in the kiln (an experience I, thankfully, have only had once!).

   
   

   Finishing Touches

   
   

   After the busts had dried about two weeks, they were fired. Students then had the choice of glazing them or painting them with metallic tempera paint. (The busts could also be painted with acrylic or watercolor paints.) We displayed the finished commemorative busts in the school library and in the community. Students couldn’t wait to take these home!

   
   

   This lesson is adapted from Studio Exploration for Lessons 1 and 2, Explorations in Art, Grade 5, Davis Publications, 2008, and appeared in the October 2010 SchoolArts.