Ceramics II students built on their facial sculpting knowledge from Ceramics I during this Portrait Bust unit. Each student created a life-sized human head using a wire and newspaper armature. After building a sufficiently sturdy structure, students built the head up with slabs and added facial features and hair with extra pieces of clay.
Students were encourage to think creatively about their subject matter for this unit. They could choose from creating a caricature of a famous person, sculpting a stylized portrait based on an art movement, building an exaggerated replica of a favorite cartoon character or opting for an independent alternate choice.
Once their pieces were sculpted, each student carefully removed the armature from inside their work and hollowed out any areas that had gotten too thick. After making it through the bisque-fire, students chose between acrylic paints or low-fire glazes to finish off their piece.
