Fictional Figure Sculptures
3rd graders began this unit in art by examining human anatomy and proportions. After drawing the human skeleton and muscles, we practiced drawing each other in a series of gesture drawings. Once we practiced our figure-drawing skills, we took our talents and knowledge into the 3-D realm.
My young artists were then asked to reinvent their favorite fictional characters. We looked at how Kiki Smith was inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland and how she transformed the classical character in her work. We first constructed a wire armature to act as the skeleton, adding tin foil and tape to represent the muscles. Next, we added a layer of paper clay to represent the skin and tissue. Finally, we used paint and mixed media to add incredible details to their figure sculptures.