Solid Sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021 (and earlier examples)

dog with goggles sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021

This past week my handbuilding class was finishing their solid built sculptures. I took some progress photos at the midway point last week, though I haven't yet seen the finished versions. I love this project, both because I think the process and results are fun, but also because I've been doing it without major changes for long enough that I enjoy comparing the results quarter to quarter (Winter 2020, Winter 2019, Winter 2018, Winter 2017, alternate assignment Winter and Spring 2020).

dragon sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021

Before the pandemic, I had hybridized my Intro to Clay and Handbuilding classes, both of which have used this same basic project at various times. I wasn't able to teach this project in my online hand-building class, both because it uses a lot of clay and because most students use an internal armature to support their form while it is wet.

The wooden based of Malea Esqueda's amature (Winter 2019) can be seen coming out from between Groot's legs. The wooden block is covered in plastic and the metal piece continues through his body into his head. 

For this project, most students build with solid clay on a wood and metal armature. We have some standard armatures for all students to use and we often we end up supplementing the metal armature with wooden dowels added to support arms, legs, horns, snouts, etc.

Jennifer Martinez's Judas sculpture(Winter 2019) is built around a metal and wood armature and also has a wooden dowel shoved into the front of the face to help support that cantilevered form

This quarter most students used the class armatures for their sculpture, but some students ended up starting work at home, meaning they didn't have access to the class armatures. Without a stiff armature to support the work, students need to either avoid having heavy parts on top of narrow necks or limbs or, alternately, they can makeshift their own armatures. 

Isabella Johnson (Winter 2019) used an external clay armature to support the dogs head while building.

One student this quarter came to class with a sculpture about halfway shaped. The head of her full-body Chuckie doll was being supported with a dowel under the chin. A cardboard box may have been helping to hold up the body.

young man sculpture, in progress (a little earlier in the process than the dog and dragon), Fall 2021

Though some students did work on this at home this quarter, I never tried to assign the whole project for my online students because cutting the piece apart to hollow can be intimidating. Doing these cuts on campus in the studio allows me to support and encourage students when they are cutting, give them assurance that they are cutting correctly, and then physically help them pull and lift when the materials around the armature get stuck.

after the armature was removed, there was still some plastic and tape stuck in the narrow neck. As the head was lifted, the plastic pulled out like scarves in a magic trick

Regardless of what it is made of, the armature helps support and hold up a heavy solid mass of clay when it is balanced on top of skinny form (like a head on a neck) or when it is cantilevered out over nothing (as a dog's head is positioned in front of its body). Not all forms or sculptures require an internal armature, but those who do will eventually need to remove it.

in this dog sculpture built in Winter 2020, the armature held up the dog's head and body until the student got around to adding the legs 

Hollowing the form is an important part of the process, as firing solid clay will cause explosions during firing. Besides being able to be fired within the timeline of the class, a hollowed form is lighter and uses less clay. We can recycle the clay that is eventually removed from the interior of the sculpture.

students at the very start of the solid portrait project, Winter 2020

Starting to build means slapping clay onto an armature or simply starting with a large block of clay. Once their forms and surfaces have been shaped with paddles, hands, and other tools, students allow the surface of the clay to dry somewhat. The inside dries more slowly meaning that when they cut off a section of the sculpture, the inside is soft and relatively easy to remove while the outside is firm and doesn't change shape (much) during carving.

Sean Wilkinson's Dionysis sculpture, amature visible with head removed, Winter 2020

Most students cut off the top of the head, exposing the plastic or paper wrapped armature inside. Then they can pull out the metal part of the armature, which detaches from the wooden base. In some cases the plastic or paper wrapped around the needs to be cut, other times it can simply be pulled out separately.

Jessica Buchholtz's Grinch sculpture, being hollowed, Winter 2020

In some cases, one cut across the head is all that is required. Students can hollow the head from the top down, hollow out the top section separately, then reattach them. The shoulders can be hollowed from the bottom, and all sections are accessible. Other times the sculpture needs to be cut into more sections so as to reach the skinniest sections. This is often the case with full body sculptures where limbs are hard to access, but it can also be the case when the limb or neck is particularly narrow.

animated woman sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021, the armature is clearly the only thing holding up the big head on that skinny neck

As I'm writing this post on the weekend with a Monday due date. I'm looking forward to coming in on Monday to see what the current group of students have finished. This quarter this hybrid class had less on-campus time than I usually prefer (and I'm looking forward to returning to a "normal" schedule in Winter), but it was so much more fun to be in the room while folks were working, after being virtual for the past year plus. Looking back at past sculptures in. progress, and the final results, these students seem to be comparable in the scale and complexity of their forms

Jaxx Brown's Sully, in progress, from Winter 2019

It seemed to me that this quarter's hand-building students were also feeding off each others' energy a bit--one of the main things I missed from on-campus classes. COVID restrictions mean that we have to keep more spread out this quarter than before the pandemic, and, of course, everyone is wearing masks in the classroom. We also are having online critiques to try to address the spacing and timing issues, but, on the bright side, all students are in the same room at the same time for class. Being in the room together means they can see each other's progress, learn from each other's techniques, ideas, and challenges. I only wish they had a bit more time with me during class time.

Medusa, in progress, Fall 2021

This quarter I am also teaching a hybrid Functional Pottery class. That class has lost a lot of students from the start of the quarter and is less than half full at this point. This is unusual for a pottery class, but losing a number of students isn't entirely unusual for a class that filled late. The Functional Pottery class filled late this fall because it was added late. It was added late because I was waiting for permission to teach it on campus, and that permission was waiting on COVID restrictions and mandates.

Leatherface sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021 

The loss of students in the pottery class does have a negative impact, as far as I can tell, on the character of the whole class. I have observed for years that classes with a certain threshhold of committeed students tend to result in improved work from all students, and similarly, classes with a certain threshhold of less committed students can tip the balance into incomplete assignments and less time spent in the studio or working on projects. The students in either case feed off each others' energy. Intermediate students in the room are a positive influence on beginners who see how the intermediate students work. Beginners can directly learn techniques from more experienced students, but they also see the modeling of appropriate studio ettiquite and observe how often those students come in to practice and how they spend their class time.

Seated dancer sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021

I'm not sure if most students make arrangements with each other ahead of time to come in to the studio on the same days or if it happens serendipitously, but a few studenst throwing outside of class tends to result in more students throwing outside of class. I've always guessed that coming in to a nearly empty studio gives students the idea that practicing isn't really something that others do, so they don't choose to do it either. It seems to become a reinforcing cycle of more or less work.

Stuffed elephant sculpture, in progress, Fall 2021

This quarter the handbuilders are at a bit of an advantage over the potters, in that they can take their work home to build on it, and some of them are doing so, but I also have at least a handful of students who come in regularly to work in the studio outside of class time. It helps that their class was larger to begin with, but as a whole, they've also been more consistent about getting the preparation work done before class and then finishing and submitting assignments and projects. As with any class, there are some students working hard in both groups. 

Samantha Reynolds' work in progress, Winter 2019

In any case, I'm looking forward to seeing the portraits finished tomorrow and I'm looking forward to seeing what my potters chose to do for their last projects.  Next week should also be our first glaze firing of the quarter, and the first gas kiln (reduction) firing since March 2020.