| This is how I teach my grade one to grade seven students to make animals out of clay, starting out with the most basic shapes and then moving up to more complex ones. Process: 1. have a good photo/picture of the animal in side view handy 2. look for the most basic shapes in the animal 3. keeping proportions in mind, recreate those simple shapes in clay, eg oval for body, columns for legs etc. Note: for long legged animals will need to make legs much thicker than in nature so they can support the body, cannot put supporting armature in pottery clay as clay shrinks as it dries and armatures cannot be fired 4. make sure all attachments are smooth and seamless like in nature 5. look for more complex shapes in animal, the more shapes you see and the more shapes you make, the more real your animal will be 6. make a thick clay base and attach animal, put clay base on a cardboard or plastic base so easier to carry and move, add accessories to base to make sculpture more interesting, can add another animal and make something happening, use imagination 7. hollow animal out, needed to allow clay to dry properly, otherwise it may explode in kiln, can close large hole made by hollowing and then make smaller holes to allow air circulation to outside 8. allow to dry for one to two weeks, do not touch during this time, do not want it to break accidentally 9. fire in kiln, local community pottery studio will do this for you for a small fee, can also buy clay and tools from them 10. glue ... |
