Time Duration: 1 class period

Unit Title: Sculpture

Lesson Title: Relief and Round Sculptures

Objectives of Lesson

Upon completion of this lesson, students should be able to:

1. Name several three-dimensional processes and identify the media used in each.

2. Explain how relief sculpture differs from sculpture in the round.

3. Specify why the choice of materials is important for both sculptor and viewer.

Materials Needed

1. Student sketchbooks, drawing pencil, and eraser.

2. Examples of different types of sculptures.

Instructional Procedure with Approximate Time Line

1. Anticipatory Set (5 minutes)

Begin class by asking who has examples of this type of art form in their home? What

memorable sculptures can you recall seeing in a museum, gallery, or public place?

2. Types of Sculpture (10 minutes)

As an art form, sculpture differs from painting in that it exists in space. It can be seen,

touched, and even walked around. Painting may hope to suggest on flat surfaces the

illusion of space, but it is actual space that is of concern to a sculptor. Such an artist sets

out to fill space creatively with three-dimensional forms. At times these forms may record

actual appearances or express emotions or ideas.

3. Relief Sculpture (10 minutes)

Not all sculptures can be viewed from all sides. Relief sculptures are similiar in some ways

to painting in that their three-dimensional forms are attached to a flat surface. Like

paintings, these works are designed to be viewed only from the front. In low relief, or bas

relief, the forms project only slightly from the background. In high

relief the sculptured forms extend boldly out into space.

Greek, Sculpture Relief

4. Sculptures in the Round (10 minutes)

Sculpture in the round is freestanding sculpture surrounded on all sides by space.

However, not all freestanding sculptures are meant to be seen from all sides. Many are

designed to be examined only from the front in much the same way one would look at a

painting or a relief sculpture. An example of such a work is Marisol’s Women and Dog

(show example).

Imagine that you have come upon this sculpture on a street. You would

notice almost immediately that the figures are all facing forward and walking towards you.

There really is no reason for you to walk around this sculpture. Everything of importance

can be seen easily from the front.

Unlike the sculpture of Humpty Dumpty (show example) which invites viewers to

examine it from all sides. Highly polished simplified forms are put together in an

interesting fashion which reminds the viewer of the way Humpty Dumpty may have been

pieced back together again.

Humpty Dumpty, Isamu Noguchi

5. Materials and Tools for Sculpture (15 minutes)

Place yourself in the position of an artist about to transform an idea into three-dimensional

form. A number of important questions must be answered before you can begin. For

example, what material will you use - clay, wood, stone, metal? Then, what tools and

processes are best used with the material selected? Answers to these questions will

determine in large measure what your finished sculpture will look like.

Tourists, Duane Hanson

Let’s look at a sculpture by Duane Hanson called Tourists. Try to imagine how this work

would look if it were made of clay, or wood, or marble rather than fiberglass. Instead of a

slick skin-like surface, picture this sculpture as a clay piece bearing the signs of the

sculptor’s fingers, or a rough-hewn wood carving. Would its appearance - and its impact

on the viewer - be different if it had been carved in a light colored marble?

Clearly, the choice of materials is an important one for both the sculptor and the viewer.

Sculptors choose a certain material because of what they can do with it and what it can

contribute to the finished work. Sometimes a material is favored because of the ease which

the artist can form it. An artist may choose clay because it is easy to manipulate and offers

a great deal of spontaneity. In the skilled hands of Allan Houser (show example), he

worked out the details of The Sacred Rain Arrow in clay before casting it in bronze.

Sacred Rain Arrow, Allan Houser

Other materials may be difficult to work with but make up for this by providing other advantages.

Marble proved to be an excellent choice for Michaelangelo who carved, smoothed, and

polished it to capture the musculature, youthful look of David. Also, think of how light

will play across the various sculptures shown. Value changes across marble will be more

even and softer creating a more still, relaxed, and innocent look. However, across

Houser’s sculpture, the sudden contrast of value changes accent the movement and add life

the piece.