Stone Mountain

Last week I posted about Gutzon Borglum’s Mount Rushmore monument to the first 150 years of United States history. But Mount Rushmore was not Borglum’s first attempt at a major mountainside monument. In 1915, Borglum agreed to carve a memorial on the face of Stone Mountain near Atlanta, Georgia.
The completed Confederate Memorial Carving at Stone Mountain, Georgia shows Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Confederate General Stonewall Jackson, all on horseback. The carving is about the size of 3 football fields. It took 56 years and 3 sculptors to complete. None of what you see today was Gutzon Borglum’s work.

The United Daughters of the Confederacy’s original plan for the mountain was a twenty-foot carving of General Lee. Borglum agreed to complete the carving, but convinced them that a 20 sculpture was much too small for a mountain that size. He suggested a carving like the one on the mountain today. In my opinion, it’s still a little small on that huge mountain.
Borglum ran into a problem when it was time to begin work: How would he sketch his idea onto the mountain? He thought about this problem for a long time before developing a sort of overhead projector that could enlarge his sketch and project it onto the mountain. This projector was much larger than the ones teachers use in the classroom but worked in a similar way.

Gutzon Borglum prepared the mountain for carving begin in 1916. In 1923, real work began on the sculpture. Borglum and the United Daughters of the Confederacy did not get along and he finished carving only General Lee into the mountain when he left the Georgia.

Augustus Lukeman took over the project. His design was slightly different but still included General Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and General Jackson. In 1928, Lukeman blasted Borglum’s carving of General Lee from the mountain with dynamite. Unfortunately for Lukeman, Gutzon Borglum still had some friends working on Stone Mountain who did not want to see Borglum’s work destroyed. Lukeman did not last much longer.

No more work was done on the mountain until 1963 when Walter Hancock took over as sculptor. He decided to keep most of Lukeman’s design and workers cleaned the mildew from the mountain before continuing the carving. The sculpture was finished in 1970 but was not declared a completed piece of art until 1972.

I did not visit Stone Mountain on my road trip this summer, but I have been there. When I was in high school I took a trip to Atlanta, Georgia. In the evenings people sit on grass, listen to music, and watch the laser light show that is projected onto the mountain.

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Mount Rushmore

I mentioned on Tuesday that I did a bit of travelling this summer. In August and September I went on an amazing, 17-day road trip across the country and one of the things I saw was Mount Rushmore. After a visit to the sculptor’s studio, I knew I would have to tell you all about it.
Mount Rushmore is located in the Black Hills in South Dakota:
About 2 million people visit each year and I can understand why. The massive faces of former presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln have been carved into the mountainside in stunning detail that’s impossible to portray in a photograph. It’s tough to believe that the monument was meant to be much larger.

In the mid-1920s, the United States Congress decided to build the monument at Mount Rushmore in order to increase tourism in South Dakota. Sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who I’ll tell you more about next week, decided to take on the project.

Because Mount Rushmore was to be so large, Borglum couldn’t sculpt the entire mountain by himself. Instead, Borglum designed the monument and managed the men who actually carved the sculpture. It was dangerous work. As they carved, the men hung from the side of the mountain in swings like the one shown below!
It wasn’t easy to carve the faces into the solid granite mountain. The men had to blast away a lot of the rock using dynamite before they could begin to carve. They used a jackhammer, like the one below, to make holes for the dynamite.

Below is a man using a jackhammer to create holes in the mountain.

Dynamite was also used to erase mistakes from the mountain. Borglum originally settled on a design for the mountain that put Thomas Jefferson to the left of George Washington. When he discovered that the rock on that side of George Washington wasn’t strong enough to support the sculpture, the men blasted Jefferson off the mountain and began again on the other side of Washington.

Once the basic shapes of the faces had been created with dynamite, the men were able to use chisels and mallets to carve the finer details. Finally, they used a tool like the one below to smooth out the granite. The metal piece slips into the handle and then works like a small jackhammer to chip away tiny pieces of rock.
This process took 14 years; carving began in October 1927 and ended in October 1941.

Imagine how long it would have taken to carve the entire monument that Borglum designed:
In March 1941, Borglum died and his son took over the project. The United States became involved in World War II and Congress decided that we could not spend any more money on Mount Rushmore. It declared the mountain a finished piece of art.

And if this wasn't enough, check out this Lego Mount Rushmore. I did not see the Lego version, sadly.

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Sculpt Your Own Clay Birthday Cake

Today I am 24. Unless I can somehow have a party in a hot air balloon, I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than to do a birthday art project with you all.
So today, sculpt your own clay birthday cake.

Supplies Needed:

Clay (flour, salt, water)
Paint
Paintbrush
Pipe cleaner
Wax paper
Aluminum foil
Scissors
This project would be much simpler if you use colored, store-bought polymer clay rather than making your own clay and painting it. That said, if you enjoy a challenge, follow these to directions to make your own clay for this project. A warning: it’s tough to mix the clay so an adult should at least help.

In a bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, ¾ of a cup of water, and ¾ of a cup of salt. Mix with a wooden spoon until it becomes too difficult to do so. You’ll want to add a little more water, about another 1/8 of a cup, as you continue to mix with your hands.
Spread a sheet of wax paper over your workspace. Begin with a ball of clay that is about two handfuls big. Roll it around in your hands until it is a smooth ball. Then, shape it into a rounded square by pressing each side gently onto the wax paper. When it is the shape of a small cake, set it aside.

Roll out a long snake of clay. This will be the icing around the bottom of the cake. When the snake is smooth, wrap it around the base of the cake.
Cut a square of aluminum foil. This is the cake tray. Place the cake on the tray.

Cut four pieces of pipe cleaner, about 1 inch long each, and press them into the cake. These are the candles. Remove them from the cake so you can paint.
Let the cake dry. It needs to dry at least over night before you paint it.

Mix a little bit of yellow paint with white to make a butter cream frosting (no vanilla on my cake!) and paint the cake with it. I had trouble making the paint look smooth so I used a palette knife to even out the paint, just like you would use a knife to smooth out frosting.

Choose a color for the icing around the base of the cake. Carefully paint the icing.

Paint decorations onto the top of the cake.

Finally, push the pipe-cleaner candles back into the cake.
Remember, this one’s just for decoration!

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Create Your Own Salt Ceramic Decorative Ball

Sometimes it’s fun to paint on something other than paper or canvas. This project gives you the chance to do just that.

Supplies Needed:

Salt
Corn Starch
Water
Measuring Cup
Wooden Spoon
___

Wax Paper
Mod Podge
Paint
Paintbrush
Newspaper (optional)

First, ask an adult to make the salt ceramic for you. It takes fewer than five minutes to make. The adult should mix 1 cup of table salt, ½ cup of corn starch, and ¾ cup of water in a sauce pan. Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly. The mixture will get sticky and quickly form a ball. At this point, remove it from the heat. Wait a few minutes for it to cool enough to handle, then kneed the ball to soften it. At this point, the salt ceramic can be wrapped in wax paper and placed in an air tight container for storage, or molded into a sculpture.

Cover your work space with wax paper. As the salt ceramic dries, it gets sticky but it will not stick to wax paper. To make a ball, crumple up a piece of newspaper and mold salt ceramic around it. If you want to use your decorative ball as a paper weight, just roll out a ball without newspaper stuffing. If you don’t use newspaper, the ball will take longer to dry.

Salt ceramic is just like hardening clay. You can mold any shape so feel free to use your creativity.
Allow your ball to dry. This will take several days.

When the ball has dried, brush a layer of Mod Podge over it to seal it. Mod Podge dries quickly. You’ll only need to wait about 5 minutes before you can paint.
Choose colors and paint any pattern or picture you want.

Finally, when the paint has dried, brush another coat of Mod Podge over your creation.

Enjoy!

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Create Your Own Calder Mobile

Yesterday you learned about Alexander Calder, his circus, his stabiles, and his mobiles. Today, try your hand at creating a mobile, just like Calder.

Supplies Needed:

Construction Paper
Scissors
Hole Punch
Thread (or yarn for younger children)
Sticks
White Glue

This is a great project for older kids who are learning about weight and balance, though, with a little help, younger children can also enjoy creating mobile art.

Gather your materials. Venture outside to collect some sticks. Look for sticks of different lengths but try to choose slim sticks rather than fat ones. Then choose as many or as few colors of construction paper as you wish.

Cut out shapes from your construction paper. I chose to make rounded forms but you can cut any shapes you want. You can even cut out fish or birds. Punch a hole at the top of each cut out.
Lay your sticks out in the order you plan to tie them. I made only four levels but Calder’s mobiles could be much larger. Often his mobiles had five or more levels. The more levels you create, the more difficult it will be to balance your mobile. I would not make your mobile much larger than mine.
Tie your sticks together. Leave the threads or yarn a little loose so you can slide them along the sticks if you need to adjust later. Next, tie the shapes to the sticks.
Have an adult help you hang your mobile from the ceiling or in a doorway. Your adult helper can also help you fix the balance of all the parts of your mobile. Start at the top of your mobile and work your way down. Slide the top thread back and forth along the uppermost stick until the stick hangs straight. Dab a little glue on the thread to hold it in place. Do the same for the next stick and then the next until all of your sticks hang horizontally.
Enjoy your mobile as it swings and spins with the air currents in your home.

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Ancient Egyptian Art, Part 3- Sculpture

The sculpture of the ancient Egyptians followed many of the same strict rules as the paintings and carvings. Since most of the sculptures showed pharaohs or gods and were expected to help in the afterlife, it makes sense that the Egyptians would take the art form seriously.

Sculptures never showed illness. They never showed injury or deformity. These things had no place in the afterlife which was supposed to be just like life—if things were always perfect. The sculptures usually showed the pharaoh, sometimes with animal-formed gods, sometimes with family, sometimes holding offerings to the gods. The pharaoh always wore a peaceful expression and stood (or sat or knelt) in a confident pose that made him look young and strong.

The sculptures were also very well finished and perfectly polished. In the 1000s BC, the power of the pharaohs weakened and the quality of the statues worsened. The sculptures were still pretty spectacular (and huge), and the quality of the early centuries of Egyptian sculpture eventually returned.
Because the sculptures of rulers were often several stories tall, scaffolding had to be used. The Egyptians tied sturdy reeds together to create wide ladders. The sculptors could stand on the ladders to reach the middles and tops of the sculptures. Using chisels and wooden mallets, teams of sculptors chipped away at blocks of stone to create sculptures.

Other sculptors then worked on smoothing out the stone. They created sandpaper by pressing sand between a rock and the sculpture. The sculptor would rub until the sand had all fallen away, then added more and continued. You can imagine that this would take a long time if only one person worked on it. This is one reason why Egyptian sculptors worked in teams.
When the sculpture is smooth and perfect, the sculptors carved the name of the pharaoh into the back of the sculpture.
There were, of course, smaller sculptures made for the tombs of other Egyptians, but they weren’t as large or well-finished as those created for the pharaoh.

More Egyptian art to come! Check back tomorrow.

EDITED TO ADD: Part 4- Amarna Art, Part 5- Fayum Portraits

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Nike of Samothrace

Nike of Samothrace (or the Winged Victory of Samothrace) was sculpted sometime between 220 and 190BC by an unknown sculptor. The sculpture depicts the Greek goddess of Victory, Nike, as she lands on a naval ship after a victory at battle. Her dress clings to her body as she leans into the wind that she flew in on. The base that she stands on is the prow (back) of the ship and is an original part of the sculpture. It was found in pieces and put back together before it was shipped to the Louvre in Paris.

Like the Venus de Milo, which you read about yesterday, Nike of Samothrace was discovered on an island in the Aegean Sea. A French archaeologist found the sculpture on Samothrace (thus the name) in 1863. Her arms and head were (and still are) missing and the right wing is a reproduction based on the left wing.
Despite the condition of the sculpture, Nike of Samothrace stands grandly upon the ship on the landing of a prominent staircase in the Louvre. She continues to attract hordes of visitors and to stun even those who didn’t expect to see her.

Unfortunately that’s it for today. I’m taking a graduate school entrance exam early in the morning so I must get some sleep. Wish me luck!

EDITED TO ADD: I forgot to add the pictures last night! Luckily, blogs can be edited. Also, the test went extremely well. I am 99% sure I passed. (I only scores for two of three section and they're unofficial scores. I don't want to jinx myself!) I'll keep you updated.

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Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 5.25/50 hours

Venus de Milo

The beautiful marble statue, Venus de Milo, stands 6.7 feet (203 cm) tall in the Louvre in Paris. It was created in about 130BC by Alexandros of Antioch. The French ended up with the Greek sculpture and named it Venus, even though this is the Roman name of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love. This sculpture has an interesting history which I will relay to you today.

She was found hidden away in a cavern on the island of Milos in the Aegean Sea in 1820. She was broken in pieces: upper body, lower body, top of left arm, left hand holding an apple, and inscribed base. The peasant who found her, Yorgos Kentrotas, knew that he should turn her in to the Turkish authorities but he found her beauty so great that he kept her for himself. He was probably also interested in how much money he could make if he sold her to the right buyer. Eventually, the officials learned of the discovery and took Venus de Milo from Kentrotas’ barn.

While visiting the island, a French naval officer d’Urville discovered the sculpture. He knew it was valuable and wanted to buy it for the French. The peasant was willing to sell it but d’Urville’s captain, uninterested in antiquities, said there was no room on the ship for her. When his ship reached Constantinople, d’Urville showed sketches of the sculpture to the French ambassador who immediately sent someone to buy the Venus de Milo for France.

The French arrived as the sculpture was being loaded onto a ship. It was to be delivered to the Sultan of Constantinople’s translator as a gift from the natives of the island. The French fought for the Venus de Milo and were victorious.
Once at the Louvre, the sculpture was put back together but the arms were not as well finished as the rest of the sculpture so they were left off. Experts later determined that the arms were original pieces of the Venus de Milo. The inscribed base told us who had created the sculpture, Alexandros of Antioch, but it dated the Venus de Milo much later than the French had originally thought. That piece of the base has mysteriously disappeared, though we haven’t forgotten the information it taught us.

French sculptors worked to create a new set of arms for the Venus de Milo but she was ultimately left armless. We do know that the right arm originally rested on the raised knee to hold up the drapery. The left arm crossed her body and held an apple. The sculpture was once painted in bright colors and decorated with jewelry but none of that remains.

Please note that I've added some links to the side bar: Art Knowledge News and Fine Art at Home.

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Current NaNoEdMo Hour Count: 4.25/50 hours

Introduction to Art Nouveau

Art Nouveau was a popular art movement from around 1880 to 1915 which developed differently in many places around the world. For this reason, it would be complicated to explain the history of the movement in just one blog post. Today, you’ll get just an introduction to what makes Art Nouveau Art Nouveau.

The Art Nouveau style was applied not only to painting and sculpture but also to architecture, furniture, jewelry, fabrics, and all types of materials used for interior and exterior design. You can even find silverware done in the Art Nouveau style. One of the most famous Art Nouveau designs is the metro entrance created by Hector Guimard that can be seen all over Paris. The image shown below isn’t great but you can see that the post seem to grow like the stems of flowers and spread out into careful placed stalks. The design has even been copied and used elsewhere, including in places in Chicago.

The most distinguishing aspect is the overall look of an Art Nouveau object. Usually it consists of curvy lines with smooth surfaces. The object will look as if it has grown from nature. Often, the artist will use natural objects for inspiration such as seashells, flames, trees, flowers, and animals.

Furthermore, Art Nouveau was extremely closely linked to Symbolism, a movement in which artists tried to show truth using unrealistic or fantastical objects. This could include religious icons or mythical creatures.
The glass sculpture shown above is a hand which rises out of a sea and is covered with seashells and algae. In fact it’s called Hand, Surrounded by Algae and Shells by Emile Galle. As was often the case with Art Nouveau pieces, this sculpture has symbolic meaning. The hand represents mankind which is in harmony with nature. This is apparent by the way the waves and algae and shells and hand are all made of complimentary materials and all run together smoothly. The hand, however, is in danger of being overtaken by the sea, the power of nature, just as people as a whole are in endangered by the power of nature. While we are usually in control, there is always the possibility that a hurricane or tidal wave or storm will take away that control.

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Jen Stark's Paper Sculpture

Happy Thanksgiving! And since today, I’m assuming, won’t be a big crafting day (at least here in the U.S.), I thought I’d post a link to a really cool website I found recently. The artist is Jen Stark and I love her paper sculpture. Click here to flip through her gallery. What I find so stunning about this art is that it is quite simple but looks extremely complex.

Also, you could create your own colorful, 3D paper art (like this piece) with just a pair of scissors, some glue, and craft paper. Cut your top sheet of paper into a strange shape. Cut the next sheet into a similar shape that is slightly larger. Continue with as many sheets as you’d like to use—five, ten, twenty-five.

If you want a shape to stick out of the center, you’ll have to do some measuring, but the basic idea is that the shape you cut in the top sheet should be the largest and each shape below should get progressively smaller. Make sure to leave one side of the shape attached or you won’t be able to fold it up. A craft knife would make this step easier but you’ll need an adult to help you.

When you’ve finished all the cutting, line up the papers so they look the way you want, then use a glue stick to attach the sheets to each other.

Voila!

If you try this project, leave me a comment about your experience or send me an email with a photo of your creation and I’ll post it here.

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NaNoWriMo Word Count:
Check yesterday’s meter; I didn’t write a single word today. I have extremely high hopes for the long weekend, though.

Tune in tomorrow for an excerpt!

Create Your Own Clay Monster

Remember making a clay sculpture? Today, decorate your home for Halloween with scary, clay monsters.

Supplies Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 ½ Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Optional Supplies:

Paints
Paintbrushes
Craft Sealant

Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth.

When you made your first clay sculpture, you laid out wax paper to protect your workspace. This time, use newspaper. When you’ve created the shape of your monster, press the newspaper against it so the black newsprint smears over your monster. This will make it look darker and dirtier. You could even choose scary phrases to press into your monster, though the phrases will read backward.

Mold the clay into any size and shape monster you like. If you need some inspiration, read Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are. Poke sticks into the clay to make long, spiky fingernails and teeth. Use sequins to make scales or polka dots. Remember that you are going to heat the monster in the oven so you should stay away from most plastic items (which will melt) and certainly paper (which is prone to catching on fire).

When you’ve finished your masterpiece, place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about 50 minutes. Once the sculpture has cooled you can paint it with a craft sealant to give it a shiny appearance or display the monster without sealing it.

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Fresco Project

Since I posted about Michelangelo and frescoes, I’ve noticed a lot of people have come in search of a fresco project. I did not originally post one because frescoes are complicated and involve toxic materials. When you mix plaster it gets hot and gives off fumes and this would not be a fun project or a very safe one.

That being said, I remember a project I did when I was in elementary school that was a modified fresco project, using plaster of Paris. If you are really interested in creating your own fresco, try this.

Supplies Needed:

Plaster of Paris
Watercolor Paints
Paintbrush
Clay (recipe below)
Thin cardboard (cereal boxes)

Purchase some plaster of Paris and mix according to the instructions on the package. You’ll want to let it set for a few minutes before pouring it into a mold. I recommend making a mold out of clay and thin cardboard.

Follow the directions for clay:

Supplies Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 1/2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth. That’s all there is to it; you have homemade clay.

Mold the clay into a thin, smooth sheet (about half an inch thick). Cut some strips of thin cardboard (try using a cereal box) and stick them into the clay to create a wall. You can make your fresco any shape by just arranging the cardboard into that shape. Make sure to tape the edges where the pieces of cardboard meet. If you want your fresco to be rectangular, just cut the two large sides off the box and use the remaining pieces.

Alternatively, you could use a tupperware container as a mold but you may destroy the container and will certainly not want to keep food in it again.

Pour the plaster of Paris into the mold and let it set. Plaster of Paris will heat up as it sets but it will not be dangerous; it will only reach about 80 degrees. If you want to paint on the plaster as it dries feel free to try it but wait until it hardens a bit. If you try to paint on it while it still looks like pancake batter your paintbrush will sink in and leave blobs of paint in the plaster of Paris.

To turn your fresco into a wall hanging, cut a piece of string and bury the two ends in the plaster before it has fully set. You'll be able to hang the fresco from this string once the plaster of Paris has set.

When I did this project in art class in elementary school, the art teacher created the molds ahead of time at let them dry completely. This allowed us to draw the outline of our picture onto the dried plaster with a pencil. The project also took several hours to complete and art class was one hour at the longest. We couldn’t have finished it before the plaster of Paris dried.

Maybe you should make two molds and paint on one as it hardens and the other one after it hardens. Let me know which works best.

Want to use that clay you made earlier to make a sculpture? Click here to make your own clay sculpture.


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Create Your Own Papier Mache Sculpture

Making a huge papier mache sculpture like Niki de Saint Phalle is not easy, but making a smaller one is very simple. Follow the directions below to create one of your own.

Supplies Needed:

Newspaper, torn into strips
Flour
Water
Salt
Bowl
Acrylic Craft Paint
Paintbrush
Cup for rinsing paintbrush
Craft Sealant
Coated Craft Wire (Optional)

Cover your work space with sheets of newspaper to make clean up easy. Gather your supplies.

In a bowl, mix one cup of flour, two tablespoons of salt, and two cups of water and stir until the mixture is smooth. You’ll know you’ve stirred it enough when it looks like thick glue. In the picture you can see that my mixture still has a few lumps left but it worked fine. Keep you wooden spoon handy for stirring later because the floor tends to settle at the bottom of the bowl .
I find it’s easier to create a sculpture if you make a frame out of wire and then attach the papier mache to the frame. This is what Edgar Degas did when he created Little Dancer, Age Fourteen. You don’t have to do this, though. Be careful when twisting the wire—the ends can be sharp.
Dip a strip of newspaper into the papier mache mixture and wet both sides. Try to wipe off any extra mixture. This will allow your sculpture will dry faster. I find it’s easiest to run the strip through your fingers to wipe off the excess. Then add the strip to your sculpture. Keep adding strips until the sculpture looks the way you want it.
Let your sculpture dry. This could take as long as two days depending on how much papier mache you used.

When the sculpture has dried, use your acrylic craft paint to decorate it. Let the paint dry and then brush on some craft sealant like Mod Podge to protect your sculpture and to make it shiny.

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Sculpture Spotlight: Niki de Saint Phalle

Niki de Saint Phalle, born in Paris in 1930, became famous for her enormous and colorful sculptures. Most of these sculptures are of women, and are called Nanas, but she did sculpt other subjects, as you can see here. These are picture of Stravinsky Fountain in Paris, France.

De Saint Phalle created her first Nana in 1965 out of papier mache. Later, she began using plaster because it was sturdier and allowed her to make sculptures so huge that people could walk through them. The Grotto in Hannover, Germany and the Tarot Garden in Tuscany, Italy are two of these sites.

After building a sculpture, she painted or applied mosaic in wild patterns and bright colors. If you ever get a chance to visit one of de Saint Phalle’s sculpture gardens you will have a great time. They are like playgrounds made out of beautiful sculpture.

You’ll also notice that there are a lot of fountains and metal sculptures in de Saint Phalle’s gardens. These were created by her husband, Jean Tinguely. I like the contrast between the dark, cold, metal sculptures by Tinguely and the rounded, happy, colorful sculptures by de Saint Phalle. What do you think?

For more information about Niki de Saint Phalle, click to visit her official website.

Check back tomorrow to learn how to make your own papier mache sculpture!

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Make an Edible Clay Sculpture

This clay tastes like candy! And you can play with it!

Materials Needed:

1/3 cup margarine
1/3 cup light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pound confectioner’s sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, peppermint extract, or other flavoring
Mixing Spoon
Food Coloring

In a large bowl, combine margarine, light corn syrup, salt, and flavoring. Mix well. Slowly add the confectioner’s sugar. Stir until your mixture looks like clay.

Divide the edible clay into 4 or more balls and add a few drops of food coloring to each ball. Kneed the food coloring into the clay until the color is spread evenly. Make each ball a different color.

Now you’re ready to create a masterpiece. When you’ve finished, enjoy eating your sculpture.

If you have any extra clay, place each ball into a different Ziplock bag and keep in the refrigerator until next time. After two weeks, throw away the left over clay.

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Lost Wax Casting

On Tuesday you read about Edgar Degas’ Little Dancer, Age Fourteen. After Degas died his family made bronze copies (casts) of his original sculpture. Many people wonder how a sculpture could be created out of bronze, a hard metal. Even when an artist intends the final work of art to be made out of bronze he still begins with a clay sculpture. (Degas used waxed for Little Dancer, Age Fourteen. His family would have skipped a few steps of this process.)

First, the artist creates the sculpture out of clay. Then he pours either rubber or plaster over the sculpture to create a mold. When the clay is pulled out, the hollow area is a copy the original sculpture.

Next, wax is poured into the mold, creating a copy of the sculpture in wax. The artist must perfect any detail that didn’t come out right in the wax cast. Another layer of wax is poured over the cast to create a new hollow copy of the sculpture. Since Degas’ sculpture was made out of wax, his family would have started here when making bronze casts.

This hollow wax shell is covered with a fireproof material called an investment. When the investment has hardened, the wax is melted away. Into the investment, the artist pours the melted bronze. Once the bronze has cooled and hardened, the investment is broken and pulled away leaving the bronze cast.

All that is left to do now is clean up the cast and fix anything that didn’t come out of the invested smoothly. Often this means smoothing out seams and fixing small details such as eyes or fingernails.

I have created an illustration of the process of lost wax casting which you can find below.

This is not something you could do at home. In fact, many artists send the hollow wax mold to a professional rather than melt and pour the bronze themselves.

Click to see pictures of how a jeweler uses lost wax casting to make a ring.

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Create Your Own Clay Sculpture

You’ve already learned how Degas created Little Dancer, Age Fourteen by molding wax onto a wire frame. You’ve also learned about Michelangelo chipping away at a block of stone until David appeared. Now you can make your own sculpture using the clay recipe below. This is a very simple recipe but make sure to ask a parent before you start.


Materials Needed:

2 Cups Flour
1 Cup Salt
1 Cup Water
1 ½ Tbsp Vegetable Oil

Optional Materials:

Paints
Paintbrushes
Craft Sealant

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl. Slowly stir in the water and the oil until there are no more lumps. The mixture should be smooth. That’s all there is to it; you have homemade clay. I recommend setting up sheets of wax paper to sculpt on because the clay won’t stick to it. It will also protect your work space. If you use newspaper, the black ink will show up in your clay. You could also just sprinkle the table with flour to prevent sticking.

When you’ve finished your masterpiece, place it on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 degrees for about fifty minutes. Once the sculpture has cooled, you can paint it if you’d like. When the paint has dried, if you love your sculpture, paint it with a craft sealant. This will preserve the paint over time and give it a shiny appearance.

Keep any left-over dough in a plastic bag to keep it from drying out.


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Degas' Little Dancer, Age Fourteen

When Edgar Degas sculpted Little Dancer, Age Fourteen, he meant to change the way people viewed beauty. He didn’t sculpt a tall, slender ballerina out of sleek clay. Instead he chose a young dancer who hadn’t yet grown into her womanly figure. He chose a dancer who was still learning and struggling to become a star. Then he molded her in resting pose rather than in the middle of a complicated but beautiful maneuver.

The little ballerina looks tired because she probably was. Many ballerinas during Degas’ time were very poor and studied ballet as a way out of the slums. This was the case with the model Degas used for Little Dancer, Age Fourteen. Her name was Marie Van Goethem. Though she was fired from the dance company when she was seventeen and never became the star she wished to be, Degas’ sculpture has made her a recognized figure all over the world. When the sculpture was shown to the public during the 6th Impressionist Exhibition in Paris in 1881, many thought it was ugly, though some understood that Degas was trying to show beauty in truth. Today, the sculpture is loved my many.

Degas created Little Dancer, Age Fourteen by layering yellow wax over a wire frame. When he had completed the sculpture he added real ballet slippers, which he covered with a thin layer of wax, real hair tied with a ribbon, a bodice made of linen, and a muslin tutu. He thought the sculpture would have disintegrated before he died and, in fact, many of his wax sculptures were broken and falling apart when he died. Degas’ heirs quickly cast the wax sculpture in bronze, making many copies. The original wax sculpture no longer exists. Today, many museums have bronze casts of Degas’ sculpture, Little Dancer, Age Fourteen. The one shown here stands in the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, France. Also in the case, notice the smaller sculpture which was a study for Little Dancer, Age Fourteen.

Check back tomorrow for a homemade clay recipe. You can make a sculpture, too!

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Nathan Sawaya's Lego Sculptures

Unfortunately, I’m still sick so here’s a link to a cool video about artist, Nathan Sawaya. Sawaya creates huge, colorful sculptures out of Legos. I used to love building with Legos but I never made anything like this! Maybe he’ll inspire you to create something of your own.

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Artist Profile: Michelangelo

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, called Michelangelo, was an artist during the Renaissance. He was born in Italy in 1475. He was brilliant and talented in many ways; he could paint, sculpt, design buildings, and write poetry. He is best known for his sculptures and frescos (paintings on wet plaster).

When Michelangelo was a child, his mother became ill and couldn’t care for him, so he was sent to live with a stonecutter and his wife. Michelangelo joked that this is where he learned to love cutting stone into sculpture.

Michelangelo spent years studying the human body. He even looked at dead bodies so he could learn the way the muscles and bones were attached and how arms and legs moved. He drew sketches of people in various positions, concentrating on getting the muscles just right. Many of these sketches still exist so we can see how Michelangelo prepared to create his masterpieces.

Michelangelo was very religious and many of his masterpieces show religious scenes or people from the bible. One of his most famous sculptures was David, the biblical hero who defeated Goliath. The sculpture was originally meant to stand in front of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. Today, a copy of Michelangelo’s work stands in this place (shown on the left). David is the statue on the left side of the door. The original (on the right side of the page) is in the Accademia, a Florence museum.

Michelangelo believed that there was a sculpture in every piece of stone. He tried to let the stone speak to him and become what it was meant to be. His job as the artist was to free the sculpture from the stone.

Among his most famous paintings is the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Italy. It is made up of many panels illustrating scenes from the bible which Michelangelo painted directly onto the ceiling. A picture of the ceiling is shown below. I’ll write a post on the Sistine Chapel ceiling later this week and talk about some of the scenes and how Michelangelo painted this masterpiece.

When Michelangelo died in 1564, he had become one of the most known and admired artists of his time. He was even called “Il Divino” which means “the divine one.”

EDITED TO ADD: Check out my post on Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel

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