Sculpture Techniques: Construct -- A Schoolhouse Crew Review

In March I was asked if I would consider reviewing an art instruction book for ARTistic Pursuits Inc. 

Specifically, ARTistic Pursuits was hoping to find reviewers who had previously reviewed their one of their Sculpture Techniques books to review the other book in the series. A couple of years ago I reviewed Sculpture Technique: Build, so I offered to review Sculpture Technique: Construct.

When the book arrived, first thing I did was look at the Table of Contents to decide what we would work on. Photo is not too clear, so click on it:

The four units are:

1. Papermaking;
2. Creating Planes in Cardboard;
3. Creating Motion with Papier-Mâché; and
4. Creating Volume with Wire

Looking also at the required materials, between scrounging trash and my previous art supply acquisitions, I had everything I needed, almost. You'll never guess what the hardest thing was for me to scrounge up: newspaper for the papier-mâché!  Who would have thought, ten years ago, that free newspaper would be non-existent in so many households? I finally found some at the local coffee shop that had been read and discarded for whoever wanted it.

So now that I knew I was ready for any of the units/lessons, I handed the book to my son and asked him to pick something we could work on for art. He was immediately drawn to the wire art section. I was glad he skipped paper making for now. I've done paper making with my daughter(s), and I know it can be hard on my blender. If he decides to make paper later, I am ready (if not enthusiastic).

The section he selected gives instruction on making human, animal and other shapes out of wire. My son decided to make a human figurine.

Using floral wire that was left over from the flower preparations for my daughter's wedding in 2013, he quickly made a 5" skeleton frame for a human. 

The book then gives instructions on finishing the figurines in papier-mâché.

Um... My son has his own ideas and often does not read instructions. He asked me for clay. We had it, so I told him where to find it. He finished his (naked) figurine in clay. It turned out wonderfully!

          

Next I focused on the section about shapes and planes. There is instruction initially about layering shapes on a plane. Materials used were a recycled mailing envelope and paper from an old stash of construction paper, and this was created:

The next section we focused on gave instructions to create 3-dimensional shapes from those flat planes. I started with my supply of boxes that I had saved instead of recycling:

The cereal box was opened up and laid flat, then trimmed down to a size appropriate to the template provided in the book.

The cube template was replicated on the cardboard using the ruler and the pen.
The fold lines were creased.

Then the flaps were glued.

If you top a cube with a pyramid, you get a basic house construction, so the next shape tackled was the pyramid. Same concept, the template was transferred to the cardboard, it was cut out, folded and then glued. Then it was stacked on the cube. The pyramid didn't turn out as well as the cube -- probably the pattern was not copied as well.

 

I don't know what else my son will do from this book, but it would be fun if I could get him to create a papier-mâché animal and a wire figure of a boat or a fish, maybe a mobile. We'll have to see if I can get him to do some more work.

I appreciate ARTistic Pursuits permitting me to review Sculpture Technique: Construct for them. I have loved every book I have ever tried by ARTistic Pursuits, and I strongly recommend all of the books in the various grade levels. I encourage you to try one!

Other members of the Review Crew also reviewed ARTistic Pursuits products. To see other product reviews, please click the button below.