7th Grade Giacometti Sculptures

This is one of my favorite projects to do with Middle School students

 

Materials Needed:

18 Gauge Wire (cut 3 pieces total--2 pieces=18 inches, 1 piece=22 inches)

Tape

Newspaper

Plaster Gauze

Black, Green, and Teal acrylic paint

Silver, Gold, and Bronze metallic acrylic paint

Base- can be wooden, or I have used plastic lids before as well

To do this project I first have the students re-visit a lesson on proportion. We use the wooden mannequins to help the students draw out their design. We talk a lot about human proportion and the accurate measurements. The Giacometti sculptures end up being "exaggerated" proportion, but it is helpful when they are building for them to understand proper proportion.

We started by building an armature using the 18 gauge wire. We use the two 18inch pieces to create the ribcage and the legs. The 22inch piece is used to create the head, neck, and arms.  We tape the three pieces together to help add support. It is nice to build up the wire with newspaper to add form. I often tell the students the wire is like the "skeleton" of the figure, the newspaper is like the muscles, and the plaster is like the skin. We tear newspaper into long strips and wrap it around the wire form like a mummy. We add thicker newspaper into the head, torso, and hips, taping to make it stay. Once through the newspaper we can plaster. It is important that the students apply the plaster and smooth it out around the newspaper form.

I like to give these sculptures a metallic finish. I tell the students to pick an under-color to paint the whole sculpture first.

These combinations seem to work really well--

Teal-Copper
Green-Gold
Black-Silver

However, any of the combinations work GREAT with Black--black looks good with copper, silver, or gold.

They will paint the undercoat first, and then apply the metallic finish when the paint is DRY! Using a small sponge you want to sponge paint the metallic over the paint to allow that color to show through.

This is a great project that parents love too! I have one at home on my mantel that I just love. Hope you enjoy!