Sculpture

Outline
What is Sculpture?
Sculptural Techniques
Materials/ mediums use in
sculpture
Characteristics of the
Materials
Sculptural Concerns

Sculpture
Sculpture comes from Latin word
Sculpere meaning to carve. It
refers to the creation of threedimensional figures, forms
designs from a single block mass
of materials.
Sculpture may be the oldest of
the arts.

Sculpture
There are two major sculptural
processes:
1.Subtractive- unwanted materials is
cut away
2.Additive- construction of a figure
by
putting together.

Duane
Hanson
Tourists,
1970
Example of
Subtractive
sculptural
process.

Calder
Example of
Additive
sculptural
process

Sculptural
Techniques

Sculpture is created in four basic

ways:
Carving
Modeling
Casting
Construction

Sculpture
Carving
Subtractive
process:
material is
removed
Mainly wood and
stone (marble)

Sculpture
Modeling
Additive process: material is added to
build up a shape
Clay, wax, plaster, paper-mache

Sculpture
Casting: a mold is used to form molten
bronze(or other material) into a desired
shape.

http://www.verylgoodnight.com/casting3.html

Sculpture
Casting: Lost wax method or cireperdue, often used for jewelry or small
sculptures

http://library.thinkquest.org/23492/data/bronze.htm?
tqskip1=1&tqtime=0318

Sculpture
Construction:
Additive process; welding, gluing, nailing
materials together.

Sculpture
Assemblage: assembling found objects
in unique ways.
Joseph Cornell

Sculpture
Kinetic Sculpture: movable parts (wind)

Alexander Calder: the mobile

Characteristics of the
Materials use in
Sculpture

Materials use in Sculpture

1. Stone- hard and durable, weather and
fire resistant, but is heavy and durable.
a) Basalt and Diorite (black and hard)
b) Marble (finely-grained, with crystalline
sparkle)
c) Granite- (tough, coarse-grained but
suitable for bold effects)
d) Limestone- (Softer)

Materials use in Sculpture

2. Wood- lighter, softer, and
cheaper, and easy to cut.
3. Terra Cotta- which means
baked earth is made by firing
clay, as
in pottery making.
4. Bronze- is solid and too
expensive. The
difficult
process of casting bronze
is one
of its disadvantages.

Sculptural Concerns
Pictorial Sculpture- the artist, like
the painter, is more concerned with
details than anything else.
Sculpturesque Sculpture- the artist
is more concerned with the
medium/materials used.
Built- up- the artist is very much
concerned with the medium/materials
used but also with details.

KINDS OF
SCULPTURE

Sculpture
Relief: attached to a surface or a
background

Sculpture
Free-standing or full-round.
-free standing sculpture that can be seen from all
sides.

Sculpture
Kinetic and Mobiles
- are moving three- dimensional
figures, best example are those
which are suspended on air.

Sculpture
Tools: chisels

armature