4th Grade Cubist Clay Portraits

Students have been working over the past couple weeks to create cubist clay portraits.  They began by creating a paper plan of their portrait which was required to include all the features of the face from both a profile and frontal view.  They then cut their face in half, traded with a partner, put they back together and gave it to someone else.  Once everyone in the class had two parts of a face they didn't create they preceded by placing a blank piece of paper over the face and creating an entirely new interpretation of the mixed up face they had received.  Although this process sounds a bit unnecessary and a little confusing it was quite simple and fun for the kids and I believe it was necessary to help them create a portrait that was sufficiently mixed up and drawn from different perspectives (two attributes which I heavily associate with cubism).  From this point on they have been working to cut out a silhouette in clay and build up layers on top with what I like to call add-ons.  The process is far along although unfinished and I already am starting to see amazing results, the students are pleased as well!

Above you can see a paper plan/template used to translate the image into a sculpture

An amazing example dries...slowly

Some dried examples get a coat of white acrylic paint to help seal the air-dry clay before further painting.