I did an art lesson in one of the classes I subbed in last week (it was a repeat call and the teacher asked me to plan the art). They have been working on a unit in sculpture so we did a lesson in relief sculpture based on Barbara Reid's work. We used plasticine and a variety of lids from 4 litre ice cream pails to 250 ml sour cream container lids. Most of the kids finished their work and there were some very successful sculptures in relief. I will try to post some pics eventually. I did this with a grade 5 class but my Mom has also done a similar lesson with grade 2s as well.
Here's a copy of the notes I put together for my own planning and for the students to keep. Feel free to copy and use the info. :)
What a Relief!
Relief sculpture - A type of sculpture in which form projects from a background.
There are three degrees or types of relief: high, low, and sunken. In high relief, the forms stand far out from the background. In low relief (best known as bas-relief), they are shallow. In sunken relief, also called hollow or intaglio; the backgrounds are cut back and the points in highest relief are level with the original surface of the material being carved.
To see easily accessible examples of relief, just look at the coins in your pocket or purse!
Taken from http://www.artlex.com/
Relief sculptures were common in many ancient civilizations such as the Babylonian, Greek and Roman. Many modern sculptors have also worked in relief.
Here are the names of some other famous artists who made sculptures in relief:
Donatello (Italian, 1386-1466)
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475-1564)
Paul Gauguin (French, 1848-1903)
Henri Matisse (French, 1869-1954)
Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881-1973)
Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997)
Our featured artist Barbara Reid illustrates her books with pictures that are really photographs of colourful relief sculptures she has made in plasticine.
Some books by Barbara Reid are:
The Golden Goose
Gifts
The Party
Read Me a Book
Sing a Song of Mother Goose
The Subway Mouse
Two by Two
Zoe series
