Notebook

Notebook, 1993-

MATERIALS & METHODS - A Perspective on Art Education - Activities for Children - Themes & Topics

Drawing & Painting -- Modeling & Sculpting

Fingerpainting -- Mural Making -- Paper-Mâché -- Puppets -- Mask-Making -- Crayon Encaustics -- Crayon Resist Drawing -- Crayon Sgraffito -- Collage -- Mobiles -- Watercolor -- Common Earth Clay -- Salt Ceramic [recipe] -- Clay / plasticene Non-hardening -- Carving in the Round -- Newspaper Modeling -- Paraffin or Wax Sculpture -- Plaster Plaques or Reliefs -- Relief in Plaster -- Relief in Soft Wood -- Repoussé -- Sandcasting -- Working With the Coping Saw or Jigsaw -- Straw/Toothpick Sculpting -- Painting on Window Glass -- Diorama -- Peep Shows -- Whittling -- Wire Sculpture

[From: [Meaning in Crafts. Mattil,, Edward L. Chairman, Dept. of Art, North Texas State University. Third Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1971.]

Relief in Soft Wood


If the classroom has space for working with tools, boys and girls in the middle and upper elementary grades can make attractive relief sculptures. These are worked out most successfully on pieces of soft wood, such as white pine, which is about three-quarters of an inch to one inch thick. The child develops his design or figure in the center of his board, including as few details as possible. He can sketch directly onto the surface of the board with a soft pencil, indicating by shading the areas to be cut away. It is a good practice, then to fasten the board securely with "C" clamps to the surface of the workbench. This permits the child to concentrate entirely upon his project and does away with the frustrations that accompany shifting and sliding boards.

The youngster can then begin to work, using quarter-inch and half-inch wood gouges and a wooden mallet. With very little practice, he can learn to use these tools effectively. There is something very exciting in the process of carving wood, cutting away bit by bit and feeling the wood yield under the blows. If there is one especially sharp gouge for the classroom, it can be kept for hand finishing --that is, using the gouge in both hands without using the mallet. If in the end it seems necessary to sand the carving, the child should be allowed to do so. Finally, if staining is desired, the piece can be finished with ordinary paste wax mixed with a small amount of oil paint. There are oil waxes containing pigments that will provide fine, rich finishes. Several coats of wax and lots of polishing with a soft cloth brings out a very rich luster in children's carvings. Boiled linseed oil mixed equally with turpentine can be applied to the raw wood for a rich, natural wood finish.

[Meaning in Crafts. Mattil,, Edward L. Chairman, Dept. of Art, North Texas State University. Third Edition, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1971.]




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