Figure in Motion Sculptures

Recently, 5th grade artists re-visited figure drawing, specifically gesture drawing, to create sketches for an aluminum foil figure sculpture.

During the first class, students took turns posing for quick gesture sketches, where we focus on the gesture and pose, rather than details. Students chose dynamic poses inspired by a variety of physical activities. We also experimented with using charcoal for some of the sketches, which helped us draw quickly and stay loose with our lines. (Although they also got very messy!)

The following class, students selected one gesture to turn into a sculpture. We began by discussing armatures, which are like skeletons for a sculpture. The armature provides structure and support, much like our skeleton does for our body or steel beams for a skyscraper. Using pipe cleaners, students created an armature by attaching, twisting and manipulating the pipe cleaners to create a basic figure.

The next class, student used aluminum foil to wrap pieces around the armature. Following the shape and gesture of the figure, students added an aluminum foil layer onto their armature. The last step was to get their figure hot glued to their cardboard base. Some students added an aluminum foil soccer ball or hockey stick to complete their sculpture. Here are some examples of our figures in motion!

Jasper, 5th Grade

Marissa, 5th Grade

Kevin, 5th Grade

Keith Haring Dancing Figures

In 3rd grade we have been learning about the work of artist Keith Haring, who is famous for his energetic figures. We connected his people to our recent experience with gesture drawing. We learned that Haring was inspired by popular culture and cartoons from his childhood, and that this influenced his style.

We looked at a few examples of his murals and paintings, including this one, titled "Five Figures Dancing."

To begin our own Keith Haring inspired artwork, we began by dancing! We took turns dancing in groups to Pharrell's "Happy." When the music stopped, students would freeze mid-dance and their classmates did gesture drawings, or quick sketches, of them. 

The following class, we thought about how to use the gesture drawings and turn them into Keith Haring inspired figures. We selected 3 figures from our gesture drawings done during the previous class and drew them on colored paper. We cut them out and glued them onto a background, and then added lines and shapes to show movement. 

Colin, 3rd Grade

Anon, 3rd Grade

Grace, 3rd Grade

Lalita, 3rd Grade

Gesture Drawing in Action

Earlier this month, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade artists thought about how to use lines to capture movement. We talked about warming up for different activities, like sports, dance and music, and how we could warm up in art. For the first half of class we warmed up through gesture drawing, sketching quickly to capture different poses. We focused on drawing their gesture, rather than adding details.

We took turns posing for each other, which was a lot of fun! We thought about making our gestures active and interesting for people to draw. 

Even though we were all doing quick sketches, without very much detail, we realized that our figures still looked different depending on where we were sitting and our angle.