WIRE ANIMAL SCULPTURE

Students will investigate form using photographs of an animal to guide their work, practice tooling techniques with wire, pliers, and snips, make a prototype to ensure enough volume is achieved, create a wire sculpture of an animal, and document their work using commercial photography techniques.

This unit has six parts: research, photo references, drawing to scale, prototype, final sculpture, and documentation of the finished work.

Overview Unit Goal

Picture

Content

  • Animals
  • 3D Form
  • Details to make the subject recognizable

Art History

Wire Sculpture Artists
  • Celia Smith
  • David Oliveria​
  • Tomahiro Inaba
  • Ruth Asawa

Composition Concepts

  • Volume
  • Modeling 
  • Symmetry & Asymmetry

Technical Skills

  • Wrapping
  • Coiling
  • Crocheting
  • Knitting
  • Crimping
  • Bending
  • Tying

Tools & Supplies

  • Photo References
  • Pipe Cleaners
  • Wire (two gauges)
  • Pliers (round nose, needle nose)
  • Wire Snips

Content: Animals

Art History: Wire Sculpture Artists

Composition Concepts

Technical Skills

Knitting with Wire (Video)
Knitting with Wire - Single, Double, Triple (Video)
Crochet with Wire (Video)
Weaving / Wrapping with Wire (Video)
Coiling with Wire (Video)
Coiling over a coil (Video)

Tools & Supplies

Exercises
  • Paper & Pencil/Pen
  • Pipe Cleaners
Main Sculpture
  • Round Nose Pliers
  • Chain Nose Pliers
  • Wire (2 Different gauges)
  • Optional: Dowel for Viking Knit or Coiling Rod

Unit Components

Research

5 Animal Images

  • Five images of the same animal species: 3/4, side, top, front, back
  • You can have more images - the 5 required are the minimum

Drawing

  • Use the photo references to help you understand the proportions and placement of body parts.
  • Make 2 drawings of your animal - one side view, one frontal view
  • Each drawing should be the size you want to make your sculpture (about 4 inches big - or the size of the palm of your hand)
  • Capture all of the important details that make your animal specific and recognizable. 
  • Use a scrap piece of paper as a ruler to help make the two drawings the same measurements, or resize the images on your iPad and then copy.

Prototype 1

  • Use pipe cleaners to create a first draft of your sculpture
  • Your prototype must be volumetric (contain space inside it)
  • It should be recognizable as your animal
  • It should look like your animal from every side (top, front, side, etc.)

Prototype 2

  • After getting feedback about your prototype 1, create a second prototype improving on your first attempt
  • Create the same animal using different creative decisions.
  • Try making your lines follow the contours of the form to mimic how the body moves - organic modeling lines will help make your sculpture look more life-like.
  • Get your prototypes checked off to receive the final materials.

Wire Sculpture

  • Use wire to make your chosen animal sculpture
  • Include at least one of the following techniques: wrapping, coiling, crocheting, or knitting
  • Include at least one of the following techniques: crimping, bending, tying
  • Use two different wire gauges (bigger wire makes a bolder line, fine wire is great for details, tying, coiling, crocheting, or knitting)
  • Some of your wires should follow modeling lines (lines that follow the shape of the form) and flow organically, highlighting body features
  • Have some wires close together creating a solid looking area while other wires are more open
  • Include as many details as you can - you want your sculpture to be recognizable and specific

Grading Reflection

Fill out the grading reflection.
  • Grade yourself
  • Write about what you did for each grading criteria - provide visual evidence for each point
  • If you forgot to include one of the criteria, feel free to go back and revise your project 
  • Answer the reflection questions at the end

Email Instructions

Click here for the email instructions.
You will choose an important adult in your life to share your work with.
This person should be someone you treat as an adult, not your sister who is 18 now who you treat as a peer. 
You'll be sending them an email of your work with some text in the body of the email describing what you are sending. Look at the full instructions for line by line advice on how to do it.
Use your personal email to email someone outside of the district email system or use your school email to email to a teacher who might appreciate your work. Be sure to cc Mx. Ross - kross@sbunified.org

Documenting your Sculpture

  • Use a solid background (no distracting lines, shadows, table, or other stuff)
  • Use quality lighting (soft shadow from sculpture only)
  • Photo should be in focus, with sculpture centered
  • One photo of 3/4 or frontal
  • One photo of side or top
  • You can edit the two photos together, but you need to have a consistent border between and around both images and they should be the same height

Grading Criteria