Art Lesson: Clay Spirit Animal Vessels

This is a lesson I have taught a few different ways, but the way I've done it the past few times seems to be the way to go... for me at least. I usually teach this to 7th graders, but it would work well for other levels as well. I wont go into complete detail, because that's boring. Plus, if you want to use this lesson or send it to someone who does, they will teach it their own way and style anyways. You can translate any of this into almost any material you wanted, especially the first part of the unit, which is 2D instead of 3D.

To start the lesson I introduce the students to the idea of Spirit Animals. We don't go too far down the rabbit hole with this, but keep it light and fun. We actually watch an episode of Rob Dydrek's Fantasy Factory, (Season 1, Episode 2), where he brings in a Shaman to find his Spirit/Power Animal before taking a big rally car jump. Its fun and gets good buy in. I tell the students their homework is to find their spirit animal. They can do this through thought or taking an online test, etc.

Wouldn't this be a great T-shirt?

The next couple days we spend in the computer lab finding images that will help us draw and sculpt the animal. Not only do I encourage them to find images to print on a PowerPoint slide that are realistic and from different angles, but I encourage them to add words to their search to find other versions of their animal that might help them. For example, my animal was a fox. I searched "fox mascot", "fox sculpture", "fox cartoon", and "how to draw a fox". This last search will not only help with drawing, but also with sculpting as the steps can be the same if you translate shapes into forms.

In my latest version of this unit I introduce the kids to Haida Native American art work, especially their work with animals. We discuss symmetry, use of simplified organic and geometric design, hidden faces in the designs, use of common motifs, etc. I then have the students use their research to help them draw out half their animal, fill it in with similar design styles to the Haida (but not direct copies, more focusing on creating geometric and simplified organic designs), and then trace or transfer the half drawing onto the other side of the paper. I allow them to color these in with Sharpies, colored pencils, etc.

Its a good lesson, especially to start a semester. My examples, step by step, are below, but the kids did a lot of great examples... I included a few of those as well.

Once this project was over, we revisited the idea of a spirit animal. I then went over the requirements and examples for the next project.... the clay vessel project. This is a long term project that teaches a lot of skills. I come in to this lesson, though, knowing I have taught many of them how to make pinch pots, coils, and use slabs in 6th grade. As I stated earlier, I don't want to get too into details, so I will try to keep these descriptions of what we did simple.

The requirements of this lesson are the following; The vessels must:

• Be built using pinch pots and coils
• Have a lid (cut out from vessel)
• Include additive, subtractive, and incising techniques
• Include a sculpted animal

Within this structure I do allow quite a bit of freedom, but those are the basic skills I look for. Once we go over these requirements, we spend some time brainstorming as a class. I find it very helpful to show them how to do this. We pick an animal and then make lists or word webs to find ideas and objects we can use in our designs for the vessel.  Then I sketch it out in front of them, tossing around tons of ideas. Once we've done this together, I release them to sketch on their own.

Before we make the project, I spend some time having the students practice. I demonstrate techniques and ideas, then they practice with the clay for the day. One day we use a "how to draw animals" book. I allow a student to choose one and we then all go through the steps all together, sculpting the animal, discussing issues and techniques, etc. I demonstrate this on the projector screen using the document camera while they work on their own versions individually along with me. Another day I demonstrate pinch pots and have them practice these for a day. These are good warm ups, skill builders, and allow them to work free of pressure for a day.

After practicing, we get right into the project. The way I have them build their vessels is a little different, but works really well. BUT, if you want to use this, build them however you want. I have the students start with a pinch pot and build up with coils to desired height and form. Once this is achieved, we create a slab, flip the vessel over, trace the opening onto the slab, and attach it. This is now the bottom. The pinch pot is the top. The reason I do this is it helps later with cutting out the lid. You could just keep the slab on top and cut the lid out. Whatever works better for the students design, really.

The rest of the project is mostly technical details, but below are the individual pages from the packet I hand-made for the students. The first images are the examples I made for this project.If this is helpful to anyone, good. Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed the images.