First Grade Giacometti

We started this project by doing practice drawings, using the maneqins. The students posed the mannequin and then practiced drawing the basic shapes of the body (lots of ovals) and working on basic proportion. We talked about how the head is smaller than the torso, the leg is larger than the arm, etc.

For this project, we had 2 choices.

The first choice that the students had was making a sculpture. I gave each child a piece of aluminum foil. They cut the foil (Foil armature) and then wadded the foil up to create a basic human figure. They covered the figure with tape and then attached it to a cardboard base.

They used plaster strips to completely cover the figure. Once it was dry, they painted it with tempera paint and then used a contrasting color to add patterns.

The second choice for this project was a collage. The students created a background paper by dripping liquid watercolors onto the page. They used a straw to blow the paint around the paper, filling the page from top to bottom and side to side.

Then they cut out the basic shapes of the human body and glued them on, using either warm or cool colors.

The figures were decorated by using hole punches and scissors to cut out a variety of lines.

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Fifth Grade Giacometti Sculptures

Materials Needed

         • Plastercraft cut into small strips


• Water containers
• Aluminum foil (heavy)
• Masking tape
• Acryllic Paint
• Mod Podge

• Giacometti prints





We did this project as a continuation of the Schapiro project. The students had to create a sculpture of the figure that they had created out of paper.

We looked at different artwork by Alberto Giacometti and talked about how they were all similar. Then we created an armature for our figure out of aluminum foil. We used a piece of foil about 15-18" long and made 3 cuts.

They scrunched the foil to form the human figure. It was important that they do this slowly and carefully or their foil would rip. Once they had the general form for their figure, they could then scrunch it tighter to make it skinnier. They posed the figure into the action that they had used on their 2D project and then they were ready to cover it with Plastercraft strips. I had them cover the entire sculpture 1 time and then use Plastercraft to attach their figure to a cardboard base (corrugated cardboard works the best).

When the Plastercraft was dry, they used papier mache glue and glued tissue paper squares to their figure. I told them to use as many different colors as they could. This was easier for some than others. Many of them really wanted them to look real!

They covered the tissue paper with Mod Podge (you could probably skip the papier mache glue and go right to the Mod Podge to attach the tissue paper) and let this dry.

The final step was using metallic acryllic paint to add all of the fun details that they had added to their 2D project. Again, I told them to go CRAZY- they aren't used to me saying this, so they had fun with it.

Vocabulary:
Armature, balance, form, Plastercraft Pin It