Tuesday, January 17, 2012

3D Illuminated Letters

For the 7th sculpture project this first semester, we are completing large scale illuminated letters. We looked at the illuminated manuscripts of the middle ages as well as some Islamic calligraphy. 


Once we constructed the letters with oak tag and clear plastic cups (colored ones or paper cups also work) the students began to add newspaper using the paper mache method. We used Elmers art paste to create the glue for the newspaper.





In doing this project I have noticed something about my students. All the girls had no trouble getting their hands all covered in the glue but the boys were very hesitant about getting dirty. I was really surprised by this since it is usually the opposite.








With two days left in the semester (which ends this batch of art classes) the students are finishing up the final touches. I will have an update later on this week with more pics of the final process.

2 comments:

  1. Very cool project! In our medieval history unit we draw illuminated letters, celtic knots, and fierce animals. This would be a fun way to add a third dimension to those items ;)

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  2. I love how these are created simply with oak tag and the cups. Other versions of this project I've seen have involved cutting cardboard for the letters, which is so difficult! Thanks for sharing!

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