3D Design Final Project Examples

Last semester, working in groups, the class made six inflatable sculptures to end the semester.  In the end, all six creations were blown up at least long enough for everyone to see the intended shapes.  Below are shots of each one:

12/10/13 3D Design

Today's class- Today's plan was to spend most of the day working in groups on the final project, the large scale inflatable pieces.  However, the expected snow storm that arrived this morning made that a little more difficult.  We did look at the book projects, and I graded some late arriving examples of other  graded projects from the past month.  The books were graded and left on our class shelves in the classroom.  I returned the museum papers that had been handed in last week with instructions about what was needed to improve the grade.  And a few groups hung around long enough to actually begin making their inflatable sculptures.

How to make this up-  We didn't start anything new today.  Details about all the back projects can be found on this blog.  Graded projects can be turned in up to 5 weeks late for partial credit, which means I will still accept the plastic parts piece, the canon of proportion/classroom piece, and the book carving project on the final day.  If you still owe any of the portfolio exercises (asymmetrical bristol board, car and abstract sculpture from car parts, coffee holders, canon of proportions two figures) they can still be brought in for full credit.  Museum papers may also be turned in next week.  Nothing will be accepted after the official end of our class next Tuesday afternoon.

Homework-  The Inflatable Sculpture Final Project is due at our last meeting of the semester on December 17, 2013.  In addition to each group's large inflatable piece, each student needs to show their pencil sketches of five early ideas, and the one model they constructed from bristol board/foam core.  

For next class 12/17/13- Normally on the last day of class we open with a critique, I dismiss everyone temporarily while I grade stuff, and then have everyone return before the end of class to learn the grades and to pick up their stuff.  However, seeing the possibility that some students may need some classroom time next week to finish their Final Projects, I will allow students to use the early portion of the class to construct their projects.  (at the beginning of next week's class I'll see where everyone is at and decide at exactly what time we'll have the critique) Bring your clear plastic, rolls of package sealing tape, and scissors, along with the drawings and models from last week, and anything else you need graded.  

3D Design Inflatable Sculpture

The Assignment- This project comes to us courtesy of John Siblik,  current professor of sculpture and a former classmate of mine.  In our school days, he was primarily a painter, but like all good art students he worked in a variety of media.  While we were out in the midwest he participated in an outdoor sculpture competition that started with detailed sketches of his idea, then a scale model, and finally the full size work: a ten foot long piece that appeared to be a giant piece of intestine erupting from the ground.  

He sent me a link to photos of this inflatable project that his students have had success with, so we're going to give it a try.  We will follow a similar set of steps.  You will be designing an inflatable sculpture that is at least 8 feet long in one dimension, made from thin clear plastic drop cloths and clear plastic sealing tape, and inflated with a shop vac in reverse.  The sculpture must be based on a living thing and must include articulated shapes.  (you can't just make a tube, call it a snake, and be done with it)  Today we worked on the first step, developing a plan.  Each student made pencil sketches of five ideas, and then constructed a simple model of one of the ideas using bristol board and foam core.  Below are some examples from last semester.  

Students will be working in groups of 2 or 3, so each group will select from their paper models which one idea to create at the full 8 foot scale.  You also may work by yourself if you prefer.

Photos of finished inflatable sculptures from last semester may be seen here.

11/26/13 3D Design

Today's Class-  By now all of you should have gotten the word that today's class was cancelled.  We will return next Tuesday, December 3rd, and work on the final project for the rest of the semester.  The museum paper is due that day, so perhaps you'll use today to get that written.  Last week's blog post includes all the information about other dates and what you'll need for next week's class meeting.

Enjoy the holiday.

11/19/13 3D Design

Today's Class- Today we continued the book carving projects that were started last week.   We also took some time to look at the scale model classroom projects that were begun a few weeks ago.  I went over with each student their status on all projects, reminded everyone about the paper, and confirmed the class holiday next week.

How to make this up-  This is the same project worked in class last week, and the specifics can be seen on last week's blog post.

Homework- The completed book project is due at the beginning of class on December 10, 2013.

The museum papers are due on December 3, 2013.  Papers submitted by that date will be returned graded the following week for those who wish to fix and resubmit them before the end of the semester.  Papers will be accepted as late during the last two weeks of class as well.

Those who still owe a back project should try to get it done as soon as possible.  We are running out of semester for you to make up work.

               ****Schedule Change*****

 We will not be meeting on Tuesday November 26th.  Use the time to catch up on back projects or to work on your museum assignment.

For next class 12/3/13-  We will be starting the final project of the semester, which will begin with creating a scale model proposal for a final project.  Bring bristol board, sketchbook, scissors/x-acto knife, glue, pencil and eraser.

3D Design Book Sculpture

The Assignment   The project is to create a sculpture using the raw material of a traditionally bound book.  I recommend a hardcover book of about 250 - 300 pages, with a cover around 6" x 9".  Can be a little bigger, but much smaller will give you little space to work.  You have a choice of two approaches, one carving away to create a single static scene with positive shapes, or a design that emphasizes negative shapes that change as the viewer continues to move through the book.  In both cases, the book must be able to open and close as it always could, and all the changes are made from cutting only.  No glue can be used to hold anything together- all pages must be still attached to the original binding.

A) Carve away parts of all the pages to reveal a three dimensional positive recognizable object.  You may have the book with just its front cover open to create a single block of bound pages to be carved, or have the book open to somewhere in the middle so that the sculpture is spread over both pages.  It can be a single image (as in the portrait below) or a group of things creating a scene, such as elements in a landscape.  The resulting piece should show significant depth.  Below is a student example.

B) Create a more abstract negative sculpture that changes as readers move through the book.  Divide the book into four roughly equally thick sections.  Within each section create multiple negative shapes.  One of the negative shapes should be continued into the next section  (the exact dimensions can change within the section and/or as it moves into the next section, but the created void must continue from one to the next) , but not into a third section.  For example, a shape cut through the first section should be connected to a shape cut through the second section, but not with the third, while a new shape that starts in the second section will continue into the third, and so forth.  Below is a student example from different locations in the book.

Above- book with front cover open

Below- book open about halfway

This project will be continued next week in class.

11/5/13 3D Design

Today's Class-  Today we opened by looking at some of the completed pairs of figures from the Canon of Proportion exercise.  Everyone agreed that the changed proportions definitely altered our reactions to the figure.  Then we looked at a few slides of sculptural installations that included figures and began a new graded project based on the previously made figure sculptures and the idea of relative proportions.

How to make this up-  First, you must have completed the exercise from October 15th when the pairs of figures based on images taken from a magazine was started.  Take your first figure, representing the original proportions of the photographed figure.  Measure its height and assign a height to the original photographed model.  Use that ratio to create a scale for reproducing a portion of our classroom.

Start by choosing a piece of our classroom.  Your installation must include the desk you sit at each week, the next major object in any direction you choose, one stool, and your 3D rendition of the figure.    The next major object can be another table, a part of the wall or door, a different kind of table, a counter top, etc.  Carefully measure your table and the major elements of next big object, as well as the space to the next big object.  Sketch this out on paper, then perform the calculations to figure the size of the pieces you'll be making to maintain the scale of your figure.  Construct these items out of foam core, including a piece of the floor that connects them.  Glue the major items in place, maintaining the proper proportion of space between them.  Above and below are three examples completed today- an installation that includes a work table and the adjacent wall, one with a work table and counter, and one that includes two work tables.

Homework-  This graded proportional room project is due at the beginning of class on November 19, 2013.

The representative sculpture made from manufactured materials (plastic, etc) is due at the beginning of class on November 12, 2013.

For next class 11/12/13-  We will make some sculptures using books as a raw material.  Have at least two hardcover books that you don't mind cutting up, each 300 or more pages and covers in the vicinity of 8" x 6"  Also bring sketchbook and pencil, x-acto knife, and several pieces of foam core or corrugated cardboard cut to the same dimensions at the book covers.

3D Design Found Objects- Plastic

The Assignment-    For this project, you will be creating a sculpture from found objects, meaning items that already exist in the world, previously manufactured for some other purpose.  Materials should be chosen and used for their shape, texture, and color.  The materials may be used whole or broken into smaller pieces.  You may use wood for structural purposes, and any way of joining it (hot glue, nuts and bolts, etc) that you want.  For larger volumes, plastic bottles and containers make a simple and lightweight support structure. The subject should be some kind of representational sculpture, and your sculpture should bear strong resemblance to the chosen subject.  It must be 12 inches in at least one dimension.  Above and below are student examples from last semester.  

3D Design- Coffee Trays Portfolio Exercise

The Assignment- Get yourself 3 or 4 of the coffee trays, which are generally available at any place that sells lot of take out coffee.  Carefully observe all the parts of the trays, noting the convoluted shapes, bulges, and curves.  When you are ready to start, cut your trays apart into the pieces that will be used to make your sculpture and glue it together.  As for the piece you make, no particular subject here, so you may make something based on an object, or work more in an abstract design approach.  (the above student examples from last semester's class include a flower, a dragon, a mutant duck, and an abstract snowflake) I do ask that you try to push the use of negative spaces in the work, which can include spaces that go all through a part of the work, or interior spaces surrounded by the cardboard.  

This is a class portfolio exercise, which is due by the end of the semester, but I suggest you get it done as soon as possible so you aren't worried about making it up at the end of the semester..

3D Design Canon of Proportions exercise

Today's Class-  Today's subject was the idea of a canon of proportion, the idea that at times societies have established specific rules for the depicting of ideal figures.  We looked at slides of Ancient Egyptian and Greek sculpture and talked how canons existed in each case, and compared those to Leonardo's Vitruvian Man, which also dealt with the same concept, and the extremes of mannerist painting.  The class then started a portfolio exercise relating to the concept.  

The Assignment-  Students selected an image of a human figure from ads in magazines, and then started reproducing it using foam core (as a skeleton/support) and bristol board to build form (similar to examples from the bamboo show).  Above is a student example in progress.  When that is completed, a second figure is to be completed using the same process, but changing the proportions of specific parts of the body:

head, torso, feet, upper arms, thighs remain the same size.
neck will be done at 2 times the current size
forearms, lower legs will be done at 3 times the current size
width of shoulders should be twice the current size

Use the same construction technique for the second figure.  You may glue the figures to a small base to get them to stand up.  Adding color is an option.  Below are two student examples of original sized and re-proportioned figures.

3D Design Natural Materials Assemblage

The assignment-  Much 3D art of the cave dwelling period was created by altering found materials in nature, such as rocks, wood, bones, etc, through carving, incising, or adding items.  I showed some slides of such artworks, and I brought some stuff from home, to which we added stuff from the classroom and campus.  

How to make this up-  I had brought in an assortment of shells collected from the beach (mostly broken clam shells) and some dried out bamboo shafts from a small grove near my home.  I allowed students to take small pieces of wood from the scrap boxes there in the classroom, and some foraged outside for such things as small stones, leaves, acorns.  (in a nod to the 21st century I am allowing the use of hot glue to attach these items to each other)

The assignment is to create a free standing sculpture, looking to see what the pieces bring to mind, then building something that would be seen as that thing.  For our purposes the subjects will be those things that cave artists regularly depicted- people and animals, as well as specific parts of those things (for example, a human hand, an animal's head, etc.)  Mythological creatures are also allowed.

Above is a representation of a bull made from wood scraps from the bins in the classroom, pieces of bamboo, and broken shells, while below is a perching bird, with a supporting skeleton built from small pieces of wood and whole and broken shells used to make the feathers and body.

You may use any naturally occurring material in your sculpture.  You must include some hard items that can't be readily altered by hand (such as the shells, or rocks), to which you may add wood, and any naturally growing plant products (branches, roots, bark, leaves, acorns, etc).  Wood can be cut up and carved.  You have the option of using color as well, including both natural pigments and modern paints, but it's not required.  Below are more student examples from a previous semester.

3D Design-Planes exercise

How to make this up-  Students were asked to pick a favorite vehicle purely from a design point of view.  Most common were sports cars and trucks.  The first part of the assignment was to reproduce the basic shape of this vehicle, especially the broad planes on all visible surfaces, using foam core for broad structure and support, and bristol board over the surfaces, especially those with curves.  I used white glue for the example I made, but you can go with hot glue if your prefer.  Meanwhile, everyone made a second copy of every single piece that went into their cars using the same materials.  The second part of the assignment was to take that second set of parts and create an abstract sculpture that had no resemblance to a car.  Above are four examples of cars and related sculptures from a previous semester.

This is a portfolio exercise and must be completed by the end of the semester to receive full credit, but I suggest finishing it by the time we return from spring break.

9/24/13 3D Design

Today's Class-  Today we discussed the idea of positive and negative space and looked at slides of sculpture that dealt with (or not) negative space, as well as relief sculpture.  After that students started a new project that makes use of both ideas. We also had a quick critique of the Make 100 module projects, which were graded and returned.  For those who missed today's class, I have posted a few photos of student sculptures from today's class on the original page for this project.

How to make this up-  This graded project requires the construction of a corner out of foam core.  The corner should have two sides that are each 12" square, and have a top and bottom triangle piece, each of which is half of another 12" square divided diagonally.  The unit should be assembled so that the edges are all even with no overhanging parts.  Either white glue or hot glue will work.  

Once the corner is finished, you will use additional foam core to create relief designs on the two square faces and the top triangle piece.  Start by sketching out ideas for designs on paper.  When you are satisfied with your plan, redraw it on more foam core, cut it out with your x-acto knife, and glue the pieces to the surfaces.  You may do it from a whole 12" square piece and glue it down as a unit, or cut out the pieces individually and glue them in place.  In my example above, the left side face is from one whole piece, while the other two faces are assembled form separate pieces.  The area immediately around the top center corner should not have relief elements added, but otherwise the design is up to you.  The design should be non-representational, no recognizable images.  Remember that positive and negative space are equally important in a relief, so the resulting negative spaces should be just as interesting as the attached positive pieces.  Sharp blades do a much better job of cutting foam core than dull blades, so have replacements handy.

Homework-  This graded Corner Relief project is due at the beginning of class on October 8, 2013.

Anyone who hasn't yet turned in their 100 modules project should turn it in as soon as possible for partial credit.

For next class 10/1/13-  We will start a new portfolio exercise influenced by cars.  Choose your favorite automobile purely from an exterior design philosophy; one you like because of its appearance, rather than speed, economy, reliability, usefulness, etc.  Bring photos of the vehicle from all sides, as one part of what we will be doing will involve adapting its exterior design.  You will also need two square foot bases (foam core or mat board), foam core (remnants from today's construction should be sufficient), a few sheets of bristol board, glue, scissors, x-acto knife, your sketchbook, pencil and eraser.

3D Design Asymmetry Exercise

The Assignment- I had students do some simple memory sketches of items that had some degree of symmetry, either bilateral or radial.  Then I assigned the exercise, to make a mounted three dimensional asymmetrical sculpture using nothing but bristol board and glue.  The subject could be one of the things from a earlier sketch or something brand new, but it had to be something (object or life form) that was normally symmetrical. but here would be asymmetrical due to its placement on the base or to it being distorted in some way.  (Picasso's guitar sculptures are good examples of the approach I'm seeking)

Above is a student example from a previous semester.  Here we see the view from above, which includes interpretations of a flower, tall weeds, a lily pad, and ripples in water.  While the flower itself is radially symmetrical, the placement of the other items makes the whole composition asymmetrical.  Below is a side view.  It's ok if your sculpture has one best viewing position, but it should be interesting from different angles.  

Use a foam core base, anywhere from 6" square to 8" x 10".  Cut pieces of bristol board with scissors or knife and attach to each other or the board itself.  Spend about 4 hours on it.  Take advantage of the physical property of paper, which can be folded or bent into many shapes, and consider your experience in building modules last week to make stable structures that can support some weight.  

This is a portfolio exercise, so it must be made up by the end of the semester to receive full credit, but I suggest you do it soon, as the experience will be helpful for some future assignments.

3D Design Module Project

The Assignment-  This project is called Make 100.  Students were asked to design simple three dimensional modules out of bristol board (above are a few examples I made), produce a prototype of one of the ideas, and once worked out, create 100 identical modules.  The completed modules are to be turned into a piece of sculpture.  The project specifics-

The 100 modules should be more or less identical.
At least one side should be 1.5" long, but no sides can exceed 1.5"
They should be three dimensional, having height, length, and depth.
They should be stable, strong enough to support their own weight.

Once you have completed the 100 modules, you will use them to create a sculptural work.  Account for  all three dimensions in your design, and glue it together to make the shape permanent.  It can be a freestanding object, or you may attach it to some kind of base (such as foam core or mat board).   Your design can make use of regular patterns, or just be seemingly random groupings of the modules.  In grading the completed sculpture, I'll be verifying that it contains 100 modules and that it is a stable construction, and consider how it deals with all three dimensions and multiple viewpoints.  The complexity of the modules and the final piece  will also be accounted for in the grade.

Below are a few examples of projects from a previous semester using a variety of types of modules.