Sculpture
What is sculpture ?
• Sculpture is the realization of a design in
three dimensions. It has volume, or
contains height and width in addition to
depth.
• The sculptural terms for these three
“directions” are…
– HEIGHT - the vertical plane (up and down)
– WIDTH - the horizontal plane (side to side)
– DEPTH - the transverse plane (front to back)
The main categories of sculpture
• All sculpture fits into
two broad categories.
• Additive Sculpture this is sculpture made
from putting pieces
together (assembly).
• Subtractive Sculpture this is made by
removing pieces from
a whole (carving).
The types of sculpture
• In addition to the two broad categories,
there are three types of sculpture.
• These are Relief, Intaglio and In the Round.
• A piece of sculpture will be a specific type and fit
into one of the two categories, for example…
– A gravestone is a subtractive piece and an intaglio type.
In the Round
• In the Round sculpture
is sculpture that can be
seen from all sides.
• You can walk around a
piece of In the Round
sculpture and see it
from all angles and
different viewpoints.
Relief
• Relief sculpture is
raised up from a flat
surface.
• Relief sculpture can
usually only be seen
from one angle, but
may appear to have
multiple sides.
Intaglio
• Intaglio is a type of
sculpture that is carved
down into a flat
surface.
• Intaglio can only be
seen from one
direction and is
usually wall mounted.
Ground (negative space) removed, figure
left flat to create a raised surface.
Background cut away and edges of figure ramped to
create the illusion of depth.
Figure incised as lines (neither ground or figure
is carved away) but outlined instead...
Entire surface carved away, creating the illusion
of the figure projecting out from the surface.
Overlapping
This is also called stacking.
By allowing one object to
overlap another, the artist
creates the illusion of one
object being in front of the
other.
This illusion can be
emphasized by the use of
“Changes of Level”.
Overlapping on its own however, while creating the
feeling of objects behind and in front of one another, fails
to create any real sense of “depth of field”.
Change of level
Notice how a simple change
of ground level in figure 1
creates the illusion of more
depth.
All the artist did was the place the
mans feet higher in the picture plane
than the dogs. He now looks further
away.
some other examples...
Some student work…
Intaglio into Relief sculpture
• Paper as a medium (paper sculpture)…
• Cutting into the flat paper form to create an
intaglio area…
• Which uses the paper removed from the
intaglio cut to create a relief form.
More complex forms…
• More complex forms begin to fall into the
“in the round” type of sculptural form.
Small scale…
Large scale…
Paper methodology
• Paper stand-ups…
– How many different ways can think of to make
the paper stand up and be self supporting?
• Paper texture…
– How may different things can you do to the
surface of the paper to create interesting visual
textures?
Surface texture…
Surface texture – cutting negative and positive forms into the flat sides of the
paper can create visual interest and add structural support as well as scuptural
principles.
Simple 3D paper pop ups…