Gargoyle Masks

Creating these masks are fun for students and a great lesson of the historical use of gargoyles in architecture.  I show students lots of examples of gargoyle sculptures and start the project by having them choose an emotion for their gargoyle.  This usually helps to dictate the shape, structure and features that their mask will have.

Start with a large slab of clay and cut out the general shape of the face, this could be round, oval, square; whatever the students chooses.  Then use some crumbled up newspaper to create a "pillow" and lay your slab of clay on top of the pillow, rounding the clay around the edges of the pillow.  This will help give the mask a more 3-D quality to it.  Next I have students push in features like the eye sockets, mouth and the hollows of the cheeks using their fingers and tools to get some general features started.  Then I have them add on the eyes, nose, horns, ears, warts, teeth, fangs--whatever they can think of and scratch-to-attach them onto the face. They can blend the features as needed, add texture and shape the mask to get the desired emotion to show through.  When students are finished building, I put a high temperature wire loop into the back of the mask so that when they are finished, they can be easily hung on the wall. Let the clay dry on the newspaper and  when dry pull out the newspaper carefully, bisque fire, then glaze ( I liked using a stony grey color on mine, but that's up to you!) and fire again.  You can display all of your students masks on the wall and have some Gothic looking architecture in your classroom!

!!! B CR8IV!!!

Pinch Pot Monsters

 



One of my talented students thought up this clever idea to create a sculpture from a basic pinch pot.  Start by cutting about 1/2 pound block of clay in half.

 

Take one piece and roll it into a sphere.







Push your thumb into the sphere and squeeze around the sides to create a pinch pot.




This pinch pot becomes the mouth of your monster, so shape it however you'd like the mouth to be positioned to show an emotion.  Mine's going to be wide mouthed and yelling!



 



Now its time to add on your monsters parts.  I've created five spheres for eyes. 





Don't forget to use a scoring tool to scratch-to-attach all of your parts on!





You can use a tool to add details like pupils for the eyes.



I rolled out a coil of clay and then flattened it to create a tongue. 



 

Feet can be made by rolling out a coil of clay and flattening just the foot, then use a knife to cut individual toes.  You can also use a small tool to push in toenail shapes too. 







It is better to attach the feet to a wide surface rather than edge to edge, they are less likely to break off this way.  Gently flip your monster over and scratch-to-attach the bottom of your pinch pot and the feet, then blend together.  The tongue can be attached the same way inside of the mouth. 

  









The tail is made by rolling out a coil of clay so that it is thinner at one end and thicker at the other.  Scratch-to attach the thicker end and blend it into the body shape when you attach it on, this will be fragile so make sure that it is securely attached before you start moving your sculpture around.  





 



Small cone shapes can be made and added onto the tail to create spikes.






  


Spiky teeth can be added inside the mouth as well. 

 

The back of a tool can be used to add texture to your monsters skin. 





B Cr8iv with all of the varieties of pinch pot monsters you can make!