Oaxaca painted animals

This project was inspired by the wood carved and painted animal sculptures from the Oaxaca Region of Mexico

Oaxaca animal Sculpture

• For this project you will need to create a animal like sculpture that shows movement and is around the size of a football. Then paint it in the same colorful and decorative way the animal sculptures from The Oaxaca Region of Mexico were painted.

Procedures1. Sketch out some animal designs that show movement. (make

them simple without thin parts that can break off easily)

2. Start to sculpt the animal. You can make it solid then cut it in half and scoop out the inside when it is leather hard. (remember it should be no more than a half inch thick and any hollow area needs to have a hole in it for air to get out when the clay shrinks)

3. Once you have finished sculpting the animal, hollowed it out, put it back together and smoothed the surface. You can let it dry and paint it with an under glaze and have it bisque fired. (this will give you a matt surface to paint your decoration on)

4. After your sculpture has been bisque fired you will use the tall bottles of glazes to paint your decoration. (this will create a contrast between the matt surface of the under glaze as a background color and the shiny surface of the glazed decoration)

5. After you have finished with the glaze decoration set it on the shelf to be glazed fired.

6. After it has been glazed fired see if there is anything else you need to do to fix it up and fill out an evaluation.

Grading Criteria

1. The craftsmanship and form of the sculpted animal that shows movement.

2. The detail and quality of the painted decoration.

3. Attendance and work habits.

4. Cleaning of your work area and tools.

5. The overall aesthetic quality of the finished sculpture.

Student Work