Sculptural Concentration #1

For this assignment, my concentration was plants. For the first part of these four assignments, I decided to create a cactus in a pot made out of clay. I chose to make my concentration plants because they are something that have always interested me and they add character to everything.

The materials I used for this project were clay and watercolor paint. To begin with, I sketched out my four best ideas that I was going to make into my final four projects. To start off I cut a piece of clay to sculpt my cactus with and began to roll it out. I started by making a pinch pot for the cactus to stand in. Followed up by that I sculpted my cactus and and added a stand under it to act as soil but to also have a flat surface to attach to the pot. Once I let it dry out I scraped off any excess to shape my sculpture better. The next class after it had been fired, I began to paint it. I decided to use watercolor paint because I like the effect it has on the texture of the clay; it absorbs the paint and makes it look more realistic. I used a more of a bright green to paint the cactus with and then I went in with a darker green to add the pricks. I then sed a dark brown for the soil that is essentially the stand for the cactus. I also used a lighter brown to color the pot with.

Overall, I am pleased with the way my first project came out for the four assignments. The only problem I had with creating this project was the timing. using clay is sort of a longer process, so it was hard to try to get everything done by the deadline.