Year 7 Art: Personal Ceramic Totem

This term we will be creating a personal totem and get inspired by our ancestors. Nowadays the DNA technique can reveal where your roots lie. You might have a mixture of cultures locked in your DNA.

A.Brainstorm:Have a chat with your family to find out which cultures are a part of you. What symbols can you use to visualise this? Think of national flags, alphabet, famous artworks, inventions, landmarks, horoscope etc.

B. Research images as examples: Pic CollageCreate a Pic Collage with at least 4 images you want to use in your design. Each image should have an explanation why you have chosen it or how it relates to you. The pic collage needs to be printed out and stuck in your visual diary.

Task:Research the word ‘totem’ and write down the description. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

C.Concept drawing for cylinder decoration:In your visual diary you will make two different grey lid pencil sketches using the ideas from your pic collage. The design needs to be the size of an A4 page. You can repeat shapes and create a pattern. Keep it simple and make sure the lines on the short sides of the A4 connect. The design will be enlarged and transferred on the clay cylinder.

D.Concept drawing for top of Personal TotemMake two different sketches, using greylid pencil, in your visual diary for the top of your totem. Think of a fitting theme/concept. Again it has to relate to something you like doing ….ball sport, or it can be a portrait of you….or it can show your horoscope….or a pet you have..

You will shape two pinchpots to create a hollow sphere. This sphere will sit on top of your cylinder shape.(The sphere shape can be manipulated into an oval or a more conical shape. The decoration of this 3D shape is free of choice. You can scratch or add bits of clay to make it into a relief).

Have a look at the totems and decorations from other year 7 classes on the STL link!