Why a Dragon Clay Lesson is an Excellent Theme for Your Next Project:
Clay seems to be a magical material that enables students to truly utilize textures to take their art to the next level. Dragons have such a variety of gorgeous textures and features that are just plain fun to incorporate into a dragon clay lesson.
When I think of a subject that kids always seem to enjoy, dragons instantly come to mind. If you are looking for your next sculpture lesson, you can’t go wrong with a dragon clay lesson. Regardless of the media that I am planning on using, I always have the students sketch out their ideas. To do this right, they really have to focus on designing dragons that are quite detailed from the jump. I find that it’s better to go more detailed for the sketches and adjust if necessary when sculpting. When planning and sculpting, I have handouts with lots of dragon ideas on the tables if the students need an idea boost.
When introducing a dragon clay lesson lesson, it’s always fun to read a dragon themed book or to look at illustrations of dragons. If you are focusing specifically on Chinese Dragons, you can fill students in on their lore and show a video of a parade during the Chinese New Year. You can also choose the type of dragon based on what they are learning in their grade-level classrooms. Examples of this include: dragons related to Greek Mythology or dragons from Medieval literature and art.
Dragon Story Recommendations:
- 100 Mighty Dragons All Named Broccoli by David LaRochelle
- Dragons Love Tacos by Adam Rubin
Model Magic is an ideal way to create dragons. Once they get the body modeled, they can really pack in the details by simply sticking on various shapes to represent scales, eyes, textures, etc. You can either use Model Magic of various prepackaged colors or kids can create their own.
To create custom Model Magic colors, you need white model magic and markers. The students will color directly onto the model magic and squish it up to mix the colors. They will repeat until they have a hue that they are satisfied with. They will have to divide their Model Magic into multiple pieces to create multiple colors. If you are going this route, you may have to have a multi-session lesson and store the model magic in plastic bags. It often takes a decent amount of time to get all the model magic colored.
A dragon theme really lends itself well to ceramic art. The kids can hand build a wide variety of features within this dragon clay lesson. In addition to the hand building, there are limitless textures that can be pressed into the clay to enhance their designs. This is a lesson that seems to fit best within the upper elementary grades. It all starts with your basic pinch pot to form the mouth. If you wish to attach the pinch pot to a slab for more stability, that is also an option. Dragon features will be hand modeled and students will utilize proper joining methods. Textures can be hand-drawn or pressed in with clay tools or found objects.
It’s really neat to see how glaze can make these textures pop. Another neat approach is to color the bisqueware with oil pastels and dip their sculptures into watered down tempera paint. I always recommend testing out the paint consistency before giving it to kids. My favorite is using a black tempera dip against a bright pastel color scheme.
If you are in need of a dragon Ideas handout, I have one available on my TPT.
If you liked this blog post, you may like my post on 5 Wonderful Themes to use in your Elementary Printmaking Lessons.