Clay Art Critique Assessment:
General Clay Knowledge
1. What are the special qualities of clay that allow it to be both sculptural and functional?
General Clay Knowledge
1. What are the special qualities of clay that allow it to be both sculptural and functional?
2. What is the knowledge you need to make a successful piece in clay?
3. What are some basic actions that are integral to
creating with clay?
4. How is the kiln involved in pottery production, and how does the clay change after firing?
5. How can unfired clay be recycled and used again?
Student outcome:
4. How is the kiln involved in pottery production, and how does the clay change after firing?
5. How can unfired clay be recycled and used again?
Student outcome:
*Preparation and use of clay and related tools and materials.
*Recognizing the moisture/drying stages of the clay, and what
is possible during these stages. Practicing basic hand‐building skills.
Key vocabulary:
Clay Wedging
Plastic Plasticity
Leather hard
Greenware
Bone Dry
Bisque
Earthenware
Stoneware
Porcelain
Porosity
Vitreous
Vitrification
Kiln Firing
Pyrometer
Pyrometric
Cones
Slab
Scoring
Slip
Recycling Processes
Pug Mill
Glaze Techniques
1. How is glaze used as a decorative and utilitarian medium?
2. How do artists use different glaze types, or even non‐ceramic paints, to effectively finish clay pieces?
3. What is the application process for various glazes?
4. How do the elements of art and principles design relate to planning an effective color scheme and creating surface decoration?
Student outcome:
Learn glazing and painting theory
Understand functional and sculptural projects throughout the course
Key vocabulary:
Glaze
Gloss
Majolica
Underglaze
Glaze Firing
Sgraffito
Opacity
Transparency
Color Palette
Color Scheme
Brushes Wipe‐off technique
Slab Techniques
1. How can slabs be used to create 2‐D or 3‐D pieces?
2. How can slabs be used in the production of both functional and sculptural forms?
Student outcome
Clay Wedging
Plastic Plasticity
Leather hard
Greenware
Bone Dry
Bisque
Earthenware
Stoneware
Porcelain
Porosity
Vitreous
Vitrification
Kiln Firing
Pyrometer
Pyrometric
Cones
Slab
Scoring
Slip
Recycling Processes
Pug Mill
Glaze Techniques
1. How is glaze used as a decorative and utilitarian medium?
2. How do artists use different glaze types, or even non‐ceramic paints, to effectively finish clay pieces?
3. What is the application process for various glazes?
4. How do the elements of art and principles design relate to planning an effective color scheme and creating surface decoration?
Student outcome:
Learn glazing and painting theory
Understand functional and sculptural projects throughout the course
Key vocabulary:
Glaze
Gloss
Majolica
Underglaze
Glaze Firing
Sgraffito
Opacity
Transparency
Color Palette
Color Scheme
Brushes Wipe‐off technique
Slab Techniques
1. How can slabs be used to create 2‐D or 3‐D pieces?
2. How can slabs be used in the production of both functional and sculptural forms?
Student outcome
*Using the pinch technique to create a form with good symmetry,
basic shape, and even thickness throughout.
*Using the pinch technique to create hollow forms and sculptural
pieces, possibly in combination with other hand building techniques.
*Deliberately altering the basic pinch form to achieve
interesting/dynamic forms.
*Demonstrate knowledge of pinching as a basic forming method and as
a precursor to wheel throwing.
*Understand the meaning and possibilities of process texture.
Key vocabulary:
Slab
2‐Dimensional
3‐Dimensional
Texture
Relief
Additive
Reductive
Drape/ Hump
Mold
Press mold
Sculptural
Utilitarian
Functional
Decorative
Subject
Matter
Symbol
Theme
Pinch Pot Techniques
1. How is the pinch construction technique important to a ceramic artist in the creation of both sculptural and functional forms?
2. What is the historical background of the pinch technique?
3. How can process texture be part of a successful pot or sculpture, and how can it be altered?
Student outcome
1. How is the pinch construction technique important to a ceramic artist in the creation of both sculptural and functional forms?
2. What is the historical background of the pinch technique?
3. How can process texture be part of a successful pot or sculpture, and how can it be altered?
Student outcome
*Using the pinch technique to create a form with good symmetry,
basic shape, and even thickness throughout.
*Using the pinch technique to create hollow forms and sculptural
pieces, possibly in combination with other hand building techniques.
*Deliberately altering the basic pinch form to achieve
interesting/dynamic forms.
*Demonstrate knowledge of pinching as a basic forming method and as
a precursor to wheel throwing.
*Understand the meaning and possibilities of process texture.
Key Vocabulary
Pinch
Symmetry
Asymmetry
Form
Process texture
Coil Technique
1. How is the coil construction technique useful in creating functional and sculptural forms? 2. Historically, why was the coiling process an important innovation?
3. What process texture results from coiling, and how can artists use this texture effectively or alter it?
Student outcome
*Rolling a coil with consistent thickness and a usable
length.
*Understanding and using various techniques for joining coils:
fusing or scoring and slipping.
* Stacking the coils to yield various forms and for decorative purposes.
*Use of coils in sculptural pieces, sometimes in combination with
other building techniques.
*Exploring the possibilities for various surface textures in
a coil pot.
*Understanding how coiling is used to yield larger vessels in
a shorter time.
Key Vocabulary
Coil
Fusing
Scoring
Slip
Wheel Working Technique
1. Why do artists use wheel throwing as opposed to hand building techniques?
2. What skills, techniques, and processes yield successful wheel thrown pieces?
3. How do artists use hand‐ building and wheel throwing techniques, sometimes in combination, to create sculptural pieces?
Student outcome:
Coil
Fusing
Scoring
Slip
Wheel Working Technique
1. Why do artists use wheel throwing as opposed to hand building techniques?
2. What skills, techniques, and processes yield successful wheel thrown pieces?
3. How do artists use hand‐ building and wheel throwing techniques, sometimes in combination, to create sculptural pieces?
Student outcome:
*Understanding the use of the basic throwing process: centering,
opening form, putting the bottom in, lifting wall, shaping, trimming the lip,
cutting from wheel.
*Process of throwing various shapes/proportion: cylinder and
bowl.
*Practice with trimming/footing the base of the pot.
*Basic knowledge of electric and/or kick wheels: parts, speeds, set
up/clean up, specific tools.
*Brief history of wheel and wheel throwing, and its relationship to
the pinch technique
Key vocabulary:
Wheel Centering
Trimming
Footing
Cylinder
Proportion
Electric Wheel
Kick Wheel
Body
Foot
Lip
Symmetry— bilateral; radial
Wheel Centering
Trimming
Footing
Cylinder
Proportion
Electric Wheel
Kick Wheel
Body
Foot
Lip
Symmetry— bilateral; radial
Sculpting
Techniques
1. How do artists use hand‐ building and wheel throwing techniques, sometimes in combination, to create sculptural pieces?
2. What sculpting technique, process, or style is most appropriate to reach an artistic goal?
Student outcome:
1. How do artists use hand‐ building and wheel throwing techniques, sometimes in combination, to create sculptural pieces?
2. What sculpting technique, process, or style is most appropriate to reach an artistic goal?
Student outcome:
*Learn basic sculpting techniques and processes
*Recognize the use of ceramics and related techniques in art
history
*Analyze different stylistic approaches: realism,
stylized/stylistic, naturalism
* Choose a technique, process, or style that will yield the desired
results for various assignments
Key vocabulary:
In the Round
Roughing Out
Hollowing Out
Solid
Construction
Realism
Naturalism
Stylized/ stylistic
Culture and Style Perspective
1. What historical and cultural factors influence visual characteristics?
2. In which works of art do we see a relationship to a variety of historical and cultural contexts? How does meaning in art vary within different cultures, times, and places?
3. What visual characteristics are typical of different time periods, cultures, and artists?
4. How does meaning in art vary within different cultures, times, and places?
Student outcome:
Connect styles and use of techniques to cultural influences, time periods, and artists.
Key vocabulary:
Culture
Visual Characteristics
Aesthetic
Clay Criteria
In the Round
Roughing Out
Hollowing Out
Solid
Construction
Realism
Naturalism
Stylized/ stylistic
Culture and Style Perspective
1. What historical and cultural factors influence visual characteristics?
2. In which works of art do we see a relationship to a variety of historical and cultural contexts? How does meaning in art vary within different cultures, times, and places?
3. What visual characteristics are typical of different time periods, cultures, and artists?
4. How does meaning in art vary within different cultures, times, and places?
Student outcome:
Connect styles and use of techniques to cultural influences, time periods, and artists.
Key vocabulary:
Culture
Visual Characteristics
Aesthetic
Clay Criteria
1. Students know and apply visual arts media, techniques, and
processes
2. Students use knowledge of visual characteristics, purposes, and
functions
3. Students choose, apply, and evaluate a range of subject matter,
symbols, and ideas.
4. Students understand the visual arts in relation to history and
cultures
5. Students analyze and assess characteristics, merits, and meanings
in their own artwork and the work of others
6. Students demonstrate relationships between the visual arts, the
other arts, and disciplines outside the arts.
