The Plan

Step 1 - Cut two wires 10” long and one wire 6 ½” long.

Step 2 - Cross two of the wires to form an X and twist them

together for about 5-10 twists. This forms the body, arms and

legs of your sculpture.

Step 3 - Take the remaining wire and create a loop in the

middle and twist it 3-5 times.

Step 4- Twist the ends of the loop onto the arms of the

crossed wires.

Step 5- Create hands and feet by making small loops in the

ends of the wires. Your armature is finished and you can bend

your person in different fun positions.If you have extra

materials available you can add to your armature to make a

sculpture.

You NeedFlexible wireMasking tapeRulerScissorsOptional materials – paper, yarn, and glue.Step-By-Step tutorial:www.think360arts.org

The Big IdeaAn armature is the structure an artist creates inside a sculpture

that helps the sculpture keep it’s shape.In this tutorial, we will go

through the basic steps to create a wire armature and explore

ways to cover the armature to make a finished sculpture.

Creating a Sculpture usinga Wire Armature

with Kendra Fleischman

TEACHING ARTIST TV

GRADE 5 - ADULT | V ISUAL ARTS

Step 7- You can use different materials to cover the tape, such as

wrapped yarn and add details with felt, paper, or googly eyes. By using

yarn or felt, the sculpture can still be posed in different positions. You can

make different creatures by bending your wire to make four legs and

adding wire for tails, wings and other parts.

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All Rights Reserved  ©2020 Think 360 Arts for Learning

The Plan cont.

Step 6 - Cover the armature with tape. Scrunching the tape works better

than wrapping the tape around the wire. The tape remains flexible so you

can pose your sculpture over and over. If you want to use air dry clay,

pose your person in the final position and then cover with clay. The

sculpture will not move once the clay dries.You can use paint or markers

to color your sculpture.

Teaching Artist Tip14 gauge aluminum wire is easy to work with

Bread twisty ties will work for a small sculpture

Aleene’s tacky glue works great

Use T pins to secure your sculpture in Styrofoam

You can create sculptures to use in stop-motion animation.

Check out Kendra's second workshop:

www.think360arts.org

Going FurtherWhat did you enjoy about this process?

What would you change?

Create a small gallery and share your work with

your family.

Use your sculpture to tell a story through

photographs or stop motion animation. 

For inspiration, research the wire sculptures of

Alexander Calder and Ruth Asawa.