Soap Carving Assignment Guidelines

ASSIGNMENT

Observe from life to complete two soap carvings. Use a small, plastic animal as the source of observation and soap as the medium. The final solutions will depict correct proportions, textures and details. Once carvings complete, create a two drawings and a color analysis.

OBJECTIVE

Observe from life. Interpret three-dimensional mass, space and form into a small scale, proportioned model. 

MATERIALS

• Two large, dense, good quality bars of soap.  SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR PACKAGING - WILL HELP YOU RECOGNIZE SOAP IN STORE.
• Purchase two (2) large, good quality soap bars at Marshalls or Ross here in St. Augustine.  Do not confuse Marshalls with Michaels Arts and Craft. Marshalls and Ross are clothing stores. Michael's an arts and crafts store and does not sell the hard, dense soap needed for carving. Michael's sells glycerin soap for soap making - glycerin not for carving.
• Do not use drugstore soap (IVORY, Dove, Irish Spring, etc...).The bar width too narrow and these soaps have a lot of detergent which causes them to crumble when carving. 
• Look for soap that does not have a curve. 
• Color does not matter. The two bars do not have to be the same color. 
• Depending on the plastic animal that you select (borrow from me or buy your own), you will want a rectangular soap bar or one that has curved/rounded corners. 
• Kemper Ribbon Carving tool set.
• Banning wheel.These are available in the classroom. Please do not remove from the classroom. 
• Small plastic animal or figure (if needed, you can borrow from me).* If buying your own plastic animal, avoid giraffe, flamingo, squid, whale, dolphin, shark, elephant.
• Toothpicks can sometimes be useful for detail work. 
• A butter knife can also be useful.
• Small pieces of wire can be useful - embed wire in soap to attach pieces.
• The soap can also work as a paste to smooth over areas that have to be reattached. Soak soap shavings in water to create paste. 
• Do not use an Exacto, utility knife or any other sharp blade. 

*Make sure to turn in the plastic animal you used for observation with the final carving. 
The final carved forms do not have to be the same size as the plastic animal. 

STEPS TO FOLLOW

The pictures below show the slow, observational process of carving. 

Step 1
Begin with large, chunky shapes. No details in the beginning. Think simple shapes - triangles, rectangles, ovals. Make sure you work in the round - do not carve in any one area too long. Keep the soap rotating in your hands and use banning wheel often to view carving and plastic animal so that proportions will develop correctly.

Step 2
Once you have the basic shapes, begin to define each shape. Very slowly. Again, make sure you do not work in any one area too long. Keep the soap rotating in your hands and use banning wheel often to view carving and plastic animal so that proportions will develop correctly.

Step 3
Depict texture and details. 


The following information is required for your blog:

• Photographs
• At least one in process photo. 
• At least three professional photo's of the final solution. 
• At least one detail shot. 
• Make sure the first photo you post includes the materials (soap) and measurements (width" x height" x depth").
• Optional
• Sketches and/or notes. 

Below are images of the soap you are looking for. Marshall's Clothing and Ross Clothing carry the soap. About $4 each. Need two bars. If you can purchase an additional bar, it won't hurt to have extra. 

• Look for soap that does not have a curve. 
• Color does not matter. The two bars do not have to be the same color. 
• Depending on the plastic animal that you select (borrow from me or buy your own), you will want a rectangular soap bar or one that has curved/rounded corners. 

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Janine Antoni is a contemporary artist who used soap and chocolate to explore concepts of time, gender and space. 

• Link here (http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/janine-antoni) for ART 21 Video Interview. 
• The video is entitled Loss and Desire.  
• NOTE: You have to watch about 4 minutes of Goldman Sachs ads. The second ad has a guy putting leaves in sticks….hang on, be patient, Janine Antoni will follow this segment.

"I wanted to work with the tradition of self-portraiture but also with the 

classical bust...I had the idea that I would make a replica of myself in 

chocolate and in soap, and I would feed myself with my self, 

and wash myself with my self. Both the licking and the bathing are quite 

gentle and loving acts, but what’s interesting is that I’m slowly erasing 

myself through the process. So for me it’s about that conflict, that love/hate 

relationship we have with our physical appearance, and the problem I have

 with looking in the mirror and thinking, ‘Is that who I am?’"

- Janine Antoni

Another interesting video of Antoni's work can be found on You Tube, 

Janine Antoni: Milagros Exclusive ART21

Link here

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uABQ24dhWBE)