including the fingers. I have found
that students will want to finish the
arm, wrist, and palm and then work
on the fingers, assuming they can
tape the fingers on AFTER removing the tape. This will result in a
disproportioned-looking hand. To
get the tape around the fingers well,
smaller pieces of tape have to be cut.
Students
worked in
pairs, having
the partner help
them with the
fingers and getting the smaller pieces cut before
getting started on the wrapping
part. This was more time consuming, but resulted in a much better
constructed and proportioned hand.
A layer of cellophane or
plastic wrap can also
be used instead
of a layer of tape
sticky-side up, and
if you use colored cellophane, you can achieve an added
element that won’t take away from
the transparency of the tape.
After the first
layer, students
wrapped at least
four layers of
tape, sticky-side
down if they
were using a layer of tape sticky-side
up, five layers if they used a layer of
cellophane. It’s important to stress
the use of many layers, as fewer layers result in weaker sculptures that
All a student needs is a little
ingenuity and a few rolls of
packing tape.
tend to bend easily and
loose their form. Six to seven
layers work best.
Removing the sculptures works
a lot like removing a cast. Using
some scissors, carefully cut an incision just far enough for the tape to
slide off. One of the great things
about tape is that sealing the cut is
much easier. Just tape the cut back
together with a couple of layers of
the tape.
Next, students put the pieces
together. This works like taping
the cuts back together, but it’s
important to have students use
about three to five layers so that
the pieces stay securely together.
Once the pieces were assembled,
students took the sculptures even
Left to right: Students reinforcing pieces with more tape; Mark Talamantes, grade twelve, aligns tape along the cut
before sealing; Jillian Wolpman, grade eleven, works on sealing the upper-torsor of her piece.
