7th grade 3-D students finished up their clay cupcakes and were eager to begin their next project. We looked at the artwork of pop artist, Romero Britto. Britto is a painter and sculptor from Brazil who creates light-hearted, happy artwork using simple shapes, bright colors and lots of patterns. He took inspiration from Matisse and Picasso. Students looked at his artwork of animals and decided to create their own animal sculpture. Using Styrofoam, they created large shapes for the body. They had the option to create flat sculptures or make some parts of it rounded. After they created their form, it was time to plaster! We used PlastrCraft strips to completely cover the sculpture, making sure to smooth out all of the holes as best as we could. This would make painting easier. After the plaster was dry, students went in and added thick, black outlines around their sculpture using sharpie or black paint. Finally, it was time to paint! I really gave them a lot of freedom with the paint. As long as they had areas of solid color and patterns, they could do what they pleased. I reminded them to paint crisp edges and smoothly. Here are some of them so far