GARGOYLES 7th Grade Visual Art

CHALLENGE Artists, your challenge is to create a creature with 3 human features and 3 animal features. BE CREATIVE! Start in pencil. Use crayons, drawing pencils, markers, stippling, shading, etc.

HISTORY of GARGOYLES Staring down at us from the highest points of a Gothic Cathedral are highly animated, fantastically ugly creatures. They’re known as Gargoyles. Some art historians believe these spirit figures were added to churches as visual reminders of horror. Other scholars believe the creatures were intended to frighten away evil spirits. Some gargoyles are merely humorous. Finally, these small sculptures serve a practical purpose. They were originally used as rainspouts to channel water off of the cathedral’s roof. www.dl.ket.org/humanities/connections/class/medren/gargoyles.htm

GARGOYLES Examples More Gargoyles MORE...

Common Characteristics of Gargoyles Human and animal features combined (changing from one to the other). Frightening or grotesque Wings are common Facial features are animated (long beard, large ears, big eyes, large cheek bones/chins) Human muscle tone in upper body Perched (on a building, structure, etc.) Feathers or scales or fur (mane, beard) Stone was the common medium (VALUE and FORM)

It’s your turn… In your sketchbooks (divide your paper into 4 equal sections). Create 4 thumbnail sketches of your own creative gargoyle. Combine animal and human parts. (Most commonly animal or beast heads and human bodies). BE CREATIVE and unique! Look through animal books to accurately render animal features. Look at your neighbor for human features 

NAME YOUR GARGOYLE Give your Gargoyle a name. This will be displayed alongside your Gargoyle at the Urbana Library.