This last weekend, I spent Friday through Sunday in a clay sculpture workshop. It wasn't the 3-D form where you can walk all around the sculpture. This workshop was about a sculptural art form referred to as "relief sculpting."
In relief, the reduction of the background projects the object forward - not unlike what is done in a painting. With clay, it is not only possible to remove background, but also to build up the foreground. To me, this makes clay relief work a combination of 2-D and 3-D.
There are three major categories of relief sculpture. They are: "bas relief" (low relief), "alto relief" (high relief) and "sunk relief" - a form not used much nowadays. Of the three, the most commonly used is bas relief . It's even found on our coins.
Alto or high relief is the term used when more than half the figure projects from the background. Mount Rushmore is a well-known example.
The reverse of projecting the figure is sunk relief. It was used extensively in Ancient Egypt.
Now, back to the workshop... on the left is the tree branch I used as a model. On the right is my first effort at bas relief.
