Beautiful Abstract Sculptures

Simple, beautiful quick abstract sculptures for children and artists.

I have long been a fan of Constantin Brancusi's sculptures "Bird in Space". The simple, smooth, upwardly striving form fascinates me.

Of course I have tried to imitate such shapes, I have already succeeded in wood, iron and stone. But not everyone has the time, tools and materials to make something like this themselves.There is a good method, which I will show you now, to make simple and quick abstract sculptures. The short form: A ladies' stocking is slipped over a wire frame and fixed and stabilised with some layers of wall paint.

Teachers, this method is also very suitable for your schoolchildren.*

Parents, a rainy afternoon? Make these sculptures with your kids!*

*see step 6

small board

wire, 2mm

ladies' stockings

wall paint (emulsion paint/silicate paint)

drill 2mm

scissors, pliers

paintbrush

stapler

optional stuff: spray paint, graphite powder

A small wooden board is the base and the holder for the wire that supports our sculpture. The shape and size depends on your sculpture.

I prepared 10x10 cm boards with a circular saw. (If children are involved, of course an adult should do this part).

We start with a simple wire loop. Our board needs two holes for the wire ends. The spacing and placement will again depend on your design. Do not drill the holes all the way through the board so that the wire does not slip through later.

Children can also work here with a small drill.

You can also experiment with two wires.

Theoretically, you can make the wire loop as long as the stocking is. But then your sculpture may lose stability. We start with a height of about 25 cm, so we need 50 cm of wire.

Insert the ends of the wire into the prepared holes in the board. Give your wire loop an interesting shape of outward bends or screwed twists.

For further experiments, you can of course also try two or three wires.

It is important that the wires do not form sharp points so that the delicate fabric is not damaged

Now a stocking is put over our sculpture. As we have no sharp wire ends, nothing could happen to the fabric. The elasticated fabric clings to the wire structure. Now you can correct the shape and deform the wire a little.

If you are sure of the shape, you can tighten the stocking a little and fix it to the underside of the base with staples.

The stocking colour and surface of the sculpture are not yet beautiful. We seal and consolidate the surface with wall paint. You probably still have some leftover paint at home.

We start from the top and paint the whole figure. Make sure that all the pores of the fabric are closed. After it has dried for about two hours, you can apply a second coat to strengthen the surface.

You can also try to fix the sculpture with spray adhesive. However, you will then have to be careful that the solvents in the paint do not soften the glue again.

There are now several options for designing the surface.

a) Leave it as it is. White is beautiful and pure.

b) Paint the white with varnish to create a brittle, marble-like surface

c) Mix graphite powder with varnish to create a slate-like or metallic surface

d) For a bronze sculpture, the figure must first be sealed with varnish (b). Then apply gold colour. Once this is dry, a graphite-varnish mixture (c) is applied, which is immediately wiped off again with a cloth. This has given my plastic sculptures a beautiful patina.

e) Experiments with paints and sprays of all kinds would be possible. In the last picture, a chrome spray was tried out.

Anyone can splash paint on paper or squash a clump of clay and declare it to be art. Children sense that this is not really art or has anything to do with conscious design.

As I said at the beginning, Brancusi's ‘Bird in Space’ is a good start into the world of abstract sculptures. Without mentioning the title, you can let the children discover the figure themselves, associate it and name it.The great thing about it is that everyone is right. It's like looking at clouds, everyone sees a different shape.

a) You can simply make the sculpture as described in this project and choose a suitable title later.

b) Older children can be given the task of representing an abstract concept with their sculpture. Selection: Love, contentment, anger, hunger, strength, happiness, ...

c) An artistic approach via the architecture would also be possible. The roof of the Munich Olympic Stadium also follows a fabric (acrylic glass) along the supports (cable nets) and looks like spider webs in the morning dew.

Good luck and happiness with your sculpture!

Long tutorial & short video