A drawing or a painting is flat: it lies on paper or canvas. A sculpture is solid: it takes up space, and you can walk around it and see its back.
Key idea
Pictures are flat. Sculptures are solid: they have a front, sides and a back.
Why it works
Sculptors carve stone or wood, shape clay, or put pieces together. Their art has height, width and depth, like a real thing.
Worked example: Let's look
Hana built a snowman. Is it a picture or a sculpture?
- A snowman is solid.
- You can walk all the way around it.
Answer: A sculpture.
Common mistake
Some children think a sculpture must be a statue of a person. A clay bowl, a carved animal, a sandcastle and a stack of metal shapes are sculptures too.
For the grown-up. Make a small sculpture together from play dough or foil, then turn it around and look at every side. The Math Ladder's Flat and Solid Shapes uses the same idea for shapes.