Good - Make animal sculptures with paper mache clay : how to create stunning wildlife art using patterns and my easy-to-make, no-mess paper mache recipe the new way to papier mache

Make Animal Sculptures with Paper Mache Clay: How to Create Stunning Wildlife Art Using Patterns and My Easy-to-Make, NoMess Paper Mache Recipe

By Jonni Good
Published by Wet Cat Books
1311 V Ave.
La Grande, OR 97850
WetCatBooks.com
2010 Jonni Good.
ISBN 978-0-9741065-1-9

Visit the author online at
UltimatePaperMache.com

The all-new recipes and methods in this book will help you master the art of creating life-like animal sculptures with inexpensive materials in the easiest and most enjoyable way possible. These are the same materials and techniques that I developed to use in my own work.

How youll make your animal sculptures:

1. Transfer a pattern onto cardboard.

Patterns for each project are included, and Ill also show you how to make patterns of your own, using your own sketch or photo.

2. Assemble the pattern pieces into an armature, so your sculptures have a natural, life-like posture.

3. Pad the armature with newspaper and masking tape to form a solid base for your paper mache clay.

4. Cover the armature with a thin layer of home-made paper mache clay.

5. Paint your sculpture with acrylic paints after the clay is dry and hard.

Im sure youre familiar with the traditional methods of building sculptures with paper mache, (or papier-mch, if you prefer to spell it in French). It usually involves sticking strips of newspaper onto a form with a paste made from flour and water. As you can see from the previous photos, there are no paper strips or paste used in the projects youll be making in this book. I used paper strips and paste for many years to make my own sculptures, mostly because the materials were affordable. I accepted the drips of paste on my counters and floor, on my hands, (and sometimes the dog), because they were a part of the creative process. In fact, many of the tutorials on my popular paper mache website show projects using traditional methods.

However, as soon as I developed the recipe for paper mache clay, I stopped tearing up newspapers and mixing up paste. From this sculptors point of view, the new clay has a number of important advantages over traditional methods.

The most obvious advantage is the mess there isnt any. However, thats not why I worked so hard to develop these new methods. I spent many months experimenting with new recipes and techniques for just one reason: I wanted to find an easier way to create life-like animal sculptures with realistic details. The new methods make sculpting easier, and that makes sculpting more fun.

My first priority was to find a method that would allow me to draw my intended sculpture on paper (or look at a photo) and be confident that my finished sculpture would actually turn out the way I wanted it to with the least amount of effort. Thats when the cardboard patterns were developed. They dont do the sculpting for you (this is not sculpt-by-number by any means), but it simplifies the process and it increases your chances of creating a successful sculpture. Thats not to say that you cant make beautiful animal sculptures without making a pattern first, (many people do), but I use them because it gives me more predictable results. Once you try them, I think youll agree.

Next, I worked to find a solution to two of the problems that have plagued every sculptor who has ever made a crumpled paper and masking tape armature and covered it with traditional paper strips and paste:

1. How do you make the skin of your sculpture as smooth as you want it, without fighting with the bumps and crannies that are formed when you wad up a few pieces of paper and cover them with tape?

2. And how do you create fine details, like the eyes and nose?

The solution I eventually developed combines a few inexpensive products to create a material that can be spread over a form the way you would frost a cake (eliminating the bumpiness and the many layers of paper and paste). This material can also be modeled into fine details, and takes only a few minutes to make. It dries remarkably hard and strong, even when applied thinly - 1/8 or so.

I call this material Paper Mache Clay, but you could call it home-made air-dried cellulose-reinforced polymer clay (I dont know how to spell that in French). The home-made paper mache clay is easy to use, it isnt messy, and it lets you get to your goal (a magnificent animal sculpture) in less timeand in a way that I think youll find is much more enjoyable than messing around with paper strips and paste.

My instructions are not meant to show you how animals should be sculpted. Instead, what Ive tried to do is create a system of steps that move you towards the successful creation of life-like animal sculptures in the easiest way possible, so you can concentrate on the fun parts instead of struggling to figure out how to put the materials together. Once you find out how enjoyable it is to create sculptures using these methods and materials, I know youll go on to invent new techniques that reflect your own character and style.

Please visit my blog to ask questions about this book, share your own ideas and methods, and show off your sculptures. Thousands of people visit my blog every week, and the conversation gets quite interesting at times. I do try to answer every comment I receive on the blog. Please join us at http://UltimatePaperMache.com

Cheap Toilet Paper - The toilet paper completely dissolves into the clay in just a few minutes when you mix the ingredients together with an electric mixer. Since the resulting pieces of paper in the clay are so tiny, your clay can be formed into much finer details than you could get if you used another type of paper.

White Glue (Elmers Glue-All) - Ive found that the Elmers Glue-All brand works the best. If this product is not available in your area, ask your hardware store for a PVA glue. PVA stands for Polyvinyl Acetate, a rubbery synthetic polymer. If at all possible, use the Elmers Glue-All, because we already know it works. However, if you must use a glue other than Elmers Glue-All, buy a small container so you can make up just one recipe as an experiment. (Note: Elmers School Glue will not work).

A 7 oz bottle is enough to make about a quart of clay. Many of the sculptures in this book can be made with one quart of clay or less. If you would like to make larger sculptures, (or more of them), you should be able to find the glue in gallon containers at the hardware store.

Drywall Joint Compound - Joint compound is normally used in the construction industry to smooth out the joints between pieces of plasterboard on new walls. The primary ingredient is either calcium carbonate or gypsum. Joint compound is called joint filler in the UK, Fugenmasse in Germany and joint finish in Australia. If you aren't quite sure what to ask for at the hardware store, I recommend that you go to YouTube.com and do a search for "joint compound." You'll see videos of some construction guys using the product for it's original purpose. That will help when you're talking to the clerk.