Paper Mache Panda Playing with Ball The paper mache panda I promised is finished, and you can make one of your own using the following photos and instructions.This is a fairly advanced project, but if you have any prior experience with paper mache you should be able to make a very nice panda of your own. Before making your panda, be sure to look up lots of panda photos on Google. You’ll want to refer to the photos of real bears as well as following the instructions below. Then your bear will end up looking exactly the way you want it to. Caution: This bear would be adorable...

I recently received a request for instructions showing how to make a paper mache panda. I love the idea, and I’ve already picked out the spot where I’ll be putting my bear when he’s finished. I haven’t started the panda yet, but there should be some progress in my studio this afternoon. (Note – the panda tutorial is now finished. You can see it here.) Meanwhile, I’m working on a pair of paper mache jackrabbits, and I’ll continue working on them as time allows. This is my first attempt to make a matching set. One jackrabbit is now ready...

I have received two requests recently for information on how to make a dress form using paper mache. Dress forms are very expensive, but they make life much easier for someone who sews her own clothes. I came up with sort of an answer – but it’s just a guess. Is there anyone out there who has actually tried to make their own dress form? Did you use paper mache, or did you come up with another solution? If you think you have a better solution, your comments will be much appreciated. OK, here’s the email I sent to the first person who asked about paper mache...

How to Make a Paper Mache Long-Beaked Echidna When I saw a photo of a long-beaked echidna in a New York Times article, I knew I had found my next paper mache project. This critter is so absurd, he’s adorable! This is a fairly advanced project, and you will need to use some sharp tools to cut the wooden toothpicks and for making holes for the spines. These tools can cause serious injury if you’re not careful. Very young children will need some help from an adult. For this project you will need some cardboard, newsprint, brown paper (a paper bag will work), some masking...

I receive a lot of emails by folks who would like to put their paper mache sculptures outside. Can paper mache be waterproofed? I’ve always said “no,” but I never actually tried it myself. Therefore, I decided that I needed to do some experiments to see if there really is a way to weatherproof paper. I was delighted when I discovered that Jackie Hall, writing for the Papier Mache Resource website, beat me to it. Jackie tried just about every finishing material that she could think of, and carefully documented her results. In the end, she discovered that you...

Paper Mache Appaloosa Colt is Finished! If you’ve been following this series of posts, you know I started this paper mache horse almost exactly two weeks ago. It stands two feet high, not including the ears. There are a few things I would do differently if I started over, and I’m not entirely satisfied with how some areas of the horse came out. However, it was a very interesting project and I learned a lot, so I’m very happy that one of my visitors suggested this project. Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to me until this morning when I put the horse down...

Paper Mache Horse, Almost Done It’s finally looking like a horse! It’s been almost two weeks already. Here’s what I did yesterday and today: Rebuilt the face with Super Sculpey Covered the plastic clay with one to two layers of paper mache Added the mane and tail Checking with Mirror Getting Both Sides The Same I have a hard time getting my sculptures symmetrical. Sometimes being a little lopsided adds character to a paper mache animal sculpture. However, I do like to check to see if both sides of the face are the same, and the easiest way to do this is with...

Now I know why this is the first time (and perhaps the last time) that I show you a project before it’s finished. Here it is Day 10 already, and my paper mache horse isn’t done. But I am happy to say there are a lot of lessons learned with this project, and I’ll be able to use the things I’m learning to make my next sculptures easier. One thing I’ve learned is to never say I’ll have something done “tomorrow.” My daughter, Jessie Good, is really good at posting her “one-a-day” oil paintings on her blog almost every day,...

Paper Mache Colt, Getting Closer I can see now that I really need to build a solar dryer if I’m going to continue making larger paper mache animal sculptures. It’s warm enough on my front porch to make wild yeast happy (that’s why paper mache paste gets that watery grey liquid on top if you leave it out for a few hours in this nice weather. The Alaskan gold miners called the alcohol in that liquid “hooch” and considered it a benefit of making sourdough bread). However, it’s not warm enough to dry my horse fast enough to suit me, so I’m...

Oops. I missed a day in this series because the paper mache horse had to spend the night in the ER with a cast on her ankles. The plaster board legs were, (I now realize), a bad idea. Fortunately, even when things break with paper mache you can almost always fix it. The water in the joint compound soaked into the plasterboard, and then migrated towards the lower section where the legs are really thin. I felt the rump area and it seemed to be dry, so I started sanding the rough spots. This giggled things a bit, and caused enough stress for the still-damp back legs to bend, just...

Yesterday I started to make a paper mache horse. (See the first post here). To be slightly more accurate, it will, I hope, look like an appaloosa colt when it’s finished. Yesterday I made a full-sized sketch and cut legs from plasterboard, using the sketch as a pattern. Today I used the same pattern to cut out the torso, neck and head of the colt out of cardboard. Torso, Neck and Head Cut From Cardboard You can see that I began to build up the volume of the chest and abdomen areas. I then used masking tape to attach the legs that I cut out yesterday. Legs Attached Legs...

Sketch for Paper Mache Colt A recent visitor asked for some tips for making a paper mache horse for her daughter. I’ve never made one, but I think my grandson would love one for his room, too. I chose an appaloosa foal for my sculpture for two reasons - I love the long legs on a new colt, even though they’re going to cause some problems with this project. And the spots on an appaloosa are so adorable! I decided to go ahead and let you “watch” the project in process so you can see problems as they arise. This will show you how I come up with ideas that,...

Paper Mache Giraffe I’ve mentioned my giraffe in a previous post, but I skipped over the directions because this was an experiment for me. This is the largest paper mache sculpture I’ve ever done, and part of the process wasn’t very pretty. In fact, I stopped taking pictures before the project was complete. There were many times during this project that I didn’t believe it would ever work. I’m glad I kept going, though, because I’m very happy with her. Today a reader  asked for more detail about how this project was done, so here...

Paper Mache Goat Kid I just completed a paper mache goat kid. It’s a study for a larger sculpture I hope to do this summer. I thought it would be a good subject to use to discuss the leg bones, and how they affect the finished sculpture. The Importance of Leg Bones… If you find a photo of an animal you want to sculpt, but it isn’t in the right position for your project, just keep the following guidelines in mind. As long as you get the proportions right and remember how the leg bones are attached to the spine, you can position your animal any way you...

Painted Eyes on Paper Mache Giraffe The last thing I do on all my paper mache sculptures is paint the eyes. This is when the sculpture really comes to life. How I paint the eyes depends on what mood I’m in, and what I’m trying to achieve with the sculpture. Very Simple Eyes: The piggy bank and flying pig both have very simple eyes. The junco and the bluebirds (not shown) also have very simple eyes – but even though there isn’t anything there except a dark spot and a tiny pinpoint of light, these little sculptures still seem to have...