From the category archives:

Paper Mache Tutorial

Pepakura + Paper Mache Clay

August 29, 2010

In my last post I included several photos that showed sculptures made with a paper mache clay skin over an armature created by a computer design program called Pepakura. I mentioned in the post that I would love to know more. Simon, the creator of the sculptures, was kind enough to write a very detailed [...]

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Making Urethane Molds for Paper Mache Clay

June 23, 2010

This week I made three urethane molds of clay sculptures – a black-footed ferret, shown above; a walrus; and an Arabian Oryx. I intended to make a Caspian seal, but after it was done I decided a walrus would be more fun. The other two models are shown above, after being sealed. The models were [...]

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Painting the Tortoise

June 14, 2010

The tortoise is finally done – almost. This photo is really false advertising, since his paint is still drying. I’ll walk to the hardware store in a few minutes to buy the marine varnish I hope will protect him out in the wilderness near my pond. He’ll stay in the house until several coats of [...]

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Ploughshare Tortoise Sculpture, Stage Two

June 4, 2010

The ploughshare tortoise that I started a week ago has been progressing slowly. I blame the rain. Everything seems to slow down at my house when we have unending clouds and rain – it just seems like the best time to curl up with a mystery novel and hibernate for a while. However, I have [...]

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Endangered Tortoise Sculpture, Stage One

May 27, 2010

Today I started a small sculpture of an endangered Ploughshare Tortoise, (Geochelone yniphora) — also known as the Angonoka, Madagascar Angulated Tortoise, or Madagascar Tortoise. I’ve been doing a lot of reading about endangered animals lately, and I found the story of this tortoise in Jane Goodall’s book Hope for Animals and Their World: How [...]

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Painting the Chimp

May 17, 2010

Recently Carmen asked me why I like using Golden Acrylic Glazing Liquid for painting my sculptures, so I thought it would be fun to show you how I use it. I confess – I don’t feel very comfortable using a brush, so my painting technique feels more sculptural than painterly. I put on color, rub [...]

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Can You Help Me Answer These Paper Mache Questions?

April 30, 2010

I’ve recently been stumped by some comments and emails I’ve received from readers. Paper mache can be used for so many different kinds of projects, and I have to admit that I’m not an expert in every single one of them. I thought it would be useful to compile a few of the more common [...]

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Sculpt a Dragon with Paper Mache Clay, Part 2

March 27, 2010

In this video I let you watch over my shoulder as I add paper mache clay to the dragon armature I made for a previous episode. The dragon came out a little bumpier than usual, just because I was trying to hurry. The process of applying the paper mache clay is usually a nice slow, [...]

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Sculpt a Dragon – Part 1, the Armature

March 22, 2010

The very first post on this blog, back in November of 2008, was a tutorial I wrote to show how to sculpt a dragon with traditional paper mache strips and paste. I thought it would be fun to make another one, using some of the techniques and materials that I’ve developed in the last 13 [...]

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