January 12th, 2010 by Jonni
15 comments »
I just received an urgent request for help with a pinata project on the Paper Mache Recipe page, and I don’t have the answer. I’ve never made a pinata,and I’m hoping you can help. Please read the comment below and offer your suggestions:
Hello there!
First, I must say how truly gifted you are. These sculptures are AMAZING! I am not doing anything that intricate. I have made 3 large dinosaur egg pinatas for my daughters 7th birthday party. There will be about 39 kids in attendance. I made this by covering plastic trash bags (filled with more plastic bags) with paper mache (using the flour/water/salt/cinnamon recipe). I have done 2 layers of paper mache and it’s SLOWLY drying. I plan to spray paint them, then go back and add details with a paint brush – like adding a crack and a claw sticking out, etc. My goal is to give each kid a good whack at the pinata – so each pinata should be able to withhold about 13 whacks before cracking open. What can I do to strengthen them more? I have run out of time to do a 3rd coat as it seems to take longer and longer to dry. Thank you for any insight you can provide to me – It’s much appreciated!
Suzanne
(The dino egg idea is really clever, don’t you think?)
Thanks in advance for your help. I know Suzanne will appreciate it.
January 6th, 2010 by Jonni
1 comment »
A few months ago I told you about an artist in Canada who creates museum-quality papier mache sculptures. I also mentioned that the artist, Monique Robert, was in the process of writing a book about the unique processes she uses to create her large, lifelike sculptures. I’m happy to say her book is now available. You can order through her website at www.moniquerobertstudios.com
Check out that dragon on the cover. Some truly amazing work is coming out of Monique’s studio, and I can’t wait to see how she does it. Her techniques for creating shapes are different from anything I’ve ever seen anyone else do.
I have not yet purchased my copy (I wanted to let you know if was available as soon as I found out) but I’ll be ordering one soon. I’ll tell you more after I’ve had a chance to read it. You can order a copy and learn more about her book through the link on her website.
Some Thoughts About Self-Publishing a Full-Color Book:
Since I can’t tell you any more about Monique’s book until I’ve had a chance to read it, this seems like a good time to talk about some of the challenges an author faces when self-publishing a full-color book. Since you’re probably an artist yourself, you may be thinking about writing a how-to book of your own (admit it — the thought has crossed your mind). If so, the info below may be of some use to you.
Jessie and I recently started our own book project, and we’ve done a lot of research into the business-end of self-publishing. We’ve discovered that many artists use self-publishing services (also called author’s services) which charge fairly high up-front fees, or they charge a high price to print each book, or both.
Once the book is printed through one of these services, it looks great — but it’s not available for distribution through large online booksellers like Amazon.com. Basically, that means that every book has to be sold from your own website, (you’d better be really good at marketing) or you have to sign up for a service like Amazon Advantage which takes a hefty commission on each sale (and you ship books to them at your expense). » Read more: New Papier Mache Book – And Thoughts About Self-Publishing Full-Color Art Books
January 6th, 2010 by Jonni
3 comments »
Last week I accidentally discovered Blue and Yellow Don’t Make Green, by Michael Wilcox. I ordered the book on a whim, and it has now become one of the most important resources among all the books I own on the subject of art.
I decided to write this post to tell you about the book, just in case your experience with mixing colors has been as disappointing as mine.
If you’re a professional artist who figured out color mixing years ago, this post won’t mean much to you. However, I struggled for years trying to understand why the colors I mixed for my paintings and craft projects never came out right. I was obviously doing something wrong. I now realize that I misunderstand the basic physics underlying color.
This was particularly upsetting to me because the animals I like to paint are often clothed in subtle, interesting shades that I couldn’t match on my palette.
After reading Wilcox’s book, I realize that I learned to mix colors the wrong way back in grade school. That’s when I learned that yellow and blue paint make green paint. Red and yellow make orange. Red and blue make violet.
It sounded so simple. So why couldn’t I mix these colors and make the hues I needed? » Read more: Mixing Color–A Book Review and Short Physics Lesson
January 2nd, 2010 by Jonni
8 comments »
How can you store paper mache Christmas ornaments so they’ll still be beautiful next year? Your suggestions are welcome.
Hi Everyone. A reader sent me a question I can’t answer, and I’m hoping you can help her out. She lives in Texas, and she wants to know the best way to protect a pair of paper mache snowmen she just found,. She normally puts her Christmas decorations in the attic, but she worries that the paper mache won’t survive the heat (or the humidity).
I live on the edge of a desert, so I am not the expert here. If you have any ideas at all, please post them below. I know Mary Jane will appreciate any help you can offer.
December 26th, 2009 by Jonni
18 comments »
Paper Mache Frog
I spent my Christmas vacation making this frog out of newspaper, masking tape, pipe cleaners and paper mache clay. I show you how I did it below. If I did it again I’d use stronger wire in place of the pipe cleaners so I could get thinner fingers and toes, but that’s the only part of the process I’d change.
Real Frog
This is the real frog I used as my model. I’m sorry I don’t know what kind of frog it is.
You can clearly see that my version won’t win any awards at the science fair – but if you spend just a bit more effort than I did you could reproduce the colors and patterns with more accuracy. And with heavier wire instead of the fuzzy pipe cleaners, skinny toes would be possible, too. Wouldn’t it be fun to create a display of poison dart frogs in all their colorful varieties? » Read more: Make this Frog with Paper Mache Clay
December 10th, 2009 by Jonni
8 comments »
Snowman Made with Paper Mache Clay
It’s really cold outside this week, but we don’t have any snow down here in the valley. Even Mt. Emily has only a light dusting of snow. But I do have a bit of winter cheer in my house, because I made this goofy little snowman by stuffing a plastic grocery bag with old newspapers and covering it with paper mache clay.
The idea for using a stuffed plastic bag for a form came from Laurie Baker’s guest post showing her wonderful Halloween pumkins. My snowman isn’t nearly as big, since Laurie used garbage bags and I used grocery bags, but there’s no reason you couldn’t make a really big snowman if you wanted to. » Read more: Fast Snowman with Paper Mache Clay
November 30th, 2009 by Jonni
11 comments »
Bluebird Ornament, Made with Paper Mache Clay
A few weeks ago, Donnisha asked for some tips for making the 7-hr paper mache bluebirds into Christmas tree ornaments. What a great idea! I wrote the bluebird tutorial almost exactly 1 year ago so folks would have a fast, easy way to create a present for someone who loves handmade gifts. (I think most of the bluebirds actually ended up on wedding cakes–a use that had not occurred to me until I read your comments.)
Today’s post is all about little bluebirds that can hang from a tree. They look almost exactly like the ones I made last year, but the one I made today took 4 hours instead of 7. If you wanted to, you could probably make enough for a small Christmas tree in half a day.
I cut down the time with two new techniques. First, I used my paper mache clay recipe instead of torn paper strips and paste. The clay goes on in just one layer, and it doesn’t need to be sanded because it goes on smooth. (You only need about 2 tablespoons of paper mache clay for each bird. The recipe will make about a quart, so you can make lots of birds.
Then, I found a way to hold the birds so the entire surface could be covered in one go. That cut down a lot on drying time.
I know you figured this out already, but all your birds don’t have to be blue. Canary yellow and cardinal red would look lovely on your tree.
So – here’s how to make the new 4-hr Bluebirds: » Read more: Bluebird Ornaments – 7-hr Bluebirds Revisited
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