Paper Mache Blog
PAPER MACHE BLOG
About me
My name is Dan (the Monster Man) Reeder. I'm a papier mache artist living in Seattle, Washington. I've been doing my own version of papier mache for over 35 years. My goal in life is to spread the word about this amazingly satisfying medium. Make art!
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The Year of the Paper Mache Dragon- body, wings, and jaws
Hello everyone. Hope you haven't been sitting on your hands waiting for this next installment. It took me a while to get back to this dragon because of my Dark Butterfly video. I've probably told you that I have to make thousands of cuts when editing my time-lapse videos. I start with many hours of raw video and try to shrink it to around 3 minutes. I tried using a new program (Camtasia) for this new video. After a month of work I went to render the final video and it wouldn't. Technical support was no support at all. I'm fairly tech literate but I couldn't get that video produced. I had to start from scratch using Windows Movie Maker (I know, it's contradictory for me to say I'm tech literate and then admit that I use Movie Maker). Anyway, it took me another three weeks to finish the video. I think it was worth the effort though. Hope you've had a chance to watch it. If not, click HERE, then come back. And turn up the volume!
So back to the dragon. This time I decided to break the body into two parts. The big paper mache ball will be the hips and the smaller ball will be the torso. This dragon will only have legs and arms/wings. Sometimes I have legs, arms, and wings. But this one I want to be bird-like (like my Seadragon). I want it to hang and look like it's floating, looking for prey from a great height. On the right are the "fingers" for the wings. You've seen me make those before. I twist paper tightly around pieces of wire clothes hanger and then wrap with cloth and glue before assembling.
I tape the fingers around a crumpled wad of paper to make a hand. Then I taped the hands onto the paper mache arms I made earlier.
These wings are fairly large. When I drape the cloth dipped in glue over the fingers they will be quite heavy. So I attached string to the ends of the fingers and securde them to the ceiling of my studio. Otherwise the fingers would just bend down and it would be a mess. This is not a problem with smaller wings.
Below you can see the wings after the cloth dried and I trimmed them with scissors. I'm quite happy with how they turned out. When I paint these with latex paint they will feel like leather. The rubber/cloth mache combination is perfect for wings.
Before I leave you, let me show you the making of the jaws. I know this is getting a bit old for you experts out there. But maybe there is a newbie paper mache artist visiting who has spent sleepless nights wondering about dragon jaws. I always start with one of the smaller paper mache balls. I cut it open and pull out the wad of paper leaving two half shells. I used Fimo again for the teeth (and claws and horns). I hot glued the teeth to the shells.
Then I cloth mached around the teeth and inside the jaws. On the right you can see the finished jaws. I decided to paint these green. I made a pretty cool tongue for this dragon. I usually make a bifurcated tongue, like a snake for dragons. But I wanted this to be special. I split the tongue into four parts at the end. It's a bit hard to see. But I think it adds a lot to this dragon.
That's it for now. I'll be back soon. Thank you for stopping by.
So back to the dragon. This time I decided to break the body into two parts. The big paper mache ball will be the hips and the smaller ball will be the torso. This dragon will only have legs and arms/wings. Sometimes I have legs, arms, and wings. But this one I want to be bird-like (like my Seadragon). I want it to hang and look like it's floating, looking for prey from a great height. On the right are the "fingers" for the wings. You've seen me make those before. I twist paper tightly around pieces of wire clothes hanger and then wrap with cloth and glue before assembling.
I tape the fingers around a crumpled wad of paper to make a hand. Then I taped the hands onto the paper mache arms I made earlier.
I attached the arms to the torso.
These wings are fairly large. When I drape the cloth dipped in glue over the fingers they will be quite heavy. So I attached string to the ends of the fingers and securde them to the ceiling of my studio. Otherwise the fingers would just bend down and it would be a mess. This is not a problem with smaller wings.
Below you can see the wings after the cloth dried and I trimmed them with scissors. I'm quite happy with how they turned out. When I paint these with latex paint they will feel like leather. The rubber/cloth mache combination is perfect for wings.
Before I leave you, let me show you the making of the jaws. I know this is getting a bit old for you experts out there. But maybe there is a newbie paper mache artist visiting who has spent sleepless nights wondering about dragon jaws. I always start with one of the smaller paper mache balls. I cut it open and pull out the wad of paper leaving two half shells. I used Fimo again for the teeth (and claws and horns). I hot glued the teeth to the shells.
Then I cloth mached around the teeth and inside the jaws. On the right you can see the finished jaws. I decided to paint these green. I made a pretty cool tongue for this dragon. I usually make a bifurcated tongue, like a snake for dragons. But I wanted this to be special. I split the tongue into four parts at the end. It's a bit hard to see. But I think it adds a lot to this dragon.
That's it for now. I'll be back soon. Thank you for stopping by.
The Year of the Paper Mache Dragon
Hello all.
Well I'm a little late, but I think it's time to celebrate the year of the paper mache dragon. I asked Eddie what I should make. He thought about it for a while. You can see him thinking. What he told me was that he wanted food. I explained to him that I already gave him some food and just because he didn't like it I wasn't about to open a second can. At least not for an hour or so. He got a bit annoyed. Anyway, he decided I should make a dragon for the Year of the Dragon. Great idea Eddie!
So here is Eddie with the first set of paper mache pieces.
Starting on the left I have two parts for the body, a tail, a neck and two legs.
I cut a hole in the largest of the paper mache balls and inserted the tail.
I put the pieces together with masking tape. More to come soon. Thanks for stopping by.
P.S. For what it's worth, I'm editing a video showing the making of the Dark Butterfly I just finished. Should be done in a couple of weeks. Also, for anyone who liked my Paper Mache Dragon Marionette video...I'm finally going to make another video like that one, only on steroids. I won't say what music I'm using yet, but I will say that it took me two years to secure the rights. Now that I have the rights to the music I can start. Trust me, this video is going to be a riot. I'll tell you more as it becomes more real.
Well I'm a little late, but I think it's time to celebrate the year of the paper mache dragon. I asked Eddie what I should make. He thought about it for a while. You can see him thinking. What he told me was that he wanted food. I explained to him that I already gave him some food and just because he didn't like it I wasn't about to open a second can. At least not for an hour or so. He got a bit annoyed. Anyway, he decided I should make a dragon for the Year of the Dragon. Great idea Eddie!
So here is Eddie with the first set of paper mache pieces.
Starting on the left I have two parts for the body, a tail, a neck and two legs.
I cut a hole in the largest of the paper mache balls and inserted the tail.
I put the pieces together with masking tape. More to come soon. Thanks for stopping by.
P.S. For what it's worth, I'm editing a video showing the making of the Dark Butterfly I just finished. Should be done in a couple of weeks. Also, for anyone who liked my Paper Mache Dragon Marionette video...I'm finally going to make another video like that one, only on steroids. I won't say what music I'm using yet, but I will say that it took me two years to secure the rights. Now that I have the rights to the music I can start. Trust me, this video is going to be a riot. I'll tell you more as it becomes more real.
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- Finished!
Hi everyone. Thank you for being so patient (especially you impatient ones.....you know who you are). I've had lots to do. I set up a display in the International District in Seattle. I'll talk about that later. But if you live in Seattle, and if you find yourself at Maynard and King, check it out. This butterfly will be there along with 10 other projects (including some of my old favorites).
Anyway, I've finished my Dark Butterfly. I think she turned out very well. But, as always, I must add the disclaimer that the camera just doesn't capture her. Her colors are much more subtle that these photos suggest. The camera inordinately pulls out certain colors. Oh well.
I don't often do this, but this time I used spray paint for my base coat. On the left I just blasted her wings with some bright colors. And I blasted her hair and face with some flat black paint. I did that so that I would be committed to using very dark colors. Then, I used masking tape to mask off parts of the wings.
Then I finished spraying the black paint over her entire body. Then I peeled off the tape leaving nice, crisp black stripes on the wings.
There is always a tendency at this point to want to resist blackwashing, to preserve the bright colors. Many people who use my paper mache techniques simply can't bring themselves to add black paint at this point. They get severely attached to how pretty the colors are. But it's necessary. The black brings out the colors. On the left you can see part of a wing after I blackwashed. It looks so much better! Now I did something kind of fun on this project. Not only did I blackwash the project, but I also splattered it with black paint afterwards. Then I used a blow torch to burn holes in the wings and to singe the edges. It was fun until I almost lost the project. I didn't realize that the underside of the left wing was still burning when I lit the right side. Luckily where there is fire, there is smoke. I caught the extra fire just in time and was able to extinguish it. That would have been a real bummer (as I used to say in the 60s)(okay, so I still say it all the time) if I'd done all that work only to watch her go up in smoke, literally.
Finally I added some highlights. In this case it was various shades of blue. Below is a close up of the bifurcated tail.
Finally, the thing I love the most. I scraped the paint off of her eyes and I cleaned up her teeth. I love these eyes with these colors. Nice, don't you think?
Here she is. Thank you for stopping by. I'm going to make one of my time-lapse videos of this paper mache project. Just need to find some time to edit the dillion hours of video I took.
Dark Butterfly
Anyway, I've finished my Dark Butterfly. I think she turned out very well. But, as always, I must add the disclaimer that the camera just doesn't capture her. Her colors are much more subtle that these photos suggest. The camera inordinately pulls out certain colors. Oh well.
I don't often do this, but this time I used spray paint for my base coat. On the left I just blasted her wings with some bright colors. And I blasted her hair and face with some flat black paint. I did that so that I would be committed to using very dark colors. Then, I used masking tape to mask off parts of the wings.
Then I finished spraying the black paint over her entire body. Then I peeled off the tape leaving nice, crisp black stripes on the wings.
There is always a tendency at this point to want to resist blackwashing, to preserve the bright colors. Many people who use my paper mache techniques simply can't bring themselves to add black paint at this point. They get severely attached to how pretty the colors are. But it's necessary. The black brings out the colors. On the left you can see part of a wing after I blackwashed. It looks so much better! Now I did something kind of fun on this project. Not only did I blackwash the project, but I also splattered it with black paint afterwards. Then I used a blow torch to burn holes in the wings and to singe the edges. It was fun until I almost lost the project. I didn't realize that the underside of the left wing was still burning when I lit the right side. Luckily where there is fire, there is smoke. I caught the extra fire just in time and was able to extinguish it. That would have been a real bummer (as I used to say in the 60s)(okay, so I still say it all the time) if I'd done all that work only to watch her go up in smoke, literally.
Finally I added some highlights. In this case it was various shades of blue. Below is a close up of the bifurcated tail.
Finally, the thing I love the most. I scraped the paint off of her eyes and I cleaned up her teeth. I love these eyes with these colors. Nice, don't you think?
Here she is. Thank you for stopping by. I'm going to make one of my time-lapse videos of this paper mache project. Just need to find some time to edit the dillion hours of video I took.
Dark Butterfly
Cute Little Paper Mache Dragon
I just delivered one of the commissions I mentioned to a very nice couple, Kevin and Brenda. They seemed very pleased with it. They liked my little William dragon, the main character of my book, "William's Treasure." They'd seen William in a window display in downtown Seattle. Kevin did an extensive search to find me after the display was over. I think he finally Googled, "paper mache" and found me. I couldn't sell William since he is from my book. So I made him a little dragon with the same sort of attitude. I like the sitting pose, like a dog would sit. Just thought I'd show you what he looked like.
Thank you as always for looking.
Thank you as always for looking.
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- breast reduction
Hi everyone. It's been a while. I mentioned earlier that I've taken a couple of commissions. I felt the need to get those underway before proceeding with my butterfly. I have finished the sculpting on this project and so it was a good place to take a break. Below are the final steps in the sculpting. Like I do with many of my paper mache projects, I wanted some horizontal breast plates. I started at the end of the bifurcated tail. I folded little pieces of cloth and laid them one over the other. I worked my way up the tail...
... up the stomach and over the entire torso. I ended under her chin.
So this is where I had a revelation. She is supposed to be somewhat older, and craggy. Yet when I looked at her I realized that while her skin was older and wrinkled, her breasts looked like those of a 20 year old. I inadvertently constructed her like a high school boy would. So she needed a breast reduction. I wrestled with whether I should show this or not. In the end I decided that I wanted to show the entire process. I want people to see my equivocation. I must say, cutting off her breasts was hard for me. I worked really hard on them. I think I spent two days making them.
So here is my breastless butterfly.
No paper mache here. I just used wadded paper and masking tape to reconstruct the breasts. These are much more in line with what I wanted. They are smaller and it looks like she has some muscle.
I added new plates. I know it doesn't look that different in this photo. But in person this change made a big difference.
Next time...Painting. Thank you for stopping by!
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- hands and feet
Hi again. Yes it's been a while. I'm currently working on this project and two commissions. Had to do some work on the commissions before I could move on with my girl. Before I get to her hands and feet...I've had a few questions about the tentacle hair. Just want to show you what her head looked like as I planted her hair. I just cut a bunch of holes in her head. I squirted hot glue into the holes before pushing in the strands.
Now on to hands and feet. These were much harder to make than I thought they would be. The proportions had to be exactly right. First, I started by twisting paper around pieces of wire clothes hanger to make fingers and toes. Then I crumpled a small wad of paper and added a finger. I wrapped masking tape on either side.
Now on to hands and feet. These were much harder to make than I thought they would be. The proportions had to be exactly right. First, I started by twisting paper around pieces of wire clothes hanger to make fingers and toes. Then I crumpled a small wad of paper and added a finger. I wrapped masking tape on either side.
I continued adding each finger until I got a full hand.
I added wads of paper to the thumb and other parts of the palm. I pretty much copied my own hand. Then I hot glued some claw-like fingernails to the end of the fingers.
Now I know what you are thinking. I shouldn't have modeled her hands after mine. She's long and thin. My hands would look too wide. And they did. So I cut them off and made them thinner. I just cut out some slices between the fingers and squished the hand back together. This is as close to surgery as you get in the paper mache world. I made the feet the same way I made the hands. But this time I made the feet longer proportionally than my own.
Like with the hands, I added some flesh to the under side of the foot. I put them on the butterfly and added some nice toenails.
Then I added my cloth mache and was finished with these appendages.
More to come soon. We are having one of the biggest snowstorms we've ever experienced in Seattle. I've been out of school almost a week. Unbelievable. What do they say? When buried in snow, do art. Thank you for stopping by!
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- new face!
I've done more work on her. I've finished her hands and feet. I have to say, that was not as easy as it should have been. I will put together a post about those soon. But first, I just wanted to show you her new face. She looks a lot better with skin and hair...well, it's not exactly hair. They are tentacle-like things. If you look at the photos below you can see that I twisted paper around pieces of wire tapering them at the end. Then I cloth mached them. That is, I wrapped strips of cloth dipped in Elmer's glue around each of them. I added some curves.
Then I poked holes in her head and stuck them in. Of course I also added cloth mache skin to the rest of her face as well.
Then I poked holes in her head and stuck them in. Of course I also added cloth mache skin to the rest of her face as well.
I'm showing her skinless, hairless face one more time for contrast.
And here she is with skin and hair. I like her. Of course she looks better in person.
See you soon. Thanks for stopping by.
See you soon. Thanks for stopping by.
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- Wings!
Welcome back to my paper mache Dark Butterfly project.
As you can see below I attached her head. I know, she still looks creepy. As I said earlier, this will change radically when she has lips and eyelids and hair (well, the equivalent of hair). You'll notice I also added breasts. Max was curious about these. She will have scales when she's finished. That will change how you perceive her anatomy. On the right you can see the beginnings of her wings. You can also see her fingers and toes in the upper right hand corner of the photo.
Below you can see how I attached the framework for the wings. I just punched holes in the paper mache back and stuck in the long, tapered spines (I'm not sure what you call these, they will be the substructure of the wings). On the right she is ready to have the cloth draped over the spines. It's hard to see here, but I have strings connected to the ends of the spines. These are connected to the ceiling. This is to support the weight of large pieces of cloth soaked with glue.
Here she is with the cloth draped over the spines. I let this cloth dry over night. On the right you'll see Eddie complaining. He wanted me to stop working on the butterfly and to give him food.
A little closer look at her upper body.
And, for what it's worth, here is what she looks like from the back. I added cloth mache to the backs of the spines.
Thanks again for stopping by. Happy Holidays to you all.
As you can see below I attached her head. I know, she still looks creepy. As I said earlier, this will change radically when she has lips and eyelids and hair (well, the equivalent of hair). You'll notice I also added breasts. Max was curious about these. She will have scales when she's finished. That will change how you perceive her anatomy. On the right you can see the beginnings of her wings. You can also see her fingers and toes in the upper right hand corner of the photo.
Below you can see how I attached the framework for the wings. I just punched holes in the paper mache back and stuck in the long, tapered spines (I'm not sure what you call these, they will be the substructure of the wings). On the right she is ready to have the cloth draped over the spines. It's hard to see here, but I have strings connected to the ends of the spines. These are connected to the ceiling. This is to support the weight of large pieces of cloth soaked with glue.
Here she is with the cloth draped over the spines. I let this cloth dry over night. On the right you'll see Eddie complaining. He wanted me to stop working on the butterfly and to give him food.
Here she is with her wings trimmed.
A little closer look at her upper body.
And, for what it's worth, here is what she looks like from the back. I added cloth mache to the backs of the spines.
Thanks again for stopping by. Happy Holidays to you all.
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- arms, back, and head
Hi all,
I've been working hard on this project. Time to give you another peek. As I mentioned earlier, after I put together the basic shape with paper mache balls, I sculpt various parts until I have what I want. I wanted to augment her back. It has to be strong since she will have large wings to maneuver. So I cut off a chunk of the paper mache ball and folded it over on one edge. I repositioned it on the back and taped it on. Doing this on both sides gave her some nice lats, a nice V shape to her back.
If you look closely at the back of the arms you'll notice that I gave her some triceps. No paper mache shells here, just some wadded paper and tape. On the front side I twisted a long piece of paper, wrapped it with tape, and added a rather long bicep. The trick here is determine exactly what level of exactness (is that the right word?) to achieve on this body. I could go crazy here, like take a course on anatomy, but I don't have the time. So I go with what "looks right". Hope it does to you too.
Now it's time to be afraid. I'm going to show you the current state of her face. I put the jaws inside another, smaller paper mache ball. I added some cheeks and cut holes for her eyes. Using very small pieces of paper mache shells (that were laying around) and masking tape I fashioned a nose. I inserted some nice yellow, cat-like eyes and added some wadded paper above them to give her some brows.
Next stop... wings! Working on those today. I'll get back to you soon. Thanks as always for taking an interest in my art work. Take care.
I've been working hard on this project. Time to give you another peek. As I mentioned earlier, after I put together the basic shape with paper mache balls, I sculpt various parts until I have what I want. I wanted to augment her back. It has to be strong since she will have large wings to maneuver. So I cut off a chunk of the paper mache ball and folded it over on one edge. I repositioned it on the back and taped it on. Doing this on both sides gave her some nice lats, a nice V shape to her back.
If you look closely at the back of the arms you'll notice that I gave her some triceps. No paper mache shells here, just some wadded paper and tape. On the front side I twisted a long piece of paper, wrapped it with tape, and added a rather long bicep. The trick here is determine exactly what level of exactness (is that the right word?) to achieve on this body. I could go crazy here, like take a course on anatomy, but I don't have the time. So I go with what "looks right". Hope it does to you too.
Now it's time to be afraid. I'm going to show you the current state of her face. I put the jaws inside another, smaller paper mache ball. I added some cheeks and cut holes for her eyes. Using very small pieces of paper mache shells (that were laying around) and masking tape I fashioned a nose. I inserted some nice yellow, cat-like eyes and added some wadded paper above them to give her some brows.
I sculpted some ears with more small paper mache shell material. This is where her face stands right now. As I told you earlier, it's kind of scary looking. But remember, this is a face with no skin. Yours would look just as bad without skin (of course, judging by my 61 year old skin, some faces might look better without skin). I can see her face in my mind's eye with lids and lips. She will look very different at that point, trust me. I'll get there soon.
Next stop... wings! Working on those today. I'll get back to you soon. Thanks as always for taking an interest in my art work. Take care.
A Paper Mache Dark Butterfly- begin assembly
So I'm going to start putting her together. Now just between you and me, I have more of the face and head finished than I want to show you. I know that those photos should follow the last ones I posted of the jaws. But the face is just kind of disturbing. I'd rather wait. I'll come back to it later after the body takes shape.
I put together two of the paper mache balls. Remember, everything is really rough right now. I'll sculpt all of this a lot more later. Here are the two paper mache legs I made.
Below on the left you can see that I cut the knee and bent it. For the dillionth time, I love wire clothes hangers inside my paper mache appendages. They keep the knees in the position I want until I can fill them in. On the right is the basic body with the two legs added.
She will be hanging on a wall and I want her to lean out a bit. So I cut her in the back and bent her forward (on the left, below). I added arms, and although it's hard to see, I gave her a six pack belly. She is starting to take shape isn't she?
I cut another of the smaller paper mache balls into two pieces and pulled out the wad of paper in the middle. I added these as cheeks and I also added her tail.
Here she is on her back.
More to come. I'm so excited to be working on this piece again. It's been a long time and I missed her.
Have a nice Thanksgiving out there.
Here she is on her back.
More to come. I'm so excited to be working on this piece again. It's been a long time and I missed her.
Have a nice Thanksgiving out there.