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.
Posted by Dan the Monster-man at 12/28/2011 12:02 AM 
Categories: Paper Mache Dark Butterfly
Tags: paper mache papier mache sculpture insects butterfly dragons evil good beautiful mixed media
Categories: Paper Mache Dark Butterfly
Tags: paper mache papier mache sculpture insects butterfly dragons evil good beautiful mixed media
Hi Dan!
I think she looks less scary then before. I like her hair (tentacles), although I didn't thought you would give her tentacles. And she looks much better with the skin.
I'm looking forward to see her finished! But she looks great so far.
Greetings from Jelina (from Belgium)
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Hi Jelina,
Hope all is well in Belgium. I'm glad you think she looks less scary. She looks better in person of course.
Thank you for stopping by.
Dan
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Really, really love the "hair", what a lot of work!! She still looks like I wouldn't want to see in a dark alley, but I bet she will look great all painted up! We can't all be young and beautiful... hahaha...She's not your grandmothers butterfly!!
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Hi Suz,
She really isn't young looking in person. Her skin is very wrinkled. I like the idea that she looks old and young at the same time. I should be ready to paint soon. Thanks as always for your nice remarks.
Dan
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It's amazing what a little make-over can do! She's looking good.
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Hey Lyman,
Yes, it's amazing what skin can do for a girl. Hope you are doing some great art.
Dan
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I think that's what I look like when I wake up in the morning... Seriously. She's definitely less scary looking but instead looks rather old and bewildered. When her hair and skin are no longer white I'm sure that will change. Still I wouldn't want to mess with her!
I have 2 questions: how did you get all those tentacle-things to stay in the head (what kind of glue or whatever holds them there?); and I know you use a lot of coat hangers in your creature construction - do you have a good method of cutting them? I swear, I CANNOT cut through a coat hanger with my regular wire cutters or back cutters on my pliers.
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Hi Phyl,
I just wanted to get a post out there and skipped some steps (many steps I guess). I'll backtrack soon and show this. I just cut holes in her head and put hot glue into them, then stuck the pieces in. It was a lot of work.
It is very hard to cut clothes hangers with wire cutters. I use a pair of "lineman's" wire cutters. They are much easier to use. Here is a photo of the ones I use. It is worth getting a pair at Home Depot (or some other hardware store). Thanks for stopping by.
Dan
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Love, love, love her pretty face, would make a great Medusa
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Hi Jules,
Funny, that's what a I thought when I saw her with her hair. She does look like Medusa. When you see her hanging, with the position of her hands and feet, you will see that she has an empty look on her face.
Take care
Dan
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Fantastic work. I am really blown away by the time you must have invested in making those tentacles. Wrapping the masking tape like that kills my hands. Even More impressive is the transformation of the face. It really is like building a living creature from the ground up. Skeleton, muscles and then finally skin. Suddenly you have a face and a creature. I am looking forward to the next post! Thanks for Sharing Dan.
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Hi Roz,
I'm glad you appreciate the time it took to make the hair. I think I made around 150 individual strands first wrapping with paper and tape, then with cloth and glue. Even though this post was out of sequence, I wanted to show the face. It was just too ugly to have her face on there with no skin or hair.
Glad you like it so far. Now the trick is to not ruin her with the paint job.
See you.
Dan
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Oh Dan -
she will be a Godess!
Greetings from Germany
mo
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Hi Mo,
Nice to hear from you! She will be something, not really sure. We'll see.
Happy holidays to you too!
Dan
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She's looking awesome!
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Hi Mona,
Thank you! I think she will be fine when she's done.
Take care
Dan
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Dan,
Your butterfly project looks amazing. I love the hair and facial expression. Very impressive work. The wings look fantastic as well. Looking forward to the paint.
Thanks,
Jeremy
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Hi Jeremy,
Nice to hear from you. I'm behind on my posts. I just finished sculpting her. I'm happy with her. I'll get another post up soon. Thank you for your nice comment. Hope all is well with you.
Dan
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Hello Dan, Wow - wonderful project you're working on - as always
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Hi Stephane!
So nice to hear from you! Any new masterpieces? Your eagle was simply amazing. I put a photo of it with your others on my site. I'm glad you like her. Context is everything as you know. You can't see it yet, but when she's mounted her head is leaning forward, like she is looking down. This, with the palms of her hands turned up, give her the look of someone who is spent, out of energy. Hope it comes through on the camera when I'm done.
Thanks for stopping by. Good luck on whatever you are working on.
Dan
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Hey Dan - I've been eagerly awaiting your posts on this one because you've unwittingly been answering questions I've been having with my project - I'm doing a mermaid but with a twist - I'll keep the twist a secret until its finished. I was struggling with fins bearing the weight of the wet cloth until they dried and was thrilled when you provided the answer with how you supported your butterfly's wings. This is taking me forever since I've had to put her on ice during the times I've been in the hospital but art is supposed to be in the journey - no? I hope to finish enough soon to begin painting. I'm looking forward to seeing how you approach that on the "human" part of your butterfly.
I love your butterfly's face - you're getting more and more refined in the way you do human faces. Next show the hands - I had more problems with those an any other part of my girl - my sister told she has " man hands" - the mermaid not my sister.
Just to add my two cents to the question of wire cutting - I couldn't use hangers at all.The wire was just too strong for me to mold or cut through and almost impossible to get hold of. I used a softer wire I found in the hardware store. It works well and is relatively cheap & best of all -available - I still need to use bolt cutters to cut it though.
By the way - I may be applying for a job as your publicist soon - I've been showing your book to everyone I run into- showing them the work of my muse and mentor!
I hope you and your family have a very happy and healthy New Year. Best of everything Bonnie
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Hi Bonnie,
What a nice comment! Thank you for all of your kind words. They are much appreciated. And thanks for the promotion. I'm very flattered. I'm glad I'm answering some of your questions. Those wings were very hard. I know that it looks easy in my videos and in my books. But as you can see, it's not. These wings took hours to drape correctly. I used a thin sheet and it tore is several places after I trimmed them. I think they turned out well, but it took a lot of effort and patience (as does the entire process). By the way, I used a lot smaller gauge wire for her hair/tentacles.
About the hands... talk about hard. Her hands started out looking exactly like my hands. My hands are relatively small, so they were for her too. I redid them three times. I'm still not totally sure they look exactly right. After that, the feet were just as bad (at least you didn't have to do those). I had to get them to look okay relative to the hands. I know why sculptors need to study anatomy, that's for sure. I need to do one more post first (an embellishment of the one I just posted) before the hands. Sorry. Partly because I need to change her nails first. They are too small. But I will have them both posted soon, I promise.
Good luck with your mermaid. I look forward to seeing her. Stay out of the hospital!
Dan
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Hay Dan,
looking good, im gonna go off to pic here but the pic earlier of your cat reminded me of this thing that my cat (Onyx) does whenever im working on a project he puts his mouth next to the piece about a half inch away and kind of gnashes his teeth as though chewing, its just the strangest thing and I was wondering if yours was doing the same thing ive never seen it before, anyway happy new year. Rick
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Hi Rick. Happy new year to you too! It's always nice to hear from you. That's funny what you said about your cat. Eddie does something similar but not quite that crazy. He just rubs his chin on any part of the project sticking out. He's either marking territory (I guess they have gland next to their mouths) or just trying to get attention. He'd much rather I play with him that work. I do enjoy having the cats around though. Your cat sounds like a great one. I love cats with unique habits.
I've seen your new work on Yahoo. It looks great. I'm glad to see you doing paper mache.
See you.
Dan
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Happy New Year!!
What a great project!
Do you ever have the tendency to subconsciously have your projects turn out looking like a close relative?
I do and it is never on purpose.. just weird how that happens.
Amazing as always.
Can't wait to see the finished project.
Lori
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Hi Lori,
It's nice to hear from you. Actually this project does look like a friend of mine, although the friend is a man (her face looks like his). I'm glad you like her so far. I'm done sculpting her. Just haven't had time for a new post. I have a couple commissions I'm working on as well. I'm behind on them (as always). So I'll have to wait a bit to paint her.
Good luck with your art projects.
Dan
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Just looking at all those tentacles/hair makes my fingers hurt! Before I start my next creature (family member) I'm going to have to do some finger exercises!!! She's amazing Dan, it's like watching a new undiscovered creature be born. Love it, never get tired of watching your progress!!! Thank you!
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Hi Angie,
I'm glad you like her. It was a lot of work to make 150 tentacles. But I think it worked. Of course I always see the project in my mind's eye the way it will look when it's finished. I think the paint will really add a lot.
Thank you for the nice comment. I appreciate it very much.
Take care
Dan
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Hi Dan,
I love your work! I've been following your website for a while and must say your projects are very detailed. I look forward to seeing the finished piece!
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Hi Kevin,
Thank you for the nice comment! I appreciate it very much. In fact, this comment makes me realize that I need to put up another post. I'll do so tonight. Thank you for stopping by.
Take care
Dan
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