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About the Artist

Jonni Good, Making a Paper Mache MaskThis site is dedicated to helping you develop your creative talents, with innovative paper mache recipes, over 450 projects, and lots of friendly support and encouragement. Welcome

On this site, you won’t find the paper mache you remember from Kindergarten. Paper mache can be used by professional artists (and amateurs, too) to make beautiful, original art. Some of our visitors are kids, but people of all ages can use paper mache to create long-lasting sculptures they can be proud of.

In fact, one of the most common things our readers hear when they show off their own sculptures is:

“I didn’t know you could make something like that with paper mache!”

Many people find us when they hear about my Paper Mache Clay recipe, an easy-to-make concoction that takes most of the mess out of paper mache. It also lets you add details that you never thought possible with an inexpensive sculpting medium (you get most of the ingredients at the hardware store). For those who prefer the traditional paper strips and paste, you can find several different paste recipes here.

And you can read more about paper mache here.

Are the Projects Easy?

There are over 400 projects shown on this site. Some of them are fairly easy, and some of them take a lot of time and patience to complete. All of them are fun. Follow the links on the art library page to find a project that fits your skill level and interests.

Once you learn  my methods, you will have the skills you need to make any sculpture you can dream up. I know that’s true, because hundreds of people have shown off their original sculptures on this site, and their work is always inspiring. You’ll find their photos in the comment sections on the site, especially on the Daily Sculptors page, where we like to hang out and admire each other’s work.

Are All the Projects Made with Paper Mache?

No, not all of them. Most of our projects are made with either paper strips and paste, or my Paper Mache Clay, but other projects combine plaster cloth with my Air Dry Clay recipe, and we now have several projects that are made with epoxy clay. I even played around with concrete for awhile, until I found out that epoxy clay is easier to use for making waterproof outdoor sculptures (Portland cement comes in 90 pound bags!).

Ready to Get Started?

Excellent! Visit our art library first. It’s organized to help you find the project you’d like best out of the 450+ tutorials on this site. If you don’t see what you need on that page, check out my premium sculpting patterns. And when you’ve finished your project, be sure to come back to the site and show it off. And be sure to visit the Daily Sculptors page, too, and say hi. And come back often. There’s a link to that page at the top of every post.

History of UltimatePaperMache.com:

This site first started when I decided to start playing around with paper mache again. It had been a long time since I’d done any sculpting, so I started this website as a way to sharpen my skills by “learning out loud.” I believe there’s no better way to learn a new skill than by teaching it. (Education studies have proven that I’m right, by the way).

To be honest, I didn’t think many grownups would be interested in Paper Mache – so I’m wrong sometimes, too. 🙂 Now thousands of people drop by every day, with artists just like you visiting from all over the world.

Since beginning the site, I’ve written five books about sculpting with inexpensive materials. Most of them are now listed at the top of Amazon’s paper mache category, and they’ve received many five star reviews.

My best-selling books about the art of paper mache:

A bit more about me:

Jonni Good, Paper Mache ArtistAs you look around the blog, you’ll notice that I’m obsessed with both animals and art. I’m constantly surrounded by my growing menagerie of paper mache animal sculptures, and plenty of real critters, too – my pets sometimes “help” me in my studio. You’ll sometimes hear my cat, (unfortunately) in some of the videos on this blog. (I’m pretty good at training dogs. Cats – not so much.)

I started drawing animals back in grade school, which is a very, very long time ago. One of the reasons I like sculpting and painting animals is that it gives me an opportunity to learn so much about the natural world. For that reason, I also wrote a coloring book about endangered animals, called the Endangered Animals Color and Learn Book. You can find it on Amazon.com, or download it for free as a PDF here.

I made my living selling pen and ink “portraits” of wild animals for many years while my daughter was in grade school, and then, as many artists do, I found myself working at “real” jobs for a while. That was OK, I suppose, but it really wasn’t what I wanted to be doing with my life.

Now that I’m self-employed (I make websites and write books for a living), I have plenty of time to pursue my first love – sculpting and drawing and painting animals.  I also answer questions from fellow paper mache sculptors from all over the world – you’ll find our conversations in the comments section below each post on this blog.

Enjoy the site, create your sculptures, and join the conversation. I’m glad you stopped by.About the Artist

You may also like…

Paper Mache Baby Elephant Wall Sculpture

Baby Elephant Wall Sculpture Pattern

Downloadable pattern for wolf mask

Wolf Mask Pattern

Life-Sized paper mache elephant pattern

Life-Sized Baby Elephant

Faux rabbit trophy mount pattern for paper mache.

Jackrabbit Faux Trophy Mount

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285 thoughts on “About the Artist”

  2. Hi Jonni good.Next month is comicon and i would like to know how to make this big dog and i will show you a pic of what it looks like. Can you help me mache this dog.

  3. Can one use oil paints with your paper mache recipies? Do I need to coat the piece with something special before I start painting with oil paints? I feel like I can get more depth with many layers of oil paints. Thanks! I’m making a jackalope ballerina.

  4. Hello! I am a high school student writing a short research paper on paper mache for an art class I am taking. We are required to include a few artists that work with the medium (in my case, paper mache) and I stumbled across this site and your beautiful artwork. I was wondering if I could mention you in my paper, and if so what made you want to work with paper mache?
    Thanks in advance for any insight you could give me!
    Ann

    • Hi Ann. Sure, you can mention my work in your paper. I started using paper mache because I wanted to get back into artwork, and paper mache was the medium that I could afford to experiment with. You can do just about anything with it that you can do with clay, but you don’t have to have a kiln and you can use paint instead of glazes. Plus, I could remember having fun with it back in grade school.

      Good luck with your research paper.

  5. Jonni can you make fish because hammer head or sword fish if you hang it on the wall it will look good you can make a fish gallery

  6. I dont have the materials to make a sculpture I dont know
    were to buy proper PVA for my hyena and also i want to make a full sculpture. Jonni how can I make the pattern on the paper? do I have to print it?

  7. I wish Neil Buchanaan still did Art Attack because he was so good at different types of art .He doesn` t do it any more how sad 🙁

  8. Hi
    I m writing just to say thank u for sharing your knowledge . I saw your tutorials in YouTube as I was looking for papier mache crafts and recipes and I found the videos very helpfull for my first steps.

    Eleni
    Greece

      • Hi Jonni,
        For our annual haunted house, we’re making an old rotten tree from paper mache. I’d like to know what recipe would be the best to use?
        It must dry super hard and last, once painted.
        Love your work!
        Steve

        • Hi Steve. I would probably do a few coats of paper strips and paste to begin with, to give you a base to work on. Use the largest pieces of paper that you can manage, and work slowly since the weight of the paste will try to pull the paper off the tree. Then you can add a 1/4″ of the paper mache clay recipe, which will dry rock hard. You could even make the project go a little faster by replacing the paper strips and paste with either plaster cloth or masking tape. The plaster cloth would be strongest, because the wet plaster would form around the wires and hold it in place when it set. But the masking tape would work too, I think, because it would give you a base for the pm clay.

          • Hi again Jonni,
            Thanks so much!
            I believe I’m going to cover the wire with masking tape first. Then use the paper clay over the masking tape.
            I think that would provide a very strong tree!
            Thanks again…..you’re terrific!!!

  9. My three year old son is fascinated with Humpty Dumpty. I saw your video of you making a Humpty Dumpty paper mâché. Would you make one for my son Andrew , and how much would it cost. Please let me know. Thank you.

    • Hi Brooks. I don’t do any commissions (way too busy with remodeling my house right now, among other things.) If you don’t want to make one yourself with the instructions in the video, maybe one of your crafty relatives or friends would make one for you? Lots of people have made their own since the video came out, and the ones I’ve seen have been great. Ask around – I’m sure you can find someone who would take on the project.

  12. We bought a silk skreen of yours at the Pike Place Market in 1982.
    It was of the Olympic Range. We gave it to my parents as a gift.
    My parents have passed on and it now hangs in our parlor as a treasured
    possession.

    Thank you.

    • Hi Russell – I’m glad you’re still enjoying the print. That was a great time for me when I was much younger and selling at the Pike Place Market. Your comment really took me back.

    • Thanks, Hameeda. That fellow really has a happy personality, doesn’t he? And he made a nice castle, too!

  14. Last time I made an african mask I copied the mask from an author called Neil Buchannan and he was in a series called art attack

    • Hello, Helena. I do not recommend using any form of paper mache in a garden, because it will eventually be destroyed. We have tried just about everything to keep it from getting wet but nothing seems to work for very long. I would recommend using concrete for the little house. I’m not an expert in doing that, though, so I’m afraid I can’t be much help. Try a YouTube search for ferrocement – a form of concrete that’s put over a wire mesh so it isn’t very heavy, and can take any shape.

    • There’s no need to hurry when you’re making art. I did upload a video today, showing how to make a hyena mask. My mask is only half done, and it will be a while before I get the rest of it done. I hope you enjoy it.

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