Downloadable (PDF) Pattern for a Paper Mache
Bongo Antelope Sculpture
$12
You don’t need any sculpting experience to create this Bongo Antelope wall sculpture — the downloadable pattern creates all the shapes for you.
This colorful antelope with his long twisted horns will bring the beauty of Africa into your home. It also makes a wonderful gift for anyone who loves animals – especially when you tell them you made it yourself!
My downloadable PDF Patterns come with full instructions. There’s no waiting for your pattern to arrive, and no shipping costs, so you can start on your project right away.
Scroll down to watch the videos, so you can see exactly how to put your pattern together and how to finish it with paper mache and paint.
How to Make Your Bongo Antelope Sculpture:




Finished Size: About 22.5 inches (19.3 cm) high, 17 inches (43.18 cm) wide and 9 inches (22.86 cm) deep.
Click here if you’d like to know more about how the patterns are delivered. And remember – if you have any problems downloading your files or putting your pattern together, just let me know. I’m always happy to help. 😀
Part 1: Taping the Bongo Antelope Pattern – the Face and Eyes
The pattern also includes screen shots of every piece to show you how to put the pattern together, but if you need extra help, come back to this page and watch the videos.
Part 2: Taping the Horns and Ears
After you have eyes on your antelope, plus a little bit of detailing around the eyes and nose with foil (shown in the previous video) the rest of the pieces go together easily. However, those long horns do have a lot of pieces, so give yourself plenty of time to tape them together.
Part 3: Putting it All Together
This part is really easy. Just match the bottom of the horns and ears to the pattern pieces on the head that are exactly the same shape. After the horns and ears are on, you’re ready to add a layer of paper strips and paste, or paper mache clay.
Part 4: Adding Paper Mache and Paint
You can use paper strips and paste, like I did, or use paper mache clay, instead. You’ll find recipes under the “recipes” tab at the top of this site. You can also paint your Bongo Antelope any way you want to – you certainly don’t have to experiment the way I did. 🙂
Be sure to look at photos of Bongo Antelopes to use for your model while you paint.
To make your Bongo Antelope wall sculpture, you will need:
- The downloadable pattern.
- Access to a Printer
- Copy paper or full-sheet labels
- Glue stick if using copy paper instead of labels
- The front and back from from 6 standard-sized cereal boxes, or 12 pieces of letter-sized “light
chipboard*” that you can purchase online. - You’ll also need a piece of corrugated cardboard for the back piece, about 8” by 10” (20.32 x
35.56 cm). - Sharp scissors for cutting cereal box cardboard and box cutter for corrugated cardboard.
- Clear plastic tape and masking tape. Note: Don’t use disappearing gift wrap tape – it isn’t strong
enough. - A small amount of aluminum foil for sculpting details.
- 1.25” (3.175 cm) foam ball for the eyes.
- Hot glue gun (optional)
- Paper strips and paste or paper mache clay.
- Acrylic gesso or latex primer
- Acrylic paint and acrylic varnish.
* If purchasing cardboard in place of the cereal boxes, it will be sold as “light chipboard.” Medium or heavy chipboard is too stiff to bend well.
Helpful links:
When you finish your Bongo Antelope sculpture:
Please come back and show it off on the Daily Sculptors page – we would love to see how it comes out! 🙂
Do you have a question or need help with your pattern?
If you have a question about putting your pattern together or painting it, leave a comment below or on the Daily Sculptors page. I read all comments and answer them as soon as I can, usually within a few hours. Some of my readers might ideas for you, too — we have a very supportive community on this site.

Hey, your antelope head pattern looks FANTASTIC. I was wondering about the dimentions on this page, it says its about 22.5 inches high, is that just the head, or inckuding antlers? Is it from nose to antler or neck to top of head? And what are the ‘deep’ measurements listed (9 inch).. I just want to potentially scale this up so i want to know some measurements
It looks so good and i cant wait to try my hand at this ^^
Hi Leo. The dimensions are for the entire sculpture, not just the head. It’s measured from the lowest point on the sculpture when seen from the front, and that’s the bottom of the muzzle – his upper lip, actually. And deep measurement shows you how far it will stick out from the wall.
Have fun! 🙂
Hi Jonni
Is it possible to make the antelope into a mask? I am doing Lion King with Kids and would love to expand the number of animals in the Prideland opening scene. Do you have a bird mask? Your masks are so amazing!
Many thanks
Lynnette
Hi Lynnette. It would take quite a lot of fiddling to turn this wall sculpture into a mask. The easiest way might be to attach the neck to a bicycle helmet – quite a few people have done that with the giraffe, like Jean did, and it seems to work. But I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know if it would work.
Your works are so beautiful! Thanks for putting so much effort and time into your art! You keep inspiring me to be a better artist! Thanks!
Nice antelope! I have a question though, could you have added color to the soft gel and skip the step of painting him again? Perhaps Jessie could tell you if that is an option. I do know you can add color to other types of gel mediums. Just curious.
Well, that sure would have made it easier! The texture got lost on the face, especially under the brown. I’ll ask Jessie – and maybe I’ll just do a fast test myself. Thanks for the tip! 🙂
Jonni, apparently Jill and Pat think that it’s just fine to steal my words before I can get them down. 🙂 But everything they say is true. Your antelope, like everything you create. is amazing! I ? him. (Let’s see if the heart comes out as a square, a ? or something else)
Thanks, Mister Shelbot. You always say such nice things. 🙂 (And in future, just type a colon and an end-paranthesis, withno space, to make a happy face. The heart emoji is alt+3 on the number pad. I just found that out, so we learn something new every day. WordPress sites like mine won’t accept the emoji images for some reason. Maybe they slow down the site? So we have to do it the old fashioned way. ?
See, I just tried to type the tongue sticking out emoji, and all I got was a question mark. And the heart emoji didn’t work, either. Silly website. 🙂
Beautiful and creative as always, Jonni!
Thanks, Jill! 🙂
Your talent never ceases to amaze!
Gosh – thanks! 🙂
Jonni, your antelope is gorgeous! I just love the colors, especially inside those wonderful ears! But of course all your work is amazing and we are all grateful you have a on-line site to see your work and all your followers work! Thank you for all you do!
Thanks, Pat. I like those black ear spots, too. 🙂