Downloadable Pattern for a
DIY Paper Mache
Bear Head Faux Trophy Mount Sculpture
$12
Display your bear head sculpture on your wall, or create a gift that will be treasured for years.
It will be even more special because you made it yourself.
How to make your black bear wall sculpture:
Watch the video below to see how to tape the pattern pieces together.
Finished size: About 8 inches (20.3 cm) high, 7.6 inches (19.4 cm) wide and 11 inches (27.9 cm) deep.
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.
Click here if you’d like to know more about how the patterns are delivered. (If you’ll be saving your pattern to and iPhone or iPad, they do tend to hide your files. You can scroll down this page to see how to find them.)
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. 😀
$12
Watch the video below to see how to tape your pattern pieces together:
To make your black bear sculpture you will need:
- Access to a printer
- Copy paper or full-sheet labels
- Glue stick if using copy paper for pattern
- Cardboard from 4 standard-sized cereal boxes and a scrap of corrugated cardboard if your bear will be a wall sculpture.
- Knife and sharp scissors for cutting cardboard
- Tape, both clear plastic tape and masking tape
- 1” Styrofoam ball, cut in half
- A very small piece of aluminum foil
- Paper strips and paste or paper mache clay. Find recipes in the “recipes” tab at the top of the site
- Acrylic gesso or primer
- Acrylic paint
$12
Some of the bears made with this pattern…
Tom’s Life-Sized Bear Sculpture
What a treat – our friend Tom has agreed to show us how he started with the bear pattern on this site. Tom created a
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.
Hi,
I’m hoping to make a bear mask to wear for Mardi Gras. Do you think working with this bear pattern would be possible with some alterations? Or would it be better to work with some of your other mask animal patterns and adjust a little. I’m open to any recommendations!
Hi Kimberlee. The eyes might not be in the right place, but with some fiddling it might work. I haven’t tried it myself, though. None of the other patterns have the right face shapes for a bear. I hope you have a lot of fun at Mardi Gras!
This is about the fourth animal I’ve gotten done so far. They are addictive. He’s gotten a lot of compliments already. I really enjoyed painting him too. Thank you for the patterns.
He’s beautiful, Theresa. I really like the way you painted him, and his personality. I can see why you’re getting so many compliments!
?.. thank you Jonni.
Dear jonni I would so love a pattern for a female centaur. Sort of large. Thanks
Wow – that would be a great sculpture, but I don’t think I’ll be making a pattern for a centaur anytime soon. Have you seen my video that shows you how to make an armature from a drawing or photo? (A drawing, obviously, in this case). You can see it here.
Again thank you so much! Thanks for the patterns and all your video’s.
It makes all of this much easier!
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
love,
ilja
Hi Ilja – your bear really came out nice! Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
and the other side
Finished clay bear
Very nice, Angela. It looks like it has a ceramic glaze. Is it made with fired clay?
rabbit is glazed now
Had a go at the bear in clay. Thought you might like to see him – fired but not yet glazed
Aprox what size is this once it’s done? Do you think it could be easily converted into a mask?
Finished size: About 9.5” (241 mm) high, 10.3” (264 mm) wide and 12.5” (320 mm) deep. It could be made into a mask if you cut it behind the ears and under the chin, although you might have to print the pattern in a slightly different size to get it to fit. It goes together pretty fast, so it shouldn’t be hard to alter it to fit your face even if you have to make two or three to get it right.
Hi Jonni,
I am in the process of making this gorgeous bear, have enlarged the template as we needed him to be bigger and will be attaching him to a body..I have used your ideas for the baby elephant as a guide for the armature for the bear body..will post pics when complete..could you please tell me how you have made the eye lids? Is it more paper mâché strips or the clay? Can’t wait to get him finished and show you once completed..
Thanking you in advance, love your website..so inspiring!
Hi Teresa. This sounds like a great project. I can’t wait to see how it comes out!
If you’re using the paper mache clay, it would be easy to make the eyelids by sculpting the pm clay into the right shapes. When I made my bear, I used brown paper strips and paste to cover the pattern, and since the moving van was on its way I didn’t have time to mix up any of the pm clay. But you can make nice details like eyelids with paper and paste. If you want the eyes slightly closed, just fold a pasted piece of paper several times so it’s fairly thick, and then place it over the eye so you get the expression you want. For fully opened eyes, you can roll the pasted paper into a thin noodle, and place it around the eye. Then use one more strip of paper to hold it all together and meld the shapes together. The heavy brown paper might be too stiff for this, so I’d move to newspaper strips for the eyes. (I can’t remember how I made the eyes for my bear, and I gave him away so I can’t go look at him. I need to make myself another one. 🙂 )
Thanks so much Jonni.. I will definitely try with the folded pasted paper, sounds like the result I want.. have to admit that I am becoming attached to him as his personality progresses, I may find it hard to give him away.. he is going to be part of a Jungle Book theme for my son’s Year 12 Ball next month so will send you a photo when he is all set in place.. thanks again for the tips..
I can’t wait to see it. Will you make another one, to keep?
I think I might try one on a smaller scale so I can actually keep him at home..will post pics when all complete with this oversized version.