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.
I got my bear finished! I love the way he came out and I want to make another one soon! So much fun. Thank you for all you do!
I’m so glad you like your new bear! Do you have a photo you could share with us? I’d really like to see how he came out.
Here’s my bear!
He’s great, Sarah. Nice job!
Hi, Thanks for sharing this useful informative article. It’s really helpful and interesting. Keep on sharing for more.
I love your work . You are my inspiration and my teacher . Thank you .
Gosh – thanks!
I finally got my first bear finished, so many other things going on, it sometimes takes me forever to get the projects finished
He looks great, Sheryl! Thanks so much for letting us see him. (By the way, I clicked on the link to your site, and got an error page. Is it just down temporarily, or do we need to change the link?)
I am changing my domain to a new server so it is temporarily down but should be back up by next week.
I’m using 3D patterns often with helmets and armors I’m doing. It’s called “Pepakura” and there are tons of free models on the Internet. For reinforcment, I use mutiple layers of paper maché until it’s hard enough to work on (one layer outside, one inside and I finish with another one outside). For the glue, only plain white glue diluted a little with water. Now, when doing the paper maché paste, just inflate a balloon inside the structure for it to keep it’s shape while applying the paste. This way, it won’t change while drying.
François, your idea of using the balloon inside for support is excellent! I will try that soon.
oops the photo was too big, here Raptor is again
I am still trying to determine how I will do the final scale covering for him
Whoah! That is one frightening beast! He looks so real, it almost looks like he’s going to fly right off the screen and into my living room. How big is he?
Did you see how Cindy made the scales on her dragon? I’ve been wanting to try that technique ever since she put up her guest post.
Raptor is 5 ft from nose to tail tip and 4 1/2 feet from wingtip to wingtip
When my husband first saw him put together but not hanging yet, he asked me where I was going to put that thing! He will hang permanantly in that corner of my craft room that he currently occupies just closer to the celing. I intend on hiding the battery pack/switch on the back side of the diamond of his tail.
I saw Cindy’s scales and do intend on doing something like that for him, but I havent quite decided on if they will overlap or lay side to side as well as the shape of the scales.
I also use a combination of flour, titebond 2 and plaster patch with the bounty paper towels, that combination makes for a really strong paper mache, that doesnt take any longer to dry.
typically I use 2 cups of flower, 1/2 cup titebond and 1/2 cup of the patch.
You have to be careful though, if you want to cut it later you will need a saw as it will be too difficult to cut.
Here is a pic of my paper mache Wyrven that I am also working on. He has LED’s in his eyes so that they light up.
The website isnt up yet, but I wanted to post a quick note.
For the stuffing on the inside of the paper sculptures I am using plastic grocery store bags, they pack nicely and are very light weight. Best of all they are free and not filling up a landfill somewhere.
I am having a blast with your patterns, and have 2 frogs and 2 elephants slowly being covered now
The bags are an excellent idea – they would fill the space without trying to distort it, the way the crumpled foil does. What are you going to do with all those frogs and elephants? And do we get to see them? Did you show them to us already, but I forgot? I’ve been moving house for days now, and my brain is sort of exhausted, so if I ask silly questions, be patient with me. 😉
One one elephant I cut the trunk and changed the shape so that it came up over his face a bit, the other one is the way the pattern is. They are in the process of covering now as well as are the frogs. I intend on keeping one and selling the other one of the frogs, I will keep the elephants unless a friend of mine talks me out of one of them.
Once they are done I will send you some pics of them. The elephants are also fitted with led’s in the eyes, and the battery pack fits into the hole behind the ear quite nicely.
I paid for pattern for bear and cannot download it. Please Help!
Hi Paula. I hope you got my emails and the response to your other comment. If you still can’t download the pattern, please let me know.
Please excuse my messy work table! : )
It’s really turning out nice, Staci. I hope you’ll show us again when it’s done.
Hello! I love your work! So inspirational and your so talented. I’ve started an animal head project for my little one and to keep me busy : ) …, the first attempt is a unicorn head. I’m loving how it’s turning out but I did the head and neck separate, and ideas on how to really bond them together so the neck will hold up and support the head? It will be hanging on the wall. My other more important question is how do I hang it? The head is pretty heavy compared to the neck, I was going to hollow it out a bit but still wondering how to securely attach it to a plaque for hanging. I really dont want to get done and it fall of the wall and break shortly after. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks
Hi Staci. What did you use to make the armature for the head and neck? And how strong is the paper mache skin? If you used crumpled paper and masking tape for the forms, you could pull it out and leave the head hollow, as long as the paper mache is strong enough to hold up without internal support.
For attaching the two pieces, if you used paper strips and paste for the paper mache, you can also use paper strips and paste as “tape” to hold the two pieces together. If you have a cardboard back on your unicorn’s neck, like I have on the black bear, you can drill or cut a small hole in the center back, near the top, and hang the piece on a nail through the hole. That’s how I’m doing it with my bear head. If the neck is hollow with no back, you can attach a serrated picture hanger to the inside top of the neck, perhaps with hot glue. The hot glue may not hold if the head is really heavy, though.
It really might be best to not have one portion of the wall sculpture heavier than the other portion. Like you imply, the imbalance could make it easier for the sculpture to tip and fall.
Would you be able to upload some photos of your project so we can have a better idea about how it was made?
I tried to reply and add a picture but not sure if it went through die to the picture being too large.
I used flour and water with newspaper, paper towels as fill in and sculpt With same flour and water.
I tried to hollow head but it lost some shape and wasn’t strong so I filled again with grocery bags and newspaper. I will try and upload a picture in a minute.
I was wondering if I stuffed the neck more and used a thick masking tape to attach if then I used the clay it would all hold up strong and nice?
I would have to go a bit crazy I feel with the taping and then clay over the entire head but would that make it one solid hard piece?
If so I will probably do that and then maybe just leave or drill two holes and run strong metal wire through to hang on nails. Would your clay recipe hold for that or rip through and down comes animal head : /
Also how long does the clay take to dry? I get so impatient waiting on the fan! : ) Sorry for all the questions, I really appriciate the help. Trying to do a nursery for our baby due in Sept and on a budget…thought these would look amazing in his and the other kids room!
You’re right – the image didn’t come through. If you want to try again, this free online service will make it smaller for you.
Your idea of using the masking tape to hold the pieces together and then covering the entire piece with paper mache clay would work very well. The pm clay is very strong and hard, once it’s dry. You will need to give it plenty of time to dry, though. Two or three days, at least, depending on how thickly it’s applied. If the head is really heavy, I’m not sure if the clay would be strong enough to not break under the weight, if it’s hung by wires strung through the holes. Can you cut a back for the piece, and tape it on when you tape the pieces together? If you do that, don’t cover the back with the clay, except for maybe 1/2″. If the back gets wet it could warp, and then the piece wouldn’t fit flat against the wall.
And I must say that a unicorn for a child’s room is a wonderful idea. What other creatures do you have in mind?
Great! I’ll make up some past tomorrow after it dries tonight and while that dries start on a new one! : )
Thank you, I am also wanting to do a dragon head, Dr suess looking deer head and a baby polar bear and penguin full size.
I resized so will try and upload now, stI’ll needs some fill and detail byt had to get it all toget her first. Think ill mout finish up and mount and then work on the hair, sculpt and paint from the wall. Again thanks for all the help, you are beyond amazing!
Cute bear Jonni
I have yet to try my hand at creating the jack rabbit…I love it and will eventually get to it, possibly after I finish the project I’ve been working on for a couple of months now ….
which brings me to your new book project. I have such a hard time when creating eyes. Getting them horizontally level on the face, both top and bottom lids. I know you use a tool to measure size, which I’ve yet to invest in. But, what I find so hard is getting both eyes level on the curvatures on the face. Love to see you cover that topic in your new venture.
Sharon
He is a handsome bear! I love it!
And as an aside – I could not believe when Jessie Rasch, a painter I have been following for a few years now, mentioned you are her MOM the other day! That is so cool! Great art talent runs in the family for sure!
How fun! And aren’t Jessie’s latest paintings amazing? She just keeps getting better and better.
Jonni,
when i made my paper clay, it was made of a concoction of the paper fiber insulation,glue (white and occasionally wood glue) , methyl cellulose, clay powder (usually ball clay), and depending on what i was making i would add in saw dust and or other fibers. it took a long time to mix ( I had to use a strong drill with a paint attachment as a blender and then hand mix!) , but it was strong as a rock. I built life size sculptures using this mixture.
I never used joint compound until we connected.
also, the glue you chose affects the strength. some of these sculpture i put outside and they survived! Again probably depends on the glue, white glue won’t last outside as well as wood glue.
I hope this helps.
That explains it – the boron in the cellulose insulation only creates rubber balls when combined with both white glue and joint compound. When added to just one of them, there’s no adverse effects.
Were the pieces you put outside made with the recipe you mentioned above? If so, would you have any interest at all in writing a guest post for us? We have tons of people who would love to use paper mache of some sort for outside sculpture, and I’ve never been able to get any of my own recipes to work. If you’re interested in writing up an article and sharing your recipe and techniques, just let me know.
I don’t have any suggestions about filling but I wanted to let you know that I really liked your bear! I have such a soft spot for bears. It has such character and personality. Even though you said you didn’t spend as much time on your paint job, I liked it a lot and thought the paint job to be perfect.
Your new book sounds interesting. I will need to check it out as I find them most difficult. It is hard to find enough inspiration with human faces, I am curious what you will have to say along that line. Also, the hair. That would be interesting to try in paper mache. You have your work cut out for you.
Good luck with the final details of the move- hey you should be a pro by now! I hope the transition goes well, that you get your garden in, then write your book. You are one busy lady my friend.
Hair – I hadn’t even thought about hair yet. (I’m in the very beginning stages of this new project, obviously!) And yes, I have moved rather often in the last few years. This time, it’s just because I talked myself into the wrong house two years ago. I was so frustrated with renting, and I wanted so much to have a small house in a small town near my daughter. But there weren’t any livable houses in small towns when I started looking, so I ended up in a big house in the city. “Big” for me, that is – two-story, 1200 square feet. Tiny lot, but near the library. It’s a nice house. But I can’t wait to move into my new one. I’m wearing out the garden catalogs as I wait.
I finally finished the Frog and the rabbit! The Baby Elephant just needs painting so this awesome bear is just in time! I am hopefully posting the pics along with this post so you can see what I have finished so far.
Side
Frog
Side
Love that smile! And he has a great personality.
I love those ears. And the fur – did you use acrylic paint and a really little brush to get those fur marks?
It would be easier if I could post a pic of the brushes that I used, because I don’t think they have a name. I won’t do that unless you want me to though, because I don’t have much luck posting pics to your site as the unintended giants above can attest to. So I will try to describe them to you. I ordered these brushes from Amazon. They are a set of Nail Art brushes that cost between $1.50-$3.50/set depending on Amazon’s mood that day. For the ears on the Rabbit, it is a specific brush from this set that has a head that looks almost like a hand held fan. To prep the brush so that it makes those individual swipes , I dip it into water and only dry it 75%ish, then I drag my index finger over the tip from left to right and then right to left. This usually separates the brushes bristles enough for the look of fur, if not I re-dip and re-drag until it separates the way I want. Then I put a dollop of acrylic paint on to a paper plate, and dipped just the tips of the bristles of the brush into the paint. Using the rim of the paper plate, I gently swiped the brush across it, and doing this will usually take off enough of the excess paint (while leaving just enough paint) to create the fur marks you can see in the ears of the rabbit. I did this all over the rabbit with various shades of grays to get fur markings on the rest of the head as well, but they did not show up in the pics very well. I think that this brush is awesome for making fur marks and can’t wait to try this technique on the bear.
I am excited about the human face book that you have decided to do as you next book. No matter the art form, I have never been able to do human faces. So the idea of laid out, fool-proof patterns with step by step instructions to follow is thrilling! I can’t think of any suggestions at the moment, but I will think and see if I come up with any.
For filling the Elephant Head, I used the plastic shopping bags after a Wal-Mart run. They worked really well for that, but I have not had another head to do since then to see if it is a reliable technique to use. Since everyone has a million around, it seems like a good way to not only recycle but to get rid of the darn things so maybe it would be worth a try.
I hope that you keep doing the 3-d patterns for the animal heads. I love them! They are so fun to do that it is a great way to relieve the stress of full time college and being the mother of 2 teenagers. I am hoping for a big cat next 😉
The plastic bags are a great idea! I use mine for my walks with the dog, but it would be much better for the landfill if they went into elephants and bears, instead.
But wait – you’re a full-time student, a mom, and you still get all these sculptures done? That’s pretty darned impressive, if you ask me!
If you would be willing to take a photo of the brushes, that would be great. And I don’t know why our uploading system doesn’t work with iPhones, but there’s probably nothing I can do about it, unfortunately.
I just wanted to say how much I love your animals, after all these years I still think yours are the most kindly of animals. Their expressions reflect the heart of the maker.
Gosh – thanks!
the other things you can try are shredded foam, the type that would be used in upholstery or shredded paper. there are two ways to go with the shredded paper. one way is the paper insulation, which is very dusty , or paper shredded in a regular shredder like a document shredder. maybe even try stuffing used for pillows.
basically you want it dense but lightweight, so i would experiment with several types if you can , use forms with semi complicated shapes so that you can see how it packs into small shapes , close the pieces and see how if it added strength and weigh them to compare.
Ok, i had run out of ideas for now!
More great ideas – and I just happen to have a bale of the cellulose insulation out in the garage. I wasn’t intending to move it to the next place, but now I have to try it. I bought it in hopes that it would work in the paper mache clay recipe, but it doesn’t – the fireproofing (boron, I think) turns the clay into little rubber balls. But that wouldn’t be an issue with the patterns. Hmmm…
Hmm, that’s interesting, I wonder if they changed the formula, because i used to use the paper insulation for paper clay all the time and it was wonderful!
one other idea is to pack it with sawdust.
Ok, I think I have exhausted my idea bank, for now at least!
Let me know how the experiments turn out!
Now I’m curious – Was your paper clay the one like mine that includes Elmer’s Glue-All and wallboard joint compound? Or were you using the paper clay that’s made with actual clay, plus paper?
The sawdust idea is good, too.
And by the way – that jewelry box on your Facebook is wonderful!
Hi Jonni
This is Julie Ellis. I haven’t visited you in quite some time. We winter in Yuma, AZ and I don’t have the space there that I have in our home in Lander so I got very far away from paper mache and cement yard art. I started working with polymer clay. My sister is quite talented with that medium and she taught me how to work with that clay. I’m back in Wyoming now and hope to get going with more paper mache projects. Sounds like you’ve had a very busy winter. I pray your move goes smoothly.
Hi Julie. It’s good to hear from you again. Will we get to see some of your polymer clay sculptures? If you have any tips you’ve learned from your sister, we always have room on the site for another guest post… 🙂
you can try vermiculite for the stuffing, or pearlite. i think vermiculite will be lighter but pearlite will be stronger.
Good luck with your move, i hope you were able to buy the house of your dreams with a cool studio!
Good ideas, Esther. I tried perlite in the jackrabbit, and it worked really well. Then I tried it in the baby elephant head, and it was dusty and way too heavy. But it does a good job of supporting the card stock, and can always be poured back out again. I do want to try the vermiculite, though. They didn’t have any last time I went to Lowes.