Daily Sculptors Page
Join the conversation and share your paper mache sculptures with our supportive community.
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The latest photos from our readers:
Today I worked on my dragonfly art doll. I spent some time researching pictures and illustrations for ideas. Not too much to see since what I mostly did was planning and choosing of fabric. I decided to make a 3 part body, using different fabrics for each. The wings will be cheesecloth and wire and I will paint or dye them. It should a little more like something tomorrow when I start sewing. The picture I took could not be added because it is too large so I am not sure if I will be able to send pictures here. More tomorrow, Barbara
It sounds like you got a lot more done yesterday than I did. I did stuff, but nothing that could be shown to anyone. But I did some work, and that’s the important thing, I think,
Pictures do need to be small enough for the system to accept them. The easy way to make sure they’ll work is to check your camera’s settings. (The manual that came with the camera will explain how to do that). Most cameras will let you set your camera to save photos “for the web.” When saved this way, they can be uploaded without doing any editing at all.
I photograph directly with my webcam. Is quick and easy
I like these little stone people even if they were just for practice. You did get a good stone like finish on them.
Barbara
Thanks!
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MasksByDouglasRWitt2.jpg[/img]
The design of the mask was pretty simple… and took almost no time at all for me to mâché. About 3 hours on the outside of the mask. Once it’s off its mold, may be an hour and half’s’ worth of work on the inside of the mask. Trimming the rim of the mask, cutting out the eye holes and nostrils, adding fabric elastic so the mask can be worn and a few extra layers of Papier-mâché to give it strength.
The average time I spend mâché-ing is about 8 hours (6 layers) and another 3 hours or so of papier-mâché-ing on the inside… I will show those photos once it dry’s… 5 – 8 hours in front of a house fan I find works nicely.
I want the mask to be a little moist, when I cut it off its mold so that I will bend and flex off the mold. I will post those photos tomorrow… as you can see by my last photo its dinner time and I need a bit of a rest and a nice hot cup of tea 🙂
PS
do you like the photo sizes I am uploading… I all ways like to get in nice and close when I am looking at other artists work. so please feel free to download these images and ask any technique questions you may have.
also not to shamelessly promote myself Please visit me at my flickr page or add me as a friend if you have a flickr page.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/school_of_witt/sets/72157629417196964/
and your always welcome to come and follow me on Facebook please like my page 🙂
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Douglas-R-Witt/41908366111
I like the effect you get from those paper towels. I nice earth tone finish.
Barbara
Hey everyone,
Here are the photos of the Papier-mâché process; I am pretty basic with the Papier-mâché Paste. I am using water and all-purpose white glue equal parts of each, I have tried other formulas for paste but this is the one I like the most… I sometimes put a little salt into the mix as a basic preservative. I find living this far north in Canada the climate is so dry that I have not had any molding problems.
As for the type of paper I am using… it’s a very “cough!!†a very classy brown paper towel. I have used many types of papers over the years and I find that the stiff garage rest room paper towels are the best for making masks. They cheap and take the Papier-mâché paste well… plus it looks great unpainted… or is a nice warm base colour to paint off of.
Yesterday was a cranky day, but still got some stuff done. And had a bit more time this morning so here’s the report.
My little ladies are finished … or as finished as I going to do. They were intended as toss-away experiments, tho I can see possibilities for the heads and might keep those.
The painting doesn’t come out in the photos, but I experimented with trying for a flesh tone … used your pig recipe from the first book, Jonni — I love that book, so many gems of information. I like to layer colors and pigments to get some depth, and was playing with a blue on the bottom and a white grey on top. They ended up looking somewhat stone-like, which I like. So learned what I wanted, now they’re for the trash.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/littlepaintedlady1.jpg[/img]
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/littlepaintedlady2.jpg[/img]
Then today I added lips to the first fish, and played with a smooth clay recipe. Normally I prefer the texture of my regular clay recipe, so I haven’t experimented with trying to smooth it much. But the little faces I’ve been playing with are making me think about trying for a smoother clay. Something more akin to commercial clays.
I just used cellulose and adhesive in the first batch and added a little calcium carbonate to the second batch to see if I can get those to work. It’s really shrinking, and creating crevices when it’s drying … so the recipe isn’t totally ready yet — need to play more with the fillers, but I’m having fun playing. It does hold it’s shape, tho, much better than the plaster clay recipe I was using … so perhaps a combination of those elements.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/paperclay_experiment_shrinking.jpg[/img]
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/paperclay_experiment_eyes.jpg[/img]
— Beth
The new clay recipe sounds interesting. Does it dry hard?
I’ll let you know.
I should say that I’m not trying for a clay that dries super hard. My regular clay is kind of a cardboard clay (or boxboard). That’s the strength and consistency of it when it dries. Proportionally it has way more paper in it than your recipes — so it dries rigid, and holds its form, but it’s possible to cut into it with a sharp blade, or poke holes with a needle tool. I needed a clay that would let me fix things after it was dry. : ) I’m nowhere near as perfect as you are with my initial sculpts.
So what I’m going for in the new clay is similar — I’m still looking for something like cardboard as the end result, but with a smoother texture, and preferably white, so I can tint the clay itself, if I want.
Oh, I like that — “cranky day.” When I was painting my dragon, I was having a difficult time mixing flesh tones. I looked a lot on line, and my very favorite site was Will Kemp (hope I got that right). I follow him. He is a painter from Britain. He used red, yellow, and blue. (I used Cad Red, Cad Yellow, and Ultramarine Blue.) Some sites used as many as 20 colors to make flesh tones. The most amazing thing was after he had the colors on the pallet and began mixing them, he painted the color right on his hand. You could see immediately what color needed to be added next. I tried it, and then I added a red wash on the tongue to make is more red. Good luck. Let us see what you do, please.
Oh Wow! I am soooooo….. impressed with all of the work I’ve sen on this page. I ddefinitly want to involve myself in this however all of you seem so far ahead of me. So whatever I might pose just remember i am a “newbie”. Good luck to all of you and thanks for offering this opportunity to watch and learn.
Hi Debbie. Welcome to the Daily Sculptors page. And remember – I put this page up as a learning tool and as a way to stay focused. No judgements here. We’re all learning, and, I hope, we always will be.
We love newbies! Show us what you do. You never know when you will inspire someone or receive some valuable advice.
Yes I did, but the smoothness this time is probably more the result of sanding and the gesso — and more sanding! 🙂
Rich
So in addition to the printing press I finished today, I also added a coat of spar varnish to my cauldron, and I worked on my paper clay butterfly. The other day I added a gesso layer over the clay and today I put on primer and a base coat of paint (it’s supposed to be a sort of “Papilio ulysses,” which is blue and black).
I’m supposed to be making 4 or 5 of these for a cousin’s baby, but at the pace I’m going, she might be graduating high school by the time I’m finished.
This was made based on Jonni’s template method. It’s a cardboard base over which the clay was added. The body was shaped with aluminum foil, masking tape, and clay. Then I put on the gesso, primer, and paint. Tomorrow I’ll be painting it a brilliant blue and adding in the black details. Guess I better get moving on the others.
Rich
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/041212190147.jpg[/img]
Good luck with all of your butterflies – you’re off to a great start.
By the way, did you use your monster clay recipe? The wings are impressively smooth.
I’m not sure my work today “counts,” since I started it several weeks ago. This bunny is part of two different experiments. The first one is to see if it’s feasible to use flexible foam as a re-usable mask form, or an armature for a small sculpture like this one. The second experiment is to see if Smart Coat 2K is as good at weatherproofing paper mache as the sellers believe it to be. So far, I made the original in modeling clay, and made the silicone mold (last week). Today I used the mold to make the flexible foam whatsit, and covered it with one layer of the fast-drying paper mache paste and shop towels. There are fairly deep undercuts under the ears and chin, so it will be interesting to see if I can remove the form without damaging the bunny, after the paper mache is dry.
The flexible foam – my first try, so it isn’t “perfect.”
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/rabbit1.jpg[/img]
The paper mache has been added, and is now drying in front of a fan.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/rabbit2.jpg[/img]
I like this rabbit, Jonni, very realistic and life like! I have decided that my first project for this group will be a dragonfly art doll. Hopefully, I will get far enough tomorrow to send a picture along.
Barbara
A dragonfly doll sounds intriguing. I can’t wait to see it develop.
Actually this has a lot of possibilities. Did the flex foam need a release agent? Very cool.
Yes, the foam needs a release. I didn’t think it would, but it isn’t the first time I’ve been wrong. I covered another foam bunny, this time with a release (I just used wax) and it’s drying now. I think it could have some use for artists who sell at fairs or online, and who would like a fairly easy way to reproduce their best-sellers. And as a mask form, it allows deep undercuts that you can’t get with a plaster mold. Using the foam as a positive molds also seems to allow some shapes that you couldn’t get with a negative mold. But I must admit that this bunny really seams more reasonable as a concrete yard art-type thing. (If the weatherproofing stuff works, I may soon have a whole yard full of bunnies.)
Jonni,
What is this flexible foam product? I tried to google it but nothing much came up, at least nothing that had to do with carving and sculpture. Lots of links to sites for hair products like mousse came up, though. 🙂
Lisa
It’s used a lot in the movie industry to make special effect-type things. There are a lot of videos showing foam being used for special effects and props and costumes on YouTube – this channel as a ton of them. I haven’t seen anyone using flexible foam for re-usable mask forms, but it would only be useful to a very small number of people who make a lot of masks, and they want to make duplicate masks with a lot of undercuts.
And no – I’m not using any hair products in my bunny experiments. 🙂
Hello, I love this concept! And, I am very impressed with these works in progress! I am not truly a sculptor, I make art dolls and also lots of different types of mixed media art. Some of the dolls have paper mache enhancements but most are not all of any one material. Would I still qualify as a member? I think the idea that someone is waiting to see what I have been doing would really help to motivate me, especially on those days when I just walk past the work table instead of digging in. I agree that it can be really difficult to produce work of one’s own. Perhaps fear, worry about quality, etc? Not sure, but it can be a barrier. Let me know what you think, Barbara
Yes, Barbara – of course you qualify as a member! I think it would be wonderful if you would join us. And your description of your “resistance” is exactly what I’m talking about. When we go to art school (I never did, but I assume…) the assignment has to be on time. You do it, and you do the best you can with the skills you have at the time. Then you get another assignment, and do it again. When we learn on our own, we tend to get stuck – especially when our skill level doesn’t yet match our vision. I think this page is really going to help me “do the work,” even when I’m afraid to do it for some reason or other. I hope it will help you, too. So welcome!
TERPSICHORE
Started Terpsichore yesterday morning. It’s intended for an invitational show that opens in June. With a base, she’s: 12″ x 10″ x 2.0″. The armature is #9 aluminum fence wire covered with generic aluminum foil and tape, then a single layer of paper mache newsprint strips. The strips provide a quick and smooth under substructure to build upon. I tried applying FEMO (polymer clay) to the tape and was unable to get a reasonable, covering layer over the tape . . . so I used the paper mache newsprint strips. The head is #9 wire, foil and FEMO Soft Flesh and just begun. Perhaps a half day to flesh out the the head and whatever for getting the body shape “fleshed” out.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Terpsichore-1w.jpg[/img]
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Terpsichore-2w.jpg[/img]
Hi Jim. I’m so glad you joined us. And thanks for showing us the way you made that armature – I may steal a few of those ideas from you, if you don’t mind.
I love to see artwork that shows overweight people enjoying themselves and being a little goofy. I know we’re all “supposed” to find skinny people most attractive, but I’ve always been drawn to the heavyset crowd, myself. Esthetically-speaking, that is. Rubinesque? Is that the right word?
Love the Terpsichore ! I’d like to follow your progress!
Wow, Jim, Terpsichore is really fabulous! I am looking forward to seeing your progress! She is very graceful and looks confident, too.
this looks like a fun project I can wait to see more of its evaluation so to speak 🙂
PS
Yes that was a photo of me by the way Jonni… if you’re talking about the guy with a big smile and his hands on his face with the crazy 1970s background… I have been feeling so out of sorts as of late, I need to do something a little silly to get me laughing and smiling again…
as for what kind of clay I use, its a medium hard sulfur free oil based sculptors clay, I will look up the brand name and post it… its very much like Plasticine. I use grey because it casts no fails shadows while sculpting.
Okay here is a pick of the mask I am working on, I am calling it the “Retro Looking Mask..” cus it reminds me of a character you would see on one of those old TV shows from the 40s and 50s… like Howdy Doody
I am open to name suggestions 🙂 I have added a link to my flickr page should you what to see the whole set of photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/school_of_witt/sets/72157629417196964/
as for my “Tarring paper” I am sorry that was my bad spelling… I meant to say, I am spending the evening watching a little TV and “Tearing paper up”… lol I hope I got it right this time… no matter how many times I look the spelling of the word tearing it just doesn’t look right to me… so shredding paper in to smaller pieces is what I have been doing ha ha ha…
Should I keep the tooth in or take it out? I am not sure which way looks better… I like them both.
Well the tooth gives it a completely different look. Funny how our brains register such images from a seemingly minor addition. I like the original, though.
Rich
I feel weird putting in my two cent’s worth, but I think I like him without. But he looks good with, too. 😉
Douglas, I like them both also, I guess it depends on your conception of the character. It is amazing how one small change can have such an impact. Great, either way!
OK thanks everyone… I have decided to take the tooth out/off?… and go with the original concept, but with a twist though… since they both have such charm… If the mask comes off the mold easily I will Papier-mâché a copy of the mask with a tooth on it and make them twins… ha ha ha… and name them Steve and Allen which is which… only their mother could tell them apart… I think they could make for some really funny street theater comedy… I will post photos of them mache process as I work on it.
Jonni
it is nice to meet you as well… without sounding like fan boy… I really look forward to your videos. I find your insights about your sculpture helpful… and inspiring… I can see that you really love the process your working with.
also its really nice to hear feedback from everyone on here… thank you very much 🙂 please feel free to ask me any questions about my work, also… I love constructive criticism. so please ever feel shy about giving me your 2 cents worth.
I vote without too. Seems to give the wearer more possibilities of expression without the tooth … (or the imagined wearer) … : ) Amazing mask tho.
thanks bmaskmaker. do you have a website I can visit I would like to see more of your work.
No dedicated site yet. Soon tho. I keep saying that … but really, I will put one up soon. This daily stuff is helping push me.
— b
Hi Douglas. I’m actually glad that was a typo – now I don’t feel quite so ignorant. I thought you knew about a secret technique that I’d never heard about. 🙂
It was nice getting to “meet” you on your Flickr page. I rarely get to put a face to the names when people comment on the site.
Jonni, I hope you had a peaceful Easter, and now back to work!
Since my life sized baby elephant( Simon) , I’ve gone to small. Trying to get an early start on Santa figurines .Your paper mâché clay inside, then cold porcelain clay for surface.
You peaked my interest saying monster clay! When I see the word ovenable, I’m lost. Does that mean we can harden it like polymer clays?
Hi Carol. The monster clay I’m using today is a wax or oil-based modeling clay, so it won’t ever get hard. It melts in the oven. But Rich came up with a home-made (and cheap) paper mache clay that he’s calling monster clay, too. It will harden (not into the plastic-like consistency of polymer clays, but still hard). In fact, since we’ve been doing so many experiments lately, you now have four choices of paper mache clay recipes. This one is the original (dries extremely hard, difficult to sand, but strong), there are two variations on this page (slightly softer, easier to sand, and less sticky than the original), and Rich made a video showing how to make his monster clay. Experiment with them, and see which one you like.
Hi Jonni,
I am posting a photo of my most current mask… I believe in the importance of being creative everyday… in fact I wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed everyday ready to create… I am totally into posting a sculpture a day post here on your blog…
Today I finished smoothing out the clay and I will be spending my night tarring paper up so I can Papier-mâché the mask…
I did have a few problems with this project, but I managed to make it look the way I would like it… In the future I will post more of the process and some of my struggles along the way. Feedback on anything I do always helps me see with new eyes.
Is it ok if I post this on your blog here on this page? Or should I wait until my next project to start posting?
Now that I think about it… I would use some feedback about this mask. It’s turned out looking a little slow witted… I am fighting the urge to put a big goofy tooth in its mouth.
What do you think? Shall I put the tooth in and take photos of it for your feedback?
It would be fun to see him with all his variations, but I do hope you won’t take our “votes” too seriously. But if it’s just for fun, (and you ignore our opinions when reasonable), then sure – you can post as many photos as you want.
I just checked your Flickr page – and the mask is pretty cool with the tooth. It changes his whole personality, doesn’t it? And by the way – is that you down towards the middle of the page?
Douglas,
I don’t get that sense at all. Rather, I could see him being slyly malevolent like the Child Catcher from the Dick van Dyke movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. That’s immediately what came to mind when I saw it.
FWIW, that character scared the heck out of me when I was a kid.
Rich
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/y.jpg[/img]
GhoulishCop… its so funny that you put the two faces together… I was watching Chitty Chitty Bang bang just the other day while sculpting this mask… the child catcher must have hit a deep seeded memory from my childhood… because with out realizing it, I totally infused Roald Dahl aka the child catcher into the mask.
Thank you for seeing it.
Hi Douglas. I’m so glad you decided to join us. Of course you can post on this page, (or any page) any time you want.
With all your experience with mask making, I would love to learn more about your process. In fact, I’m really curious about “tarring” paper – I have no idea what that means, but I do hope you’ll explain it some day.
What kind of clay are you using?
I don’t think he looks slow witted at all. To me he looks like he just saw somebody have a minor accident and he’s scrunching up his face with empathy and thinking “I bet that hurt.”
I think it’s great!
It’s interesting to get so many opinions about what this guy is feeling and thinking, and they all seem so different!
Isn’t that what art is all about?
it’s amazing how we all read emotion off of body language differently… the thing that always amazes me about masks the most is that they all look different once a person puts one on they totally change into something I could have never imagined and it seems to change with every person.
Jonni,
Terrific idea! Of course, I chime in on a day I didn’t do sculpting but I did work on something artsy, or that will be. I’ve been gripped by a mania to get into silk screen printing. Don’t ask me why; I stumbled over something a couple of days ago and got hooked, and now I ‘ve been researching it pretty much non-stop since. So I’m building my own pick press on which I’ll be able to print t-shirts…at least that’s the game plan.
It doesn’t look like much yet, but I built the base and four different platens: one for an adult sized shirt, a smaller one for women or kids, a child sized one, and one for doing sleeves. Tomorrow I’ll be making screens to use (tomorrow I’ll also be coating my cauldron in spar varnish and starting painting a paper mache butterfly I made).
So I look forward to checking in here and see what everyone else is working on on a daily basis.
Rich
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/041112214057.jpg[/img]
Boy, you don’t slow down, do you Rich? I silk screened t-shirts once, but that was so many years ago I can’t remember a thing about it. I can’t wait to see the designs you come up with.
Rich, Could you explain a little bit about what you mean by a pick press? I have silk screened garments before using a plastic covered cardboard shape to keep fabric taut and to keep it from bleeding through to the back of the fabric. This was only somewhat successful so I am really interested in your press. Thanks, Barbara
I agree … and what did you make the platens from … did you route them from … a plastic?
bmm,
The base and platens are made for melamine. For those not familiar with the material (I know Jonni’s got a ton of international admirers), it’s a wood, pressboard core sandwiched between a thin Formica-like covering. It’s the white shelving you can find in your big box DIY stores and provides a super smooth surface for printing.
All the edges of the platens were rounded over with a router and the corners were sanded round to prevent material from catching and tearing. It also facilitates the placing of t-shirts on the platens.
The really neat thing about this system is that it’s totally and affordably self-contained, allowing the printer to not only print his or her own shirts, but also expose the screen with photovoltaic emulsion so that even the most detailed designs can be printed. The entire cost of this printing system — press, screens, lighting system, and flash drying unit — is under $75, and probably closer to $50.
There’s no need for fancy flash dryers or high-end light boxes to expose the design on the screen. A simple, $10 500-watt work light from Harbor Freight tools is actually all you need for the light and the flash dryer. The melamine costs about $20 for a 16″x8′ piece (from which you cut all the parts you need). The miscellaneous remaining parts will cost you maybe another $20 to $30 or so at most.
The initial designs I intend to do with the press are not going to be such fine detailed works. I’m actually making tees for my local Halloween prop-making group so a skull or a grim reaper will be the icon along with the lettering, so fancy screen material won’t be needed. Rather I’ll be using chiffon I picked at Walmart the other day for $4.50 a yard so the cost of my screen will probably be around $7.
When I get a little better at the printing — I’m assuming I won’t jump to master craftsman right away! — I may buy a screen with a finer count to it from an art supply store, and they’re really not all that expensive, though at $20+ a pop if you want to do several colors it could get pricey (so making my own that way too is probably an option as well).
Again, all this is theory for me since I’m still in the construction phase and haven’t gotten my hands dirty yet, but from what I’ve seen I’m hopeful this is going to turn into a fun hobby.
Rich
Thanks … very interesting! And nice job on what you’ve got so far.
Beth
Hi Barbara,
I’m no silk screening expert, but there are apparently two types of presses (for the layman anyway): a rotary press, that spins and on which you can print anywhere from 2-6 colors, depending on how many screens you’re able to attach to the wheel, and a pick press, where you can print as many colors as you have screens.
The only mechanical nature of the pick press is you “picking” the screen off the platen and putting a new one on. I finished my press today and tomorrow I’ll probably start working on stretching the screen.
In the photo below, the platen sits above the base by means of a 2×2 “T” at the far end of the platen. That black circle back there is a spring-activated holding mechanism that will keep the screen tight against the platen when its put on. On the sides of the screen will be microadjusters to keep it tight side to side as well.
It’s these microtuners that will permit multicolor printing. Because once you set up all your screens to match your image you can easily pop each one on and off and still have perfect alignment. At least that’s the theory. I’ll see if it’s as easy as they make it seem.
Rich
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/DSCF2294.jpg[/img]
Wow, thanks for the information Rich. This really does look great. The biggest problem I have had when silk screening is keeping the screen tight enough to the fabric and keeping it from moving, so this should work great. I have used chiffon fabric for screens with pretty good results, also fine curtain sheers work quite well and both would be cheaper than screen. Looking forward to seeing this project as it comes along. Barbara
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted, but I figured I’d let you see the output of what I built with the screen printing press I built. It’s been a lot of fun learning the whole process and actually printing shirts. The shirts I’ve been printing are, as I mention, for my Halloween friends, so the front emblem is a skull that says “Haunter for Life” while the back is a skull-and-crossbones motif that says “Shut Up and Build” referring to haunters who seem to talk more about what they want to build than actually doing it. Surprisingly they’ve proved fairly popular.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/072112060217.jpg[/img]
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/072112060240.jpg[/img]
Well done! I can certainly see why they’re popular. Halloween isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, but the quality of the design and the work is obvious. I hope you sell zillions of them. Are they available online?
OK … had a good studio day. Trying to get the hang of taking pictures while I’m working. (All without gunking up the camera, of course.)
Made another mini head sculpt — this one a skull. I learn new things each time I do one, so I’m pleased.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/miniskull.jpg[/img]
Also made progress on the fish. Finished claying the fins/legs on the first fish I showed yesterday, and made some progress on the fins of fish #2.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/blue_fish.jpg[/img]
Also did base coat painting and dry brushing on several pieces … some small fish, a horn, and the little ladies from yesterday.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/progress-April10.jpg[/img]
And (unpictured) attached collar bones to the shoulders, and ribs to the sternum of the skeleton, curved them and set them to dry.
I need to hoe out the studio (again. It’s an ongoing project.) … and I’m looking at ways of building some tables / shelving that would be easier for me to work with than the plastic utility shelving and tables I have now. They’re wonderful and portable … but I know I can make better use of the space. So progress for me will hopefully sometimes be making studio furniture as well as making art.
You’re really going to town! I love all that progress. Speaking of furniture and shelves, have you seen this site? They have classes, but I think they’re in France. (For a studio, your plastic might be better, though…)
This is what I’m working on today. I greyed the photo so I could take a look at the original photo and see what I need to work on. It seems to help if everything is the same color. I’m working with Monster Clay today, which is kind of weird, but interesting. When it’s warm, it’s a bit like working with congealed chocolate pudding or taffy. When it’s cold, it’s like carving wax. I think I like it. The hat still needs a lot of work.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/oldman.jpg[/img]
I love the detail you get. And may need to order some monster clay myself. Did you get it at your ceramics supply place?
I think I see what you mean about the hat, but if I wasn’t looking at the original picture, I wouldn’t see it … the hat looks fine on its own.
I ordered my monster clay online. I still haven’t taken my bike out to the new pottery supply store – I got lazy during the winter, so I have to work up to it. I doubt they’d have the modeling clay in stock, though. It’s an oil or wax-based clay. I read about it on forums where it was described as “better” or “less sticky” than the oil-based clay I’ve been using. It doesn’t stick to the metal tools like the other clay does, so I’m happy with it. It seems kind of expensive, though.
Wow, I didn’t know there was an actual product called “Monster Clay.” One of the haunter’s I follow started calling his paper clay that, more of a riff on “Monster Mud” than anything, so I called my own paper clay that too. Hmm. May have to change that since there’s actually something on the market that goes by that name.
Rich
Yeah – it does kind of confuse things a bit. This one is sold by the Monstermakers, but I don’t know if they invented it or not. Or if it’s trademarked. It actually makes more sense to call yours Monster Clay, because, as you mentioned, it is vaguely related to Monster Mud. This stuff is really much more like wax than clay, but it has a nice feel to it.
I thought I’d left this comment on the other post … but it didn’t show up so I’ll put it here … which is more appropriate anyway.
I’m in for the daily sculpt (or daily whatever) … : )
I made progress today on my fish (http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/cathy_fish.jpg), and some small face/figure sculpts … which I’m using to get a little more comfortable with face structures and expression. I’m referring to them as ‘little ladies’ — tho they seem a little more witch-like (perhaps the herbal wise woman kind of witch, tho …)
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/littlelady2.jpg[/img]
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/littlelady_1and2.jpg[/img]
I also did a spine and sternum with the beginning of ribs … to test out a skeleton idea I’ve been having.
I think doing a daily report will really help me move some of these projects forward. Great idea! And clearly I’ll need to work on my picture taking skills as well. : )
Wow – it’s so nice that you found this page! I just put it up today, and I haven’t announced it yet. What a perfect way to get the group off to a great start. (Your pictures are fine, by the way, They’re perfect for this page. Keep up the good work!)
To get us started, here’s my small relief sculpture for the day. I made her with Monster Clay, which is interesting material. The model was photographed during the Depression by a government photographer, but I can no longer find the original page so I can’t tell you where she was from.
[img]http://ultimatepapermache.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/001-1.jpg[/img]
Jonni,
I love this! You did a beautiful job of capturing her unique expression and personality. Those Depression Era WPA photos are so fabulous, I have seen many of them, but I have not seen them used for sculpture. Perhaps one day, I will do an Art doll from this time period.
Barbara
That would be interesting. I love the fact that so many of the women in these photos didn’t have two nickles to rub together, but if they were given time, they all scrounged up some item to make themselves a little bit prettier for the photos. I wonder how it felt to have a government photographer take your picture to document an entire country in poverty? And did the people in the photos ever get to see them?