Daily Sculptors Page
Join the conversation and share your paper mache sculptures with our supportive community.
No artwork to share today? That’s OK, too… We’d love to hear from you. Just scroll down to the bottom of this page and use the comment form.
The latest photos from our readers:
Pink Lioness
Made by Jill Strzinek This was made for a Breast Cancer Walk. I was totally finished when I realized I gave a female lion a … Read more
Hi Jonni and Community!
Jonni, I’m SO excited to hear you’re working on a shoebill!!!
They’re one of my favorite African birds! Shoebills, Ostriches, and Cassowary.
Q for fellow sculptors:
Has anyone made a full ostrich before?
If so, I’d love to hear your experience! For years this ostrich to-be has been pulling at me to build!
Especially materials used for the legs and positioning.
I’ve been wanting to make a full, slightly larger than life-size Ostrich sculpture. I’ve puttered around with a few ideas on how the balance would work but I I’ll probably have to learn as I go.
After I make both elephants (The wall hanging & full baby sculpture) I may finally just dive into ostrich-mode using your grid method for a bit of armature- definitely your clay.
Unless I see the Shoebill first!
Be well All! ??
Hi Ali. I’m glad you like the shoebill idea, because the pattern is already done. It should be online soon. And our friend Pam Jurach wrote a tutorial for us, showing us how she made her ostrich. The balance will be challenging – you might need to use some wire that goes down the legs, down one of the toes, and then onto a piece of plywood that you can use as a base. Getting a two-legged creature to stand up without the help of muscles isn’t easy. Let us know when you get it done! 🙂
Oh wow this is so great!!!
I haven’t even checked the main page for the shoebill yet but can’t wait to try it.
And a HUGE thank you for sharing Pam Jurach’s shared ostrich journey!
You are my go-to trusted resource for all things sculpture! Thanks to both of you creative forces!
I’m thinking the legs of mine can be made by some old thin copper pipes I have, soldered at knees, and attached to huge feet in spread-step. Maybe connected to a heavy block of marble or heavy slate. (I’m always keeping remnants from old floor lamps -marble, and left overs from a friend’s development projects) they don’t get why, but 98% of everything I’ve kept and thought would be useful in a future sculpture/set or project has been repurposed-that’s important to me personally.
And I love how your work can be made with all or mostly sustainable, biodegradable items so nothing gets wasted- truly thoughtful and inspiring!
You are absolutely amazing I so wish to do half as good as you just can’t get the recipe write?( one of those people )
It is my dream ????
Hi Jannine. Which recipe are you trying to find? Or are you having trouble getting the mixture to work the way you want it to?
Hi Jonni, I found you recently and planning on purchasing the unicorn.
I’m making it for my grandaughter and would like to make it as a wall plaque. Will I be able to do that with the mask pattern? Thanks.
Hi Rube. I don’t have a pattern piece to make it into a wall sculpture, but I don’t think it would be difficult to use it that way. When you get to the bottom of page 17 of the instructions, the only pieces left will be the pieces for the cap. If you leave them off, you can put your unicorn head down on a piece of paper and draw around the outside edge, where the cap would normally be taped on. Make sure your new pattern pieces is symmetrical, and then trace around it on a piece of stiff corrugated cardboard. Cut at hole near the center top, and tape it to the unicorn’s head. If you look at the first photo on page 19, you can see that the cap pieces extend forward to fill in a gap at the bottom of the unicorn’s ‘neck.’ You might want to fill in that gap with a scrap of your cereal box cardboard, and then cut your flat back piece so it’s large enough to match the new edge. Remember to cover only the seam between the head and the flat back piece with paper mache. Flat cardboard likes to warp when it’s covered with paper mache. If you want the back to look really nice, you can glue a piece of felt to it, after everything else is done. :
Is there anyway to get an SVG version of the cow mask, so that I can cut it on my cricut machine?
I can’t make a SVG version myself, because I don’t own a cricut machine and wouldn’t be able to test the file to make sure it worked. However, one of my readers sent us a link to a video that explains how you could do it. You can find the video here.
Hello! I stumbled on your page while searching for paper mache tutorials for beginners. I think your patterns are fantastic! Out of your pattern collection, do you have any that you would recommend for beginners? Clearly the elephant head, though stunning, looks to be more advanced. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew when starting out! 🙂 Thank you!
Hi Paul. The wolf mask and the pig mask are fairly easy projects, and I think the black bear wall sculpture would be a good one for an adult to start with. But choose the one that you most like to have in your house when it’s done. 🙂
I am putting together about 50 Lion King masks. Our actors have not yet been casted, so I’m not able to fit the “caps” yet. I have however, started with the heads and have gotten them all taped up with the eyes and foil details, ready to start the paper mache’ing. I’ll be using tightbond III. My question: will I struggle later, when I try to connect the “caps” to the already paper mache covered heads? Should I be waiting to do the entire mask at one time? Thanks!!
Hi Lorie. That’s a big undertaking! I hope you’re having fun making all those masks. 🙂
Making the caps fit is quite easy, and you can do it after the cap has been covered with the paper strips and wood glue. If the cap is too large for the actor who will be wearing it, just use a sharp knife to cut open the center seam on the cap, and overlap the pieces. You can repair the seam with more paper and glue, and let it dry. I have a video about making the masks fit. Click the link and watch starting at the 3:44 mark.
Hi Lorie. That’s a big undertaking! I hope you’re having fun making all those masks. 🙂
Making the caps fit is quite easy, and you can do it after the cap has been covered with the paper strips and wood glue. If the cap is too large for the actor who will be wearing it, just use a sharp knife to cut open the center seam on the cap, and overlap the pieces. You can repair the seam with more paper and glue, and let it dry. I have a video about making the masks fit. Click the link and watch starting at the 3:44 mark.
Thanks so much and I am LOVING the process. Very theraputic for me 🙂
Experienced Artists,
We are looking for an instructor for papier mache art. Our 25th Anniversary camp is June 16-20, 2025! It is a day camp. Our workshops this year are basketry, rugmaking, leathercraft, tatting, woodcarving, woodworking, and … papier mache! These are the same workshops we offered when we first organized. Some of our instructors are the same ones we had then, but unfortunately our papier mache instructor is no longer with us. We only allow 10 in a class, with two classes per day. We pay for instruction, materials, mileage, lodging, and meals. The ages are 10 and up. It is an intergenerational camp. We require a background check. We are located in Cave Spring, Georgia, and we are non-profit.
You may contact me, Winnie Morrow, or call 706-584-0660, and ask Bernice to take your contact information.
Hi Jonni ? Fellow artist and longtime fan of your videos here ?? I’m planning on making an animal head piece to hang on the wall (like a mount but paper mache). It’ll be a Christmas present for a family member. Do you (or anyone in your community) happen to have a template specifically for a beagle? Or if not, advice for the best template to try and adapt? Also looking to have it be at the normal scale of a beagle’s head, so rather small. Thanks so much for any help! And for all of your amazing work ?
I don’t have a pattern for a beagle head, but you can use the inner pattern technique to sculpt one from scratch. If you get the basic profile right, you’ll have a great start. You can see how that’s done using a photo here. The video shows how to include the body and legs, but you can still use the profile pattern for portraits, too.
Hi,
I bought the tiny paper mache dogs kindle book but the link to the printable patterns is just sending me to the main page. I can’t seem to locate the pdf. Can anyone help me out?
Thanks!
Hi Kelli. You can find the patterns here. I’ll try to find the page in the kindle book and correct the link – thanks for letting me know. 🙂
Thank you so much!
I just bought your (kindle version) book “How to make tiny paper mache dogs” and can’t wait to start! I will make the “retriever”, as I am familiar with them -we have had two … our last one passed last year :/ While I make this paper mache figure, I could post an image of my last paper mache creation… but is not from the models of your books / online store. Does that matters? Anyway, glad to be part of this blog :))
We would love to see how your sculptures come out! I can’t wait. 🙂
So i have been using several of your patterns for a non profit childrens theater company. I just ordered the cow which i would love to attach to a wooden puppet body for a production of into the wood. How would i make the pattern bigger so it doesnt distort your beautiful pattern and any ideas how to attach a lower jaw so i can make the puppets mouth open and close. I have the mechanism just need a jaw on the cow. Thanks I love your patterns. I have been using the lion king patterns now for about six years they are hit with the students.
Hi Dennis. I made a video about changing the size of the patterns. You can see it here. But I’ve never made the cow with a moveable jaw, so I’m not sure how you’d do it. You could try cutting along the seam between her upper lip and lower lip/chin, and continue the cut to include some of the lower cheek. I think you’d need to play with it, and maybe add some additional cardboard in a few places to work. If you try it, we’d love to see how it comes out! 🙂
Hi Jonni–We’re excited to make the dragon mask, just downloaded the pattern. Quick question though: This is for my 9-year-old for Halloween. Should I print the pattern out at less than 100%? And if so, any recommendations on how much to shrink it?
Thank you!
You might want to try it at 95%. If it’s too big after it’s taped together, you can alter the size by cutting open the center back seam and overlapping the pieces a little. Have fun! 🙂
Thanks for all of your content, your work is amazing!
Question about your recipe for gesso (joint compound & PVA glue). Will it work with the “homemade” glue you use in your PM clay recipe?
That’s an interesting question, but I don’t know. It should work, but I haven’t tried it. If you do an experiment, please let us know what you find out. 🙂
Jonni,
I was just looking at all this amazing art and I wanted to thank you for educating us, inspiring us, encouraging us, entertaining us and everything else you do for us.
You are, and will always be, my favorite artist.
Thanks, Mr. Shelbot. It’s always so nice to hear from you. 🙂
Hi Jonni, I love your tutorials and all your art and practice. Do you have a Bison head mount pattern?
Hi Julie. No, I don’t have a bison pattern. It’s on my to-do list, but I have no idea when I’ll have time to make one.
It occurs to me I can just make an armature and sculpt it myself. ?Ive been away from sculpture snd paper mache for a long time so Im kinda slow remembering ways to do it all! Having a blast now though, and I can’t wait to try your new paper clay recipe. . Your tutorials are so informative and fun.
Have fun! And be sure to let us see it when it’s done. 🙂
So I am attempting to paper mache a gigantic sphere for Halloween (about 105cm in diameter). Is this possible?? I could use all the tips and tricks!!
I was planning on using newspaper and titebond III wood glue over a jumbo sized beach ball. Since my sphere will be cut into 2 halves, I was going to reinforce it with possible some wire from the inside.
Please tell me if this plan is too crazy? Any tips would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
Hi Joanne,
With something that big, it will be difficult to remove the paper mache after it dries without distorting the shape. At least that’s true when using paper mache paste. The wood glue might be strong enough to hold up on its own, but I haven’t tried it. Have you considered using a layer of plaster cloth first, as reinforcement, and then putting your paper mache on top of it?
If you do use paper mache directly over your ball, make sure it dries all the way through before trying to take it off the ball. If there’s any moisture at all between the paper and the ball, it will act as ‘glue.’ If the ball is deflated, the paper mache will deflate, too.
Thank you so much! I have never tried plaster cloth but this seems perfect. Will definitely be adding this before we start the paper mache, this seems like a much better idea than using wire to reinforce like I was originally thinking. Thank you!
Hi Jonni..
I found you today. I searched but was unable to find a tutorial to create a over the head wearable mask. Do you have something like this available? Your mask are wonderful but I am wanting to create something a bit scarier for this Halloween!
Thanks for any help, tips or advice you can offer.
Hi Cindy. I don’t have a tutorial about this, specifically. But I’d probably create a temporary armature with a plastic bag filled with rice or sand. The bag would have to big enough around so the final mask made over it would slip over your head. Determine where the eye holes should go, and then start sculpting the scary shapes with crumpled paper or foil, held on with masking tape. After you have all the shapes you want, you can cover it with paper mache. You can pull the bag and the rice out of the mask after the paper mache dries. If you make one, I hope you’ll come back to this page and show it off. 🙂
Thank you so much for the instructions. I will give it a go. I will definitely come back with my results.
Hi Jonni,
I ordered pattern of your pig mask and I loved it.
Just wondering if you have a little bit bigger pattern for adults.
Thank you so much
Hi Mil. I don’t have a bigger pattern, but you can print the one you have bigger on your computer. Maybe at 105% or 110% would fit better. 🙂
Hello Jonni I am loving paper matching was wondering if you can use the golden gel gloss after you have painted a statue..
Help! On the Moose sculpture, the directions seem to leave out pieces 29 and 30. They go from pieces 27 and 28 right into the placement of 31 and 32. In both printed instructions and the video. Am I missing something?
Hi John. Gosh, you’re right. I’m sorry I didn’t notice that before. You can see the proper placement of 29 and 30 in the second and third photo on page 29. Thanks for letting me know – I’ll fix it as soon as I can.
Hi,
I am relatively new to paper mache, not having done it for over 20 years. I made the methycellulose glue and I was wondering, can that be used in your paper mache clay recipes?
Thanks!
Audrey
I’ve never tried that. It might work, but you’d need to do an experiment to find out.