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Start sculpting your paper mache animals the easy way …
… with a custom-made armature pattern.
In this post, I’ll show you:
- How to choose a photo for your model, or use an original drawing.
- How to use a computer paint tool (or tracing paper), to turn your photo into an armature pattern.
- How to use a simple grid system to copy the pattern from your small page onto cardboard, and make it as big as you want. (Life-sized bull elephant, perhaps? Sure, why not?)
- And finally, how I use foil to put the legs in the right place.
This is the method I used for all the projects in my book Make Animal Sculptures with Paper Mache Clay.
And I know it works because of all the people who learn this method from my book, my YouTube channel or my blog, and then share the original art they create using their own patterns. You can find hundreds of their photos in the comment section on the Daily Sculptors page.
(If you’ve used this method yourself, I hope you’ll leave a comment down below and let us know.)
This is the easy way to create a life-like sculpture of any mammal, bird, lizard or fish.
In fact, this method doesn’t just help you create paper mache sculptures. When I use modeling clay, I often start with a pattern and build the clay sculpture around it. In fact, that’s how I made the original models for the animal masks and wall art behind me in the video.
(If you don’t have time to watch the video, see the screen shots and written instructions for this tutorial below).
Where did the idea come from?
I wasn’t the first person to discover the idea of starting a sculpture with a silhouette, but I can only find three other people who have taught this sculpting method in books or video.
Sadly, these are fairly obscure references, so you probably won’t find them mentioned anywhere else. And no, they aren’t using cardboard patterns, but the idea is still the same:
- I found a one-sentence mention of sculpting patterns in an out-of-print art book called “3-D Wizardry: Design in Papier Mache, Plaster and Foam.”
- There’s another book that teaches beginners how to sculpt a recognizable portrait in clay their very first try. It’s called “Sculpting Made Easy” by Catherine Barjansky. Also out of print, unfortunately, but still available on amazon.com.
- And the best DVD about sculpting heads that I’ve ever watched is called Sculpting the Head and Face by Adam Reeder. (I tried it, and his method works.) The DVD is almost impossible to find, even by searching on amazon. Click the link if you’re interested.
Why are armature patterns for animal sculptures so helpful?
The pattern inside your paper mache animal sculpture creates all of the outlines for you. If you make sure you don’t go outside the edges when you add padding for the muscles and face, your finished sculpture will have the exact same outline as the one on your pattern.
That means you can correct the proportions and shapes, if you need to, when it’s easy – on a piece of paper. If you find errors later, when the sculpture is almost done, you may need to get out a saw. (And yes, I’ve done that. I’m not proud… 🙂 )
The patterns don’t do all the sculpting for you, of course. You still need to add the the face and body forms.
But if you want to start a paper mache animal from scratch, whether it’s a tiger, dog, aardvark, dragon, flamingo, porpoise, fish, or anything else, this method will give you a big head start.
Step 1: Use a photo or drawing, and trace the body shapes.
I like to use photographs from Pixabay.com because they’re royalty-free and I post things here on my blog. You can also find thousands of images by doing a Google image search for the animal you want to sculpt.
But you do have to look through them rather carefully because you’re looking for photographs that are taken from the side. If even part of the animal is not in silhouette, you need to keep looking. The kangaroo I chose for this tutorial works well, because the entire animal is seen from the side.
Once you choose the photo you’ll use for your model, you can draw it free-hand or trace it, like I did for the video.
I used my Paint Tool Sai program to trace around the body shapes and legs, but you can use the same system with tracing paper, and it works just as well.
If you’re making a dragon or other mythical creature, you may need to patch several different animals together, or just make one up.
Hint – your made-up animal will be more believable if you use real animals for models. Then stretch and alter the shapes without going too far outside the laws of nature. This works even when combining two or more creatures, for a dragon or griffon, for instance.
When tracing the pattern, put the body and tail on one sheet of paper or layer, and draw the legs on a separate page or layer.
Step 2: Add a grid to the pattern.
If you’re using a drawing program and you want a sculpture that’s bigger than a sheet of paper, add a grid in the background of your pattern.
You can find a grid to use in a paint program with a Google image search for the terms “grid image.”
You need a grid with fairly large squares. Each square on my grid prints out to about an inch wide. You don’t want them really tiny.
Add the grid by hand if you’re using tracing paper.
If you’re making a small sculpture, you won’t need the grid. You can just use a glue stick to attache the paper pattern to your cardboard, and cut around it.
If using a drawing program, print the pattern pages.
Step 3: Draw a grid on your cardboard.
Determine the size of your grid:
If you want your sculpture to be bigger than the pattern you just created, you’ll need to draw a grid on a piece of cardboard.
- Decide how long you want your sculpture to be, in inches or centimeters.
- Divide that number by the number of squares on the body section of your new pattern.
This will give you the size of the individual squares on the grid you’ll draw on your cardboard.
I did it the easy way – the ruler on my carpenters’ square is 2 inches wide. Two-inch squares will give me an 18″ long kangaroo body, because the body on my pattern covers 9 squares. 9 x 2 = 18.
Draw the grid on the cardboard:
Make sure the grid is square by using a carpenters’ square or the edges of a piece of letter paper or book.
Draw the grid on a piece of cardboard that’s large enough for your new sculpture. You can use cardboard from a used shipping box.
If your animal has long skinny legs, make sure they don’t cross the fold lines on your cardboard, and that the length is aligned with the corrugations. The cardboard doesn’t bend as easily that way.
Step 3: Transfer the small pattern to the large grid, one square at a time:
You can create an accurate copy of your small pattern on a large piece of cardboard by using the grid system.
I got this idea from a workshop I attended at the community college in Coeur d’Alene, ID. We were taught to draw a realistic portrait using the grid system. There’s even a book that teaches you how. It really does work, even with complicated shapes.
Just remember to go slow, do one square at a time, and use a pencil so you can go back and fix a line if you need to. Nobody will ever see the armature inside your paper mache animal, so don’t worry if you have to redraw a line or two.
When all the pattern pieces have been drawn onto the cardboard, cut them out with a sharp knife.
Step 4: Determine the placement of the legs.
We’ll use hot glue and aluminum foil to separate the legs from the body pieces. But how far apart should they be?
To find that out, we need to do another image search to find the relative space between the legs. Every animal is different because of the shape of their rib cage and the shape of their pelvis.
The image you used for the pattern was taken directly from the side, and that doesn’t show you how far apart your animal’s legs need to be.
Go back online and find a photo that shows your animal’s chest and front legs. This will show you how far apart the legs need to be.
If the spacing of the back legs is not as obvious as it was for my kangaroo, find a photo of your critters’ rear end, too.
Use lightly crumpled foil as spacers.
Use foil and hot glue to attach the legs, and then push the legs around to change the angles until they match the photo you’re using for a model.
The armature is still very flimsy, because the foil is so lightly crushed. This gives you the opportunity to change the placement of the legs until you have the posture or stance you want.
You can even choose to put the legs in a different position than you see in your photo, if you want.
Step 5: Reinforce the foil to make a strong armature.
Use more tightly squished foil and plenty of hot glue under the front and back legs.
As you continue to strengthen the armature, it become much more difficult to move the legs. After adding each piece of foil, check to make sure your animal can still stand up.
If you don’t want to use so much foil, you can use tightly crumpled newspaper and masking tape, instead.
Step 6: Your armature is now ready for the face and additional padding.
The pattern is now finished, but your armature still needs a lot of work. Sculpting the head and muscles will be different for every animal, but it will go easiest if you follow these suggestions:
- Add shapes, with more foil or crumpled paper and masking tape, just like you would if you were sculpting with clay.
- Use as many resource photos as you can find. There are hundreds of photos online for every part of any animal, from tiger paws to to swordfish fins.
- If you want a more whimsical look, or if you’re sculpting a made-up animal, like a dragon, the photos will still help you create a believable sculpture.
- Make your armature as close to the final shapes as you can get it before starting to add paper mache or paper mache clay.
- And here’s a trick I leaned as a writer – when you think your armature is finished, set it aside for a day or two and do something else. When you come back to it you’ll be seeing it with fresh eyes.
I hope this helps you create an awesome new paper mache animal sculpture.
If you have any questions, or if you’d like to share some tips you’ve discovered while using this method, please leave a comment below.
Happy sculpting!
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Hey Jonni,
How do you make those patterns for your sculptures?
Hi Leldon,
I make a clay model first. Then I make a silicone mold of the clay sculpture, and use it to create multiple paper mache copies. Then I start cutting them out and taping them together, and in about two or three weeks I’ve done that process often enough to get all the pieces to fit properly.
As you can see, it’s a very inefficient way to make a sculpture, and it’s not something you’d want to do if you’re thinking about reproducing multiple physical items to sell or give away. It’s much faster and more accurate to reproduce copies of your work using a silicone mold. I have a video that shows how to do that here: https://www.ultimatepapermache.com/how-to-make-a-silicone-mold-for-paper-mache
Hello. How would the tracing paper work? Would I print the picture, trace the image on a pre grid sheet of tracing paper, then redraw on a larger cardboard grid? Thank you 🙂
Yes, exactly. There are some videos on YouTube that show how to enlarge images with a grid like you describe, like this one.
Thank you Joni for excellent art!
Congratulations!
I’ve an ambitious project;
I would like to make “The Nativity”
Joseph, Mary, and Baby Jesus.
(The 3 Kings/Wise men. The animals?)
Starting with Joseph and Mary. now.
Thank you so much for sharing
That does sound like an ambitious project. Have fun with it! 🙂
Hi Jonny 🙂
at first, I will tell you, that you do a great work and i love your videos!!! The second is, i am from germany and my english is very terrible and it‘s difficult for me, to find the right words. I hope, you understand my question ??
I want create a dragon. The one clay, i love, is natural ton, but this have other problems (i can‘t burn it) and so, i‘ll try to do it with papermache clay. Now i have a nother problem. It‘s because the details.. the „skin“. How can i work the surface. I think, its not to realize with p-m-clay or is it?
Thanks for your answer ?
Hi Sylvia. There are several dragons on this site that were made with paper mache clay skins. You can also use paper strips and paste, if you want to. I’m not clear about your comment about burning. The paper mache clay can be put in an oven at a low temperature to make it dry out faster, but you don’t need to do that. It will dry very hard without the oven.
Hi Jonni,
I just wanted to let you know a cool way I’ve found to trace out patterns.
Awhile ago I purchased a cheap “Projector” from China ($35) I only say cheap because the picture quality is fine, until you need to read any print!
When I first plugged it in I started looking for the language setting, all of the words looked like they were written in Chinese, (No pun) they really did. I figured out I needed to magnify the screen size by 400% just to make out the words. The screens size is 65″ at 8ft(+), which says is the correct distance in the book.
Anyway, like I said the picture quality is good, so It works really well for taking small pictures from my laptop and enlarge them to the wall, also the lighting works perfect for tracing them over.
That’s a great idea! Where did you find your projector?
After doing a few projects I’m not moving forward as I should as the troll you spoke of is been working overtime. When I started papier-mâché and I had to do three projects at once because of my enthusiasm now I can’t get started on one and it’s been months since I’ve made.
Been wanting to do a mask but cutting small areas would be too hard and too much to ask someone At this time.
Anyway here’s my question Jonni or anyone over here with a little experience. I want to make a cat, (I was looking for your gray cat that you made but it’s not coming up when I search for it.)
I want to make a cat that’s crouching 12 to 14 inches long minus the tail using your pattern method. I would like to have his head turned outward toward me and his body in the profile view. How would I make the neck area so it looks correct With cardboard. Should I build up the body part up and then a ball of foil For neck? Then start padding the head out. Would one strip of wire be enough to place the head in the right position? I seen how you made your Bassett hound dog bendable. It was great !
Hi Linda. The cat video series starts here. One piece of wire should be plenty, because the foil adds a lot of strength to the sculpture. It sounds like your plan would work really well. We’d love to see it when it’s done!
I know what you mean about having a hard time getting started on projects. I’ve been binge-watching sculpting videos on YouTube all month, and haven’t finished anything. I did start a sculpture that I hope to give to my nephew for his wedding (three months late) but it isn’t getting done very fast. But the lull is just temporary – we should both be back in the swing of things soon.
By the way, we would really love to see your cat when it’s done. You can show it off on the Daily Sculptors page. 🙂
As always, I appreciate you!