Papier Mache`

[DirthNader]

I've been searching on google.com and have discovered papier mache` as a medium for creating puppets. Turns out it was a method used hundreds of years ago and is still used among puppeteers today. I am going to be trying it and will tell you whether it's worth the effort.

A question to any of you: Have you ever tried this method ar considdered trying it? If you have, what were the results and would you recomend it as a mehod?

Thank you for any comments.

 

[matleo]

Yes, I've worked with it. And I've been rather happy workin that way too. What I do is I usually sculpt a puppet-form out of oil-based clay take a sheet of aluminum foil which I work around the form so it covers it all up. I then use a plastiv sppon or some such device to make sure the aluminum foil is a as smooth as I can get it. Then I mix up a wall paper paste called metalyn cellulose. I take paper grocery bags, rip them into shreads and stick themin water. * Note it's very important that every side of your paper shreads be ripped. you don't want any hard edges cause what you're trying to do is 'convince' the fibers of the paper that they go together. You can't do that if you have a hard or finished edge. ok, I take a stenciling brush and paint a little bit of the glue (paste) onto a section of the head. Then I take one of the shreads of paper and lay it down over the glue. I take a little more glue and apply it next to the piece of paper and a little on the edge too. and again I lay a shread of paper over it. now I use my stencil brush to kind of gently pund the fibres together and convince them they are the same. I suaully end up doing about 5 or 6 layers depending on how string I need it to be, BUT the more layers you go the more detail you lose, so I try to make sure the sculpt has some reald deep grooves to it. I exaggerate it a little more than I normally would with the fore thought that I'm gong to lose a little of that exaggertation. hope this helps a little and makes some sense. Let me know how it goes and if you have any questions . Feel free to ask.

--Matt

 

[DirthNader]

Thanks, Matt. It makes perfect sense and I am grateful you posted. The thought of using clay honestly never occured to me. I was prepared to use baloons, like we did in school. I was having a hard time trying to figure out how I was going to get any detail.

Thanks again

Paddy O'