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How do you make paper mache?

How do you make a paper mache head?

  • my art project is to make a personal identity box, and after much deliberation i have decided to do a paper mache bust of myself and fill it with shelves n sh*t tht i like :) 2 questions then really: 1) how do i make a paper mache head? (my art teachers got a manaquin for the rest but she dosent know if she has a head? and no balloon suggestions, i wanna add features like nose, eye sockets, lips etc...contours...) 2) how would i put shelves in it? its going from my head to my elbows and im filling it from the neck down with shelf like 'rooms' if you will...how would i put these in on a paper mache model? its going to be slightly smaller than 'life size' but here or there abouts, thanks muchly :) x

  • Answer:

    There is a pretty scary way to do this... and it will yield a pretty cool face. Make a plaster mold of your face, then cast your face in the mold (a positive from the negative mold). You'll need to use gauze and plaster to make a mask, but to make one that will work for this, you need to get details, which means putting straws up your nose and protecting your eyes from the plaster with some vaseline or nivea cream (there are a zillion sites that will give you step by step on making a mold of your face) If you want a full bust, not just your face, you'll need to cast the back and sides of your head, your shoulders... (whatever) as well. These will be separate pieces and you'll have to put them together later. Your papermache will border on papermaking as you'll need a pretty solid compound of very fine fibers so you can get the details in from the mold. You may even want to use a more sophisticated polymer (like acrylic) rather than just glue or flour. Both the mold and the impression will need to be reinforced so they don't break in the process.

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you need to get the shape of your head yourself. get armature wire (you can get other wires at your local hardware store, but make sure it's not too thin and not too thick because you need to be able to bend it) create a skeleton with the wire. use tinfoil to wrap the head and shape it as best as you can for your cheeks and whatnot. i like to fill any unnecessary spaces that are eventually going to get covered anyway.. i stuff it with balls of tinfoil. wrap it around with masking tape... and i mean mummify it. the tape will smooth the rough crinkles made from the tinfoil. you can go back over with further emphasizing your structure with pieces of tinfoil rolled into shapes and tape them down. than you start papier mache. get some glue and newspaper shredded or torn. you could resolve to air drying clays because it would help get better detailing. apoxie clay was my favorite to work with. as for the shelves. you can probably add those in there by playing with the armature wire and creating the skeleton of the bust before getting it with the meat (tinfoil). then i would result to using cardboard for the shelves before adding the tinfoil, masking tape, and finally the papier mache. good luck to you. sounds like an awesome project.

mathidiot

crumble the newspaper with your desired size, and start dressing it up with paper mache. :) http://artycrafty.webs.com/

birdy

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