CREATIONS WITH PAPER/CLOTH MACHE:
Mushroom Lamp
I just finished this lamp, using chicken wire as a base, covered by a combination of paper and cloth mache. I then covered the mache with gesso, followed by acrylic paint and a final coat of Mod Podge. I used a cheesecloth-like Rigid Wrap to form the fills at the based the mushroom cap and a white cotton sheet to fill in the holes in the cap. I fixed a string of battery-powered Mudder Micro LED 20 Warm White Color Lights inside the stem of the lamp with the battery pack easily accessible for replacement at the lamp base.
Here are some photos of the finished lamp:
…and a photo of the lamp at an earlier stage with a better view of the mushroom's gills:
"Elmer" the Simple Screamer
For this Simple Screamer I followed the somewhat unorthodox but highly effective paper mache methods of Dan Reeder, combining knowledge I learned from his original book from the early 80's "The Simple Screamer: A Guide to the Art of Papier and Cloth Mache", his more recent book "Papier-Mache Monsters: Turn Trinkets and Trash into Magnificent Monstrosities", and blog/UTube videos, e.g. How to Make a Paper Mache Monster. I sent Dan some photos of my screamer. He emailed back and posted my photos on his website with a link to my blog!, see Elmer on Dan's Gourmet Paper Mache Blog
For my next project I am thinking of making a paper mache One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater. Why, you ask? Why not! A fair warning: If you follow Dan's methods and make yourself a Simple Screamer, I promise you too will be hooked. And to address the question I know you are dying to ask because nearly every person who has seen my first Dan Reeder-inspired creation has asked "How did you do that, cover a balloon with newspaper?", the answer is not in this case - balloons have their place in the art of paper mache if you need to make a completely spherical base and can be useful. But in this case I followed Dan's recommended method of simply covering several balls of newspaper with newspaper covered in a flour/water paste, later covered with a cloth mache made of cloth and glue. I used coat hangers as armature for the arms, legs, tail, fingers, toes, horn, and tongue and I used telephone book pages rather than newspaper for the fingers and toes. The claws and teeth were made from Super Sculpey oven-bake clay, painted with acrylics. The body was covered and black washed in latex paint, and touched up with acrylic paint.
"Elmer" the Simple Screamer
For this Simple Screamer I followed the somewhat unorthodox but highly effective paper mache methods of Dan Reeder, combining knowledge I learned from his original book from the early 80's "The Simple Screamer: A Guide to the Art of Papier and Cloth Mache", his more recent book "Papier-Mache Monsters: Turn Trinkets and Trash into Magnificent Monstrosities", and blog/UTube videos, e.g. How to Make a Paper Mache Monster. I sent Dan some photos of my screamer. He emailed back and posted my photos on his website with a link to my blog!, see Elmer on Dan's Gourmet Paper Mache Blog
For my next project I am thinking of making a paper mache One-Eyed One-Horned Flying Purple People Eater. Why, you ask? Why not! A fair warning: If you follow Dan's methods and make yourself a Simple Screamer, I promise you too will be hooked. And to address the question I know you are dying to ask because nearly every person who has seen my first Dan Reeder-inspired creation has asked "How did you do that, cover a balloon with newspaper?", the answer is not in this case - balloons have their place in the art of paper mache if you need to make a completely spherical base and can be useful. But in this case I followed Dan's recommended method of simply covering several balls of newspaper with newspaper covered in a flour/water paste, later covered with a cloth mache made of cloth and glue. I used coat hangers as armature for the arms, legs, tail, fingers, toes, horn, and tongue and I used telephone book pages rather than newspaper for the fingers and toes. The claws and teeth were made from Super Sculpey oven-bake clay, painted with acrylics. The body was covered and black washed in latex paint, and touched up with acrylic paint.
Elmer is about the same size as my enormous cats:
Here is Chewie, one of my enormous cats, for comparative purposes:
…and here is Chewie imitating Elmer:
Getting closer…
Applying first coat of paint…
Finally, all dried, sanded, and ready to paint!
Assembling the body parts was the most challenging phase...
I had paper mache body parts in my kitchen for months!
Blue-Footed Booby
Here is my first attempt to use paper mache (since elementary school) - a blue-footed booby for my father; Armature made from cardboard, newspaper, and wire, reinforced with masking tape. Paper mache was made using using Washington Post (If you don't get it, you don't get it!) newspaper strips covered in a paste mix of white flour, water, and a pinch of salt (to keep away mold). Bird was then painted using acrylics and attached to a rock (from Rock Creek Park) and base using a hot glue gun and reinforced with some Loctite superglue:
And as with all hobbies, the cats wanted to participate. Niko kept trying to eat the paper mache paste and Chewie seemed to want to participate:
For anyone who doesn't know what an actual blue-footed booby looks like, here's a picture:
CREATIONS WITH CLAY:
My recreation of one of the Notre Dame gargoyles; Armature made from wire, aluminum foil, and masking tape, covered with Super Sculpey and then extra firm (grey) Super Sculpey clay. I painted the gargoyle a slightly darker grey than the clay (after baking in the oven) and then gave it a distressed look using sandpaper:
Frog
I made this frog for my mother; Armature made from paper mache balls, wire, aluminum foil, and masking tape, covered with Super Sculpey clay and painted with acrylics and Sculpey Glaze:
Cobra
I made this cobra for my father using a simple armature made from wire, wire mesh, aluminum foil, and masking tape; covered with Super Sculpey clay and painted with acrylics and Sculpey Glaze:
Little Monster
After learning a few basic techniques of armature, I created this little guy. Armature was made out of wire, wire mesh, aluminum foil, and masking tape. This was covered with oven-baked Super Sculpey clay and painted with acrylics and Sculpey Glaze:
Sculpey Owl
This was my very first attempt at using Sculpey clay, before learning various techniques to make proper armature, mostly out of household objects:
This was my very first attempt at using Sculpey clay, before learning various techniques to make proper armature, mostly out of household objects:
CREATIONS USING OTHER MEDIUMS:
Homemade Card Game - Interstellar Pig
When I was a kid I loved William Sleator's book Interstellar Pig, a science fiction book about a teenage boy, his strange new neighbors, and a board game called Interstellar Pig, in which every home planet is obliterated when the time runs out except the one belonging to the holder of the Piggy (the Interstellar Pig card). A few years ago I found a fan Game page at Warp Spawn, which offers written rules for a homemade board game modeled after the game described in Sleator's book: Interstellar Pig on Warp Spawn. Using these rules as a guide, I finally finished doing what I wanted to do ever since originally reading the book - I made my own playable Interstellar Pig board game:
Acrylic Painting on Canvas
I painted this at one of those classes where you and several other people paint the same painting at the same time with the same instructor but no one's painting ends up looking exactly the same. I wish I could paint beautiful watercolor like my mother (her current hobby), but this is the best I can do in 2D…though I think that Chewie's head in this photo greatly enhances the painting:When I was a kid I loved William Sleator's book Interstellar Pig, a science fiction book about a teenage boy, his strange new neighbors, and a board game called Interstellar Pig, in which every home planet is obliterated when the time runs out except the one belonging to the holder of the Piggy (the Interstellar Pig card). A few years ago I found a fan Game page at Warp Spawn, which offers written rules for a homemade board game modeled after the game described in Sleator's book: Interstellar Pig on Warp Spawn. Using these rules as a guide, I finally finished doing what I wanted to do ever since originally reading the book - I made my own playable Interstellar Pig board game:
Character, Event, and Attribute cards (including the Interstellar Pig) & other game pieces
Left: 8 character cards; Right: box modified to hold game contents
The board: 16 planets
Interstellar Pig game, in play (as always with help of a cat)
Acrylic Painting on Canvas
Painting on Ceramic
I now know enough that I could probably make this owl lantern from scratch, but at the time I was focused on improving my painting skills. This lantern works quite well when an orange or yellow candle is put inside:
Sketching
After having a terrible dream about an evil centipede called "Diablo" that turned out to be horribly prophetic, I drew what I remembered from the nightmare:
I drew this sometime when I was in Middle School. It resurfaced recently:
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