Paper Mache Monsters

Paper Maché Monsters

Paper Maché is a three dimensional medium using paper and adhesive for construction.

Students will create one three dimensional sculpture that will later be used as a prop in a looping GIF animation.

Materials

Newspaper Strips
Glue Paste
Plastic Container for Glue Paste
Tongue Depressor Stick
Balloons
Masking Tape
Egg Carton/Paper Tube
Cereal Box

Content

Creature Body
Appendages
Face
Eyes

Composition

Symmetry
Organic Form
Sculpture in the Round
Visual Detail - Variety
Unity - Limited Color Palette

Technical Skills

Paper Mache
Paper Sculpting Techniques

Composition

Symmetry

Organic Form

Technical Skills

Paper Mache

Sculpture Requirements

SIZE

ORGANIC FORM

SYMMETRY

BLANK FACE

BLANK EYE SPOTS

HEAD APPENDAGES

LIMBS

STANDS UP

ROUGH DRAFT - Designing a Creature

Creature Design Should Include:

BODY (Your sculpture should end up at least as big as a loaf of bread)

ORGANIC FORM (Your sculpture should be predominately organic)

FACE (Your face should be a blank area)

EYES (You should sculpt the space for the eyes and leave them blank)

HEAD APPENDAGE (You need at least one head appendage)

4+ LIMBS (You need at least FOUR body appendages)

YOUR CREATURE SHOULD HAVE THE ABILITY TO BE SYMMETRIC IF IT WERE ALIVE, THOUGH YOU CAN POSITION IT IN AN ASYMMETRIC MANNER IF YOU WISH.

YOUR ROUGH DRAFT SHOULD HAVE TWO DIFFERENT DESIGN IDEAS

EACH DESIGN SHOULD BE LABELED

Sculpting Instructions

Make Newspaper Strips

Rip strips of newspaper 1 - 2 inches wide. You will need many of these (100 - 300 strips).

* Alternatives to Art Paste:

You can mix equal parts glue and water.
You can also try flour and water, though it is not as strong over time.

Make Glue Paste

Make some glue paste. You can make all of it at once, or make a small batch and save some for later. Just make sure you use the same proportion of water. The instructions say for the entire bag, you need 3.8 Liters or 16 cups of water. If you use a quarter of the bag, you'll need 4 cups or 1 Liter of water. You can also start with 2 tablespoons of paste and add water until it is the consistency of melted ice cream.

Blow Up a Balloon

Blow up the balloons you need to make the design you chose. Look at the design and determine what simple balloon shapes could create that form. Blow up the balloons the size you will need to make that form.

Paper Mache the Balloons

Dip one strip at a time into the paste mixture getting both sides coated in paste. Use two fingers to wipe off the excess paste. Place the strip flat on the balloon without wrinkling too much. Small strips help! Overlap your strips. You'll need two or more layers of paper mache completely covering each balloon.