Paper Mache "Party Animals"- moving right along
Hi again.
See, I've posted much sooner this time! This will go much faster than the dragon pair, I promise. Since these are big projects I bought some quarter inch aluminum bars for the insides of the legs. Paper mache alone, even if it's thick, isn't strong enough for legs like this. I got these bars at Home Depot. They are really great for this purpose. I put some bends in the bars using my anvil.
Then I did my usual sculpting with various paper mache balls and pieces of balls, and of course, lots of masking tape. Note the bar sticking out at the thigh level. The leg will pivot on that bar.
Below is the donkey hanging from the ceiling for the first time. It hangs from a three-eighths inch threaded bar that extends through the body to the chest. I've sculpted the front legs. And I've finished the cloth mache on the donkey jaws. Note the horse teeth. Thank you Mona!
As you probably noticed, the jaws are made from the shells of a paper mache ball.
See, I've posted much sooner this time! This will go much faster than the dragon pair, I promise. Since these are big projects I bought some quarter inch aluminum bars for the insides of the legs. Paper mache alone, even if it's thick, isn't strong enough for legs like this. I got these bars at Home Depot. They are really great for this purpose. I put some bends in the bars using my anvil.
Then I did my usual sculpting with various paper mache balls and pieces of balls, and of course, lots of masking tape. Note the bar sticking out at the thigh level. The leg will pivot on that bar.
Below is the donkey hanging from the ceiling for the first time. It hangs from a three-eighths inch threaded bar that extends through the body to the chest. I've sculpted the front legs. And I've finished the cloth mache on the donkey jaws. Note the horse teeth. Thank you Mona!
As you probably noticed, the jaws are made from the shells of a paper mache ball.
The elephant took a lot more reinforcement as you might imagine. Again, paper mache alone is not strong enough for hanging such a large piece. The aluminum was critical. Note the aluminum strap on the side. It will end up between the paper mache layers and the cloth mache. This strap extends all around and under the elephant and is connected at the top to another threaded bar extending through the body. All of this is necessary because of the weight of the project.
That's all for now. More very soon.
Dan
Posted by Dan the Monster-man at 10/3/2010 9:02 PM 
Categories: Paper Mache Party Animals
Tags: papier mache paper mache politics republicans pary animals donkey democrats elephant red states crafts political parties sculpture mixed media blue states
Categories: Paper Mache Party Animals
Tags: papier mache paper mache politics republicans pary animals donkey democrats elephant red states crafts political parties sculpture mixed media blue states
Wow - aluminum bars and straps...this project is huge! Are these the biggest pieces you've ever been commissioned to make, Mr. Reeder? Looking very forward to the next entry. By the way (just a suggestion), if you get onto FaceBook, we can suscribe and check out every entry and bit of news. Sorry, but they kidnapped me last week and forced me to ask you to join.
Stephane
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Hello Stephane,
Nice to hear from you. No, this isn't the biggest project I've ever had to make. I made one that was seven feet tall once. Big is fun once in a while, but also hard to store when it's done.
About Facebook. I don't get the Facebook thing exactly. I have a personal account. But I'm a terrible Facebooker. I don't get to it often enough. I guess there is another one that is more professional? Or for fans? How is that different than just running a blog like this one? You'll have to tell me more.
see you
Dan
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Oh the horse teeth worked excellent!!! Looking good! The suspense is killing me though!! lol....
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Hi Suz,
I don't want the suspense to kill you. I'll get these out faster.
See you
Dan
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Good lord, I can't even imagine how much news paper you used for just the elephant alone. I also can't believe how fast you finished these! They're looking great so far.
Did you black wash them after you finished painting them? I also can't imagine how much paint this took, either. Wowzers.
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Hey Linz,
"Wowzers". What a funny phrase! Yes, I actually had to go to my neighbors to get their newspaper. But when you crumple it gets pretty big. Of course I will re-mache all of the balls that came out of the projects. It's nice to have lots of ready made balls to paper mache for other projects. I'm making a hippo video right now and I used a lot of those balls to make the hippo body. (I'm trying to do a few non-dragon projects, including a video or two, just because I made so many dragons in a row.) ( But I'm making a dragon on the side too, of course.)
And they didn't take that much paint. I bought gray paint for the pedestals I made for my storefront display. So I just used that as the undercoat. I really love the way cloth and glue takes latex paint.
Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule. Good luck on your speech!
Dan
PS. And give Jack a pat on the head for me. Hope she's feeling better.
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Seven feet tall...LOL - that's monstruous! (I hope it WAS a monster). Aell, think of FaceBook as a network site that spreads the news forth of what ever you place on it - at an exponential speed. For example: I have 500 friends roughly (I'm sure you'll have far more than that by the end of the year). Whenever I place something on my "wall" on FB - the place where you normally place your news or upcoming events - every single one of my 500 or so freinds instantly gets the news on their wall. Now here is where it gets interesting...if any one of these 500 friends comments on my post, then every one of their freinds not connected to my own is instantly notified on their wall as well, thereby spreading your site news even more. And if these people comment on your post as well, then every single one of THEIR friends unconnected to both you and your friends hears about the news. As you can see, anything placed onto FB can become viral very quickly. You can place virtually anything you like\: photos of course, simple news posts, upcoming events, invitations TO events, videos hosted on YouTube (your hits and visits would increase far more per day), just about anything. The tool is phenomenal. I guess it's the reason why its creator (Mark Zuckerburg) is currently the world's youngest billionaire. FB is a monster and its influence is as beneficial as you want it to be. Obviously if people put things on it such as credit card numbers, passwords and the like it can easily become as detrimental. I just put stuff I want on it such as videos, photos, and news of my upcoming lectures. I get a lot of hits and the news spreads fast. If you have a FB account as you said, I'll add you as a friend and ask others in my list of contacts who love art to add you as well. The current limit on FB is 5,000 friends, but that's slated to increase. FB is a pretty effortless tool to use because it takes care of all the PR work for you, allowing you to just update the blog and such. This is important these days as RSS feeds are becoming less commonly used as more and more FBers are signing up. A veritable marketing labyrinth, I know. Anyhow, good luck with this project.
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Hey, were you so busy you forgot about giving us the link to view that TV spot on the Art Zone? Well...for those who would like to see the video from KTCS here's the link! Dan's part is at 12:43, be sure to view it in the full screen mode! http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3351027 .. Great display Dan!
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Hey Brad. I've been thinking about working on some projects using paper mache. You've inspired me to get going! I'll look through some of your other posts for some great ideas!
Brad in Minn.
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Hey Brad,
I'm glad you're thinking about this medium. It's a great art form I think. Good luck!
Dan
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