Paper Mache Buddha with Jo- Feet, hands, legs
Sorry once again. My life is always very busy. I've started this post ten times. School is out now. I hope to have more time soon for my paper mache this summer. And I'm trying to do another paper mache pig on the side (of the human variety). I've been terribly remiss in accomplishing my goal of one pig per month.
So this is all looking very familiar. No surprises in my paper mache world. Still, here goes. I did my usual twisting of paper around pieces of wire clothes hanger for the toes and fingers. As I've said before, I like to use phone book paper for this. It has a nice way of compressing. I swear, this is the last possible use for phone books. I've tried doing the paper mache with phone book paper. It didn't really work. It seemed like it didn't shrink uniformly. This could be my imagination. Let me know if you've used this paper for paper mache. I'm curious about how it went for others. I used phone book paper on the eggs I made for the last baby dragon. While they were wet they were perfectly symmetrical and egg like. However, when they dried, they became all misshapen. So, as far as phone books go, paper mache no, fingers and toes, go (for it)(I know, that's really silly). (With all the problems in the world, isn't it nice to have such a simple one to solve?) (Speaking of simple problems, see the end of this post.)
So below are the fingers and toes. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted this laughing Buddha to be essentially full sized. So I used my own hands and feet as a guide. I made the wads of paper about the size of my own foot.
As you can see, once I added the toes, the foot got a little bigger. That's okay though. My feet are a little small. Besides, the belly will certainly be bigger than mine. In the photo on the right (below) I've assembled the parts for the calves and thighs. I usually make legs by making a figure eight out of a clothes hanger. I put wads of paper in the upper and lower halves of the figure eight and paper mache. Obviously, this wouldn't work for my Buddha. The legs would be way too small. For this project I just stuck thigh and calf sized wads of paper into their own hangers and then applied the paper mache. I'm going to say this again. I love wire clothes hangers. I know many of you like different kinds of wire. That's okay. Some of you tell me you can't find wire clothes hangers any more. But you can if you look online. I was worried about it a while back, so I went on a wire clothes hanger buying spree. By the time I was finished, I had 1200 of them. My wife thought I was nuts. (She's right. But not because of the clothes hangers.) Hmmm. It occurs to me that people started saying they couldn't find hangers about the time I was buying these....sorry. Look, if you really some and can't find them, let me know. I'll send you some for the price of shipping.
Speaking of hangers, I cut off the end of the loop and stuck the wire into the foot. I filled in the back of ankle with crumpled newspaper.
I wadded up a ball and wrapped it with tape. I used this for the ankle. I cut an extra, small paper mache ball in half to use for the calf muscle. The mache ball was elongated, perfect for this application. I like having a lot of extra paper mache balls around. I have a big pile of them. If you are obsessive and have nothing elso to do, you can take the virtual tour of my studio and see the pile of pre-paper mached balls. You can do this on the home page of GourmetPaperMache. Some of these paper mache balls are years old before I decide to use them.
I stuck the lower half of the leg and the thigh together. Then I added another piece of wadded paper for a knee cap. The assembled leg looked pretty good at this point I think.
I made the hands in a similar fashion. I started with a hand sized wad of paper. I added the four fingers on top. I always put the thumb almost on the other side of the wad. It looks much more like a thumb that way. Again, I used my own hand as a reference for size.
I cut two holes in the sides of the giant paper mache Buddha body for the legs. I pushed the legs into the holes and added a lot of masking tape. I'll tell you a little secret here. This was not as easy as it sounds. I had a terrible time getting these legs positioned correctly. But, in the end, they turned out all right. It's a lesson in life. Sometimes you just have to wrestle with the Buddha.
Till next time....meanwhile...
You probably know that I'm a math teacher during the school year. As a little side note, I'm going to pose a little math problem. This has absolutely nothing to do with paper mache. But it is fun. You don't have to work on it. You can just wait for the answer on my next post. Trust me. It will surprise you. Here's the question:
Say you wrap a piece of rope around the Earth at the equator. The rope is very tight. It doesn't stretch. So you have a length of rope that is essentially the circumference of the planet which happens to be 25,000 miles (it's actually 24,901.55 miles, but just use 25 thousand). The question is, if you added 50 feet of length to the rope, would it give you enough slack for you to stick your fingers underneath it? That is, would the additional 50 feet be enough for you to get your fingers under that giant piece of rope? Or would it still be too tight?
Answer next time (unless you want to post it.)
PS. No, this isn't some silly trick to get you to come back. You don't have to come back if you don't want to. This is just for fun. And this is the last math problem I'll pose on this blog, I promise.
So this is all looking very familiar. No surprises in my paper mache world. Still, here goes. I did my usual twisting of paper around pieces of wire clothes hanger for the toes and fingers. As I've said before, I like to use phone book paper for this. It has a nice way of compressing. I swear, this is the last possible use for phone books. I've tried doing the paper mache with phone book paper. It didn't really work. It seemed like it didn't shrink uniformly. This could be my imagination. Let me know if you've used this paper for paper mache. I'm curious about how it went for others. I used phone book paper on the eggs I made for the last baby dragon. While they were wet they were perfectly symmetrical and egg like. However, when they dried, they became all misshapen. So, as far as phone books go, paper mache no, fingers and toes, go (for it)(I know, that's really silly). (With all the problems in the world, isn't it nice to have such a simple one to solve?) (Speaking of simple problems, see the end of this post.)
So below are the fingers and toes. As I mentioned in my last post, I wanted this laughing Buddha to be essentially full sized. So I used my own hands and feet as a guide. I made the wads of paper about the size of my own foot.
As you can see, once I added the toes, the foot got a little bigger. That's okay though. My feet are a little small. Besides, the belly will certainly be bigger than mine. In the photo on the right (below) I've assembled the parts for the calves and thighs. I usually make legs by making a figure eight out of a clothes hanger. I put wads of paper in the upper and lower halves of the figure eight and paper mache. Obviously, this wouldn't work for my Buddha. The legs would be way too small. For this project I just stuck thigh and calf sized wads of paper into their own hangers and then applied the paper mache. I'm going to say this again. I love wire clothes hangers. I know many of you like different kinds of wire. That's okay. Some of you tell me you can't find wire clothes hangers any more. But you can if you look online. I was worried about it a while back, so I went on a wire clothes hanger buying spree. By the time I was finished, I had 1200 of them. My wife thought I was nuts. (She's right. But not because of the clothes hangers.) Hmmm. It occurs to me that people started saying they couldn't find hangers about the time I was buying these....sorry. Look, if you really some and can't find them, let me know. I'll send you some for the price of shipping.
Speaking of hangers, I cut off the end of the loop and stuck the wire into the foot. I filled in the back of ankle with crumpled newspaper.
I wadded up a ball and wrapped it with tape. I used this for the ankle. I cut an extra, small paper mache ball in half to use for the calf muscle. The mache ball was elongated, perfect for this application. I like having a lot of extra paper mache balls around. I have a big pile of them. If you are obsessive and have nothing elso to do, you can take the virtual tour of my studio and see the pile of pre-paper mached balls. You can do this on the home page of GourmetPaperMache. Some of these paper mache balls are years old before I decide to use them.
I stuck the lower half of the leg and the thigh together. Then I added another piece of wadded paper for a knee cap. The assembled leg looked pretty good at this point I think.
I made the hands in a similar fashion. I started with a hand sized wad of paper. I added the four fingers on top. I always put the thumb almost on the other side of the wad. It looks much more like a thumb that way. Again, I used my own hand as a reference for size.
I cut two holes in the sides of the giant paper mache Buddha body for the legs. I pushed the legs into the holes and added a lot of masking tape. I'll tell you a little secret here. This was not as easy as it sounds. I had a terrible time getting these legs positioned correctly. But, in the end, they turned out all right. It's a lesson in life. Sometimes you just have to wrestle with the Buddha.
Till next time....meanwhile...
You probably know that I'm a math teacher during the school year. As a little side note, I'm going to pose a little math problem. This has absolutely nothing to do with paper mache. But it is fun. You don't have to work on it. You can just wait for the answer on my next post. Trust me. It will surprise you. Here's the question:
Say you wrap a piece of rope around the Earth at the equator. The rope is very tight. It doesn't stretch. So you have a length of rope that is essentially the circumference of the planet which happens to be 25,000 miles (it's actually 24,901.55 miles, but just use 25 thousand). The question is, if you added 50 feet of length to the rope, would it give you enough slack for you to stick your fingers underneath it? That is, would the additional 50 feet be enough for you to get your fingers under that giant piece of rope? Or would it still be too tight?
Answer next time (unless you want to post it.)
PS. No, this isn't some silly trick to get you to come back. You don't have to come back if you don't want to. This is just for fun. And this is the last math problem I'll pose on this blog, I promise.
Posted by Dan the Monster-man at 6/15/2011 9:01 PM 
Categories: Paper Mache Buddha with Jo
Tags: paper mache papier mache sculpture arts and crafts buddha laughing how to karma enlightenment caffiene coffee
Categories: Paper Mache Buddha with Jo
Tags: paper mache papier mache sculpture arts and crafts buddha laughing how to karma enlightenment caffiene coffee
ah, so thats who drove up the prices of coat hangers on EB!! LOL... I see they still have lots...Luckily my local dry cleaner still uses them and has bent or tangled ones I get for free...Math..no my best subject.. but I'd guess it would still be too tight.
Wow this Buddha is going to be fantastic, (as usual) the feet are already so excellent, dam you good at this!
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Hi Suz,
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Hi! I'm Jelina and I live in belgium. I just saw your virtual studio and I have to say it's impressive! But I have a question, how did you make those puppets? Do you have a instructional video of those puppets? They are really beautiful (everything is beautiful in your studio by the way!)
And I'm sure your Buddha will be beautiful to!
Grtz from Jelina!
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Hello Jelina,
I hope you stop by again.
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...and more than your fingers I believe :-p
I have only try once to put the legs not sticking out of a dragon once, and it was really tricky. I must say I never manage to make it look nice and the dragon is still half done somewhere
Love the feet in the last pic!!
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Hi Nacho,
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Definetly, I'll finish it this summer! It was a weak attempt of reproducing toothless ( from how to train your dragon). something a bit mote kiddy than my previous one for the kids room. I'll cry for your help if I get stuck! thanks!!
N.
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Good luck Nacho! Have fun. I'd love to see a photo when you are done.
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With 50 extra feet of rope you could walk under it standing up, or you could drive a car through the hole. It's a trick question.
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Hi Isaac,
You are right! Although it's not a trick question. It's just one of those counter intuitive things that math can resolve. Thank you for playing along. Nice to hear from you.
Dan
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Hi again Isaac,
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hey, I also answered correctly, can I also have another surprise
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Hi Nacho,
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Unless you're Mr. Fantastic you won't be able to squeeze your fingers underneath the rope: you'd have maybe 0.113" of slack.
Good looking paper mache hands and feet there, Dan!
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Hi Lyman,
I'm glad you like the feet and hands. Isaac just posted the correct answer. Believe it or not, you could raise the rope 8 feet and easily walk under it. Strange isn't it?
Hope you are doing art work.
Thanks for stopping by.
Dan
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Hi Dan
I liked your post and your explanations. I've done some experimenting too and found the craft process somewhat messy and frustrating, especially in a small space. But I found your post truly inspiring. One of these days I'd like to create some crazy inspired pieces too and manage to contain the expansion of the materials so they don't take over my small space. Any tips on how you manage this aspect?
You wrote, "So, as far as phone books go, paper mache no, fingers and toes, go."
I don't understand what you are trying to say here.
Please clarify.
Thanks.
Batya
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Hi Batya,
First, I'm sorry about that silly line about the phone book paper. I was trying to say, for the paper mache, no (don't use it), but for fingers and toes, go (for it. Do use it.) I amended that sentence on the blog. Thank you for pointing out that it was confusing. It was.
I don't know if I have great advice about how to manage art in a small space. I have my studio downstairs in the basemen of my house. It is the biggest room in the house, yet my art starts spreading to the rest of the house. Still, I only work in a very small space, between two tables. I just keep the parts in other places, under the table, and hanging all over the place. I do think you can make something pretty elaborate in a small space if you are organized. It's finding a place to put the art when it's done that's hard. My house is pretty full.
Good luck with your art work. I know I wasn't much help.
Dan
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Dan,
I have the opposite problem with wire hangers. I wear a uniform to work and I keep the hangers on which the service delivers the uniforms. I usually end up returning quite a few of them because they accumulate rather quickly. I bought your first book back in '88 at the Utah Educators Association convention (my mother is a teacher). I still use it as a reference and source of inspiration.
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I Phillip,
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Dan, looks great so far. Your feet, I mean. The paper mache looks ok too.
I am thinking of elaborating on your idea of project videos. But my twist will be slow motion videos rather than super fast videos. I figure at the rate I work it will take 9-18 months to watch each video in its entirety. I'm going to noodle with it.
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Thank you Kris.
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Hi Dan,
I am loving your Buddha so far. I can't wait to see him finished.
I'm wondering if your phone book paper in the US is different from ours here in the UK (I've used it in South Africa too). I often alternate between phone book and yellow pages paper when I want a fine finish on my pieces, and I've never had a problem.
Even if it is different, it still makes great monster fingers and toes. I bought your book a while ago and I've made my first monster, Rumplepinkskin. I have a long way to go to get that professional look that you achieve, but I still love my weird little pink guy.
Oh, and your cats are gorgeous. I'm trying to convince my hubby that I really need one (or two) to help me out with my projects, but he's not buying it.
Looking forward to your next post.
Kx
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Hello Karen,
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Thank Dan
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I have always loved your proportions! That perfect mix of realistic and whimsical. A style uniquely yours.
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See, that's what I mean about the art being uniquely yours despite using techniques I use. I have been showing people what I do for a very long time. I think of it as an upgraded version of the old paper mache that people did as kids in school. But despite following my instructions the art looks different for each person. My work is still my work. It has a certain look to it. Everyone else develops their own style. I think it's just a great medium in that way.
Dan
PS. Thank you for your kind words. I'm very flattered.
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Good morning Dan,
It has been a long while since I have viewed your site. I am glad I have your blog posting sent to me. The completed dragon and her baby are wonderful!! Your cats are too.
I have been busy with hummingbird rescuing. In between hand feeding the hummer babies I have managed to complete my paper mache Ostrich. Thank you for the reference site for eyes. My friend and I love your technique. We have made variations in the process of making some of our pieces. But your foundation is the best. I would like to send a few photos of my finished Ostrich. May I and how?
Thank you kindly,
Monique
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Hi Monique,
I'm so happy to hear from you! It sounds like you are very busy! I love hummingbirds. What an amazing thing you are doing. I would love to see some photos! Could I post them on my site? Just send them to dan@gourmetpapermache.com, or dan.reeder@lakesideschool.org. One of the things I love about this technique is that you can make changes to it that make sense for your particular needs. Your ostrich sounds wonderful. I'm glad you stopped by.
Dan
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Will do and when my friend returns from her trip I will encourage her to send some pics of her pieces. (or I'll do it for her) I love the fact that every artist has a different creativity to express.
thank you kindly,
Monique
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That would be great. Talk to you later.
Dan
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Hi, Dan. I have always wanted to try papier mache and your videos and blog have inspired me to start. I have a question, though. Should I see a residue of flour on the paper balls?
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Hi Jason,
Nice to meet you. You will see some flour residue and the balls. That won't be a problem. Good luck on your project.
Dan
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