Hi all. Thank you so much for your patience. Over the last two months it seemed as though the cosmos conspired against my doing art. I finally got enough of my revised website together to relax a little and get back to my art. I decided to play around with some different textures for the scales. So I made some fancy spitwads out of toilet paper, commercial paper mache, and white glue. I rolled them into various sized balls. Then I started squishing them onto Drogon. First under the eyes…
…then on the rest of the face. After that I used bigger spitwads on the neck.
I’ve never done this before so I just stuck them on in a rather random pattern. I wanted the sizes of the spitwads to vary. It’s a little hard to see in this photo how they all fit together. I think it will look great once it’s painted and blackwashed to accentuate the individual spitwads.
So here’s how he looks so far. I need to do the other side and let it all dry. Next time, paint! Thanks for stopping by!
PS. I do have a little secret project going as well. I can’t tell you about it right now. But you will be the first to know.
Gourmet Paper Mache Blog 
This artist makes paper mâché dragons. He is good. Not into dragons but the work is good. His blog shows some of his work. There is some of his work on you tube that is time lapsed and fun to watch.
Sent from my iPad
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I love the idea of using the spitwads.. well done.. look forward to seeing them painted..
That was quick Yvonne! Thanks for the note. I’m excited to see how it will look too.
Nice addition to your armament of scales, Dan! He’s looking very handsome… So pleased your life is a bit more normal now – and now we can say “we knew him way back when…”
Hi Carol. Things are pretty much back to normal. I couldn’t be happier. Thanks for your support as always.
I love it! Looks awesome, I think it will look fantastic when painted. Etc. sorta makes him look older I think, more aged. Then again will have to wait and see.
Very creative – I like it!!!
Thank you Glofirebug. Glad you like it. It will be interesting to see when it’s painted.
Are you sure you will have enough spit to finish this? Just askin. Haha
This looks great but must take a lot of time!
Hope all your troubles are behind you.
Lori
Hi Lori. It’s always nice to hear from you. You are too funny. Yes, this takes time, but putting scales on always takes time too. It’s okay. I’m just so happy to do art again. This website thing was a pain.
Looks great, just got your book and getting the stuff together to make my first dragons. Any tips when doing small dragons? By the way check out lauren dawson, she’s a great artist who does dragons with unusual hoards. Thought you’d like the cat and kitten hoards.
Hello Joseph. I’m not sure what “small” means. Not sure what to say… Just make everything smaller I guess. I will check out Lauren. Thanks for the tip. Good luck!
Just wondered if there were any problems you ran into when making the baby game of thrones dragons, that you didn’t have doing the bigger ones.
Hi there!
Just want to drop a line and say how impressed I am with you and all the wonderful art you do!
You have truly inspired me to try this, and it has really captured me! I gathered all the materials needed in a few weeks (bought your book as well!) and have been slowly putting together a trophy, but a bit differently so far. I started with a custom jaw armature and slowly built the head, neck and jaws out around it with phone book paper and tons of masking tape… I became a bit crazy with the masking tape, but its really the fun part it seems to me 🙂 Made teeth with nice wood grain effects by twisting Sculpey and Fimo together… fun stuff! I now understand why you build the two halves of the jaw separately. Painting is going to be a nightmare. But as you say, this one is practice, the second is the masterpiece, right?
Thanks for the inspiration sir, its an honor to be allowed a glimpse in to your creative process. Keep it up and I cant wait to find out about this Top Secret project you have going…
-Paul
Hello Paul. You are funny. You must be really enjoying yourself to call yourself “PaperMachePaul.” It sounds like you are doing very well. I’m impressed how carefully you read my book and my blog post! I’d love to see a photo when you are finished, even publish it on my site if you want. Good luck on the rest!
Hello Dan! I am a young graphic designer from Ontario and I just wanted to say I find your work very inspiring. You are truly gifted. I have watched most of your videos and am a big fan of your work (and your humour). Thanks so much for sharing your awesome talent with everyone, and for making my day every time I see something of yours. – Sarah
Hello Sarah. What a nice note! Thank you very much. It made my day! Good luck on your art career.
Thanks for sharing the works in progress. They are inspiring, great iideas!
You are welcome Sue. Thank you.
HELLO FRIEND LIKE A KNOW IT ALL YOU DO IS WONDERFUL, 2015 I HOPE THAT THIS GOD BLESS YOU FOLLOW AND BE A GREAT YEAR FOR YOU, YOU HAVE A LOT OF HEALTH, LOVE AND HAPPINESS. SORRY, MY ENGLISH IS NOT VERY GOOD, BUT FOR NO LANGUAGE ARTS YOUR friend and admirer of YOUR ARTMELO ANDRES LOPEZPoza Rica, Veracruz, MEXICO. Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 02:29:09 +0000 To: andresmelo8@hotmail.com
Thank you Andres. Good fortune to you too.
Hwy, the spitwad scales look great. Very natural. I lik’em. This from a designer.
I always wonder how you make the teeth. Care to share?
Thanks
Thanks Glenda. We’ll see how the spitwads look when painted. I just use Fimo to sculpt teeth. Just roll them like dough. Nothing special.
Great idea and seems like it’s much less labor intensive than the folded scales. The texture reminds me of my flagstone walkway. That’s not a bad thing. I like it. 🙂
Thanks Joanie. The verdict is still out for me until I see how it looks after painting. Take care
I like the spit wad idea for scales and will have to try it. I purchased your book over a year ago am just now attempting my very first dragon. It’s almost done and I would love to show it to you. How to send you a photo? You and all your wonderful creations have truly inspired me.
Hi Diane. You can send a photo to me at dan@gourmetpapermache.com. I’d love to post it on my site if you are interested. Good luck!
Dan, I was thinking about doing something similar to my next dragon, but probably not over the whole thing. Maybe just the face, hands and feet. My projects are much smaller than yours because that is the size I am most comfortable with. Thanks for the inspiration!
You are welcome Diane. Good luck with your next piece.
This sculpt is fantastic. I bet the scales took forever, but they look great.
Thank you Stella!
Wow, love the spitwad look, like you and everyone else, can’t wait to see how they come out painted. Sure looks easier than the scales and I think even more natural, can’t wait to get to try it (after my seemingly taking-for-ever move). And yaaay, a surprise project, can’t wait to see what you have done now!! So is your marionette dragon video someplace? is it on youtube? I didn’t see it on your list on the website, there were so many good video’s I always like re-watching, hate to see ANY of them missing, lol…glad you got most of it transferred, What a bummer that had to happen! Take care Dan!
Hey Suz. I just have so much to do all the time. I don’t know how I ever taught school. So I’ve slacked off on repopulating my site. I must get back to it. It just takes so much time. But all of my videos are still on Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/c/Gourmetpapermache?gvnc=1
Talk to you later.
Rowrr! Nice halloween section on your web site, DanMonsterMan. Silly publisher, leaving your gargoyle out of the book. Gargoyles goooood!
P.S. Your gargoyle is awesome. But Mom likes me better. Rowrr!!
Hey Jean-Claude. Hope all is well. You are too funny!
Please, I could explain the process to create fangs, teeth?
how they are made? with that stuff?
put them in the oven?
would be a tutorial on creating fangs and claws? step by step? materials, etc,,,
his great work !!
Hello Carlos. I have not done a specific tutorial about teeth and fangs because there is nothing much to it. I use polymer clay, like Fimo or Sculpy, and just mold the by rolling it between my fingers. Then bake in the oven. I show some of this in several places on this blog. Look here, https://papermacheblog.com/older-paper-mache-projects/paper-mache-sea-dragon/, about the middle of the page. You will see a pan full of teeth and claws ready to bake. There is nothing more than that. Good luck!
where I can buy it? polymer clay…
this clay would be worth?
http://www.amazon.es/Cernit-No-Arcilla-polim%C3%A9rica-blanco/dp/B003IG5V9S/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1424116126&sr=8-8&keywords=arcilla+polim%C3%A9rica
You can buy polymer clay any place that sells craft supplies. You can also buy it online. I do not know what the material is on that link. I’ve never seen it.
certainly could be done with paper mache teeth?
Yes, you could make the teeth with paper or almost anything. You could use “cold porcelain” too. Many recipes online.
sorry, one more thing! that paints used? You tempera maybe?
Tempera is the only paint I would NOT use. It is bad when water gets on it (after it is dry). Any all purpose (water based) paint will work, like what you use to paint your house. Any kind you buy where they sell paint.
bone, plastic paint then not?
For smaller projects small bottles of acrylics work fine. You can mix them just like Dan does with the larger cans of paint. Craft stores carry them. Ceramcoat is a good brand that covers well. Probably can buy it online if need be.
Thanks Diane. Sorry Carlos, I don’t understand your last question.
thank you both !! and sorry for my English nefarious (I’m Spanish) hehe ..
monsterman certainly give his last video tutorials are majestic especially Mask (ful-hd) but I wanted to ask one thing, it would be possible to make your tutorials coming to normal speed camera? and divide them into several videos if they are too long? I think it would be much better as a very fast camera importantes.Solo many details are lost is a suggestion, and thanks for your great work …
Español—
por cierto dan monsterman sus últimos videotutoriales son majestuosos sobre todo el de la máscara (ful-hd) pero queria pedirle una cosa, seria posible hacer sus proximos tutoriales a velocidad de camara normal? y dividirlos en varios videos si son muy largos? creo que seria mucho mejor ya que a camara rapida se pierden muchos detalles muy importantes.Solo es una sugerencia, y gracias por su gran trabajo…
Most of my videos are for entertainment only. They are not meant to be instructional. I think that between my blog posts and my books I have enough information for people to learn my techniques. I appreciate your suggestions, but I probably won’t be doing any more tutorials for a while. I have too much that I want to do. You will learn by making your projects.
ok,gracias,
would you please tell me where to buy the large glass eyes for dragons !! any particular website?
I buy from taxidermy companies online. Just google “taxidermy eyes” and you’ll find them all.
ok, gracias–
I have a question, what is the average dwell time of a piece to which newspaper you stuck with the dough and water? 24 hours? or more !!
It can take 3 or 4 days to dry depending upon how warm and dry the space and how many layers etc.