In elementary school we used to use wallpaper glue for sticking the newspaper
strips on our ballons, but my mon told me one day, that in her time the people
used a mixture of flower and water to stick the wallpapers on their walls and
that it worked out just perfect, cause they couldn't get wallpaper glue in those
times.So I thought I experiment with it and see how it comes out. It came out
better then I expected! For the record, I used a ball because I didn't have balloons
in house and I badly wanted to start the project, so I covered the ball with a plastic
bag, this way i could easy get the mask of after drying without having it stick to the
ball. A balloon you just have to pop it ^^
You need :
- Water and flower for the mixture
- A lot of newspaper strips
- Cardboard paper
- Cotton wool
- Ball or balloon
- Different views of you subject
- Acrylic paint
Prepping before starting!
First you have to get a bowl and mix in the flower en water just enough that it
is not to thick nor to liquid. When you stir with your spoon, you should feel a bit
thickness in the mixture, or else it would take much longer to dry and you could
have the risk that it wont be hard enough, cause the mixture was to watery.
1.
Next you take some old newspapers ( some have thick pages and some thin, its
good to have both) and tear small strips. This way it's easier to shape your mask.)
2-3-4.
Now take your blown up balloon or your ball ( covered with a plastic bag)for
the base shape. Dip your newspaper strips in the mixture, run it along the side of
the bowl to get rid of acces mixture and place it on the ball or balloon and keep
covering by switching first a horizontal or vertical layout and then the second
layer with the oposite direction and so on and so on. ( only cover a half of the
balloons or balls surface).
After finishing, let it dry in a warm and breezy place for 2 days or more depending
on the amount of layers. The more layers, the thicker the mask, the longer it takes
to dry.
5.
So this is the first finished and dried stage of the paper mache mask, I added some
red acrylic paint in the mixture to see how that works out, but it is not required.
( It looked more round after I took the mask of the ball, but lying there it took a bit
of a oval shape, but that is not a problem, it's normal )
6.
The next step was shaping the mask, I used cardboard paper to make a base for the
jaws and ears, to be sure it was firm enough when adding paper mache.Cutting of
access mask and using cotton dipped a bit in the mixture to make rounded shapes, like his
nose en mouth.
(obviously, you shouldn't forget to cover the cotton with paper mache)
You can also use a pointy object to make deep dips in the nose for the nostrils.
7.
The last step is to paint it and give it the last needed realistic look. Have a lot of example
picture from different angles of your subject in front of you while you paint to get the
correct colors in the right places. ( you can also cut out the part where your nose touches
the mask to make some room to fit it in, or else it would be uncomfortable to wear it.)
I have to add that you can not see through the mask, because there are no holes in it,
it is supposed to be use as decoration. You can make holes where your eyes go and
stick transparant color paper on the back of the mask to still give it a eye, in a way
you can still look through it
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