HauntForum 2010 $20 Prop Challenge entry.
Photo #5: Criss Cross .
Clue #5: In my years of doing papier mache this is the first time I have ever used brown craft paper, or in this case a recycled paper grocery sack for my paper source. The result was very strong once dried and very easy to work with while applying.
Here’s a little secret. I suck at strip mache. The fact that I suck doing strip mache is a tidbit of information that I have shared with the students in several of my workshops. I suck at applying strips because I find the whole thing tedious and as a result I end up rushing the process. I rush because I know that the strips will be covered with clay but that is no excuse. Trust me; I’ve seen people do BEAUTIFUL strip mache. During my gargoyle workshops I had a couple of students (you know who you are) that painstakingly stripped their gargoyles resulting in a smooth, beautifully detailed piece that really didn’t need further enhancement.
Now back to me. For this prop I took my time with the strip mache and achieved a smooth, well done look. I worked with extremely small pieces of brown craft paper (about ½ the size of a dime) and managed to incorporate fine details and intricacies. Lesson learned....don’t rush.
Final thought, I apologize for the crappy photo…it doesn’t show much so you will just have to take my word that it’s brown craft paper used for strip mache.
Until the next clue.
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3 comments:
This is getting interesting. I was just wondering, though, was there a reason behind using the brown craft paper, and then for using such small pieces of it to mache the piece?
Rich
The use of craft paper was just an experiment...to see what the end result would be...the reason for the small pieces was that I had some intricate areas to coat...normally I would just use clay to build up but I'm paying attention to $$ seeing that this is a contest so the use of strip seemed logical. Brown craft paper did yield a somewhat stronger end result...basically an experiment in different paper sources.
I never had much success when I've tried brown paper bags in the past, but I've never used really small pieces like this. I need to experiment.
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