How To Smooth Paper Clay

Inner Workings

Papier Mache Brush Technique

The Big 500

Welcome to my 500th post!

This blog celebrates the 500^th post since 2008, and while the breakdown of 100 posts per year is not particularly noteworthy it is worth acknowledging that 95% of the  posts are original content….my works in progress, obscure observations, simple tutorials and the exploration of things I find fascinating.

This blog is the informal companion to my anchor site www.stolloween.com which is home to my papier mache tutorials.

This blog has featured everything from my thoughts on making large papier mache trolls to instructions on making a three dimension DNA model for my son’s school science project. This site is very eclectic ranging from cool vinyl Halloween records found at the local thrift store to my thoughts on the latest horror film I saw in the theater.

ScottyArt is what it is…sort of my personal diary of what’s happening in my world….including my reviews (over-indulgence) of the seasonal pumpkin beers.

500 was fun…1,000 will be a riot.

Mighty Midland Mantis Complete

Completed Mantis Sculpture

Completed a 5 ½ foot tall praying mantis sculpture for the 2013 Summer Sculpture Series Downtown Midland. 

The big guy will be delivered this week and all things considered it was a very fun project. The “Mighty Midland Mantis” was constructed from ½ inch pieces of plywood that were designed to fit together using minimum hardware. 

The project was very much like assembling a large wood puzzle. 

Miniature version of the concept.

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Assembly process of the Mighty Midland Mantis

Painting process.

The sculpture will be displayed in the downtown are of the city during June, July, August and September.

Java Style

My wife suggested I make some coffee cups for the studio using an idea she had seen on Pinterest. 

So I did. 

Basically you take a plain white coffee mug and draw a design using on the cup using a sharpie marker, then bake the cup in an oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees and let cool. 

Google the technique to get more detailed instructions.

 I have used the cups for over a month and they are holding up quite well although some of the black has rubbed off the cup I use almost everyday. 

Still a cheap and fun way to make some original mugs for yourself or a friend.

Zombie Texture by Design

There are always certain elements of a prop that sell the finished look such as the eyes, the hands, the teeth or in most cases a combination of various elements. The last few weeks I have created a number of zombie heads and the one element that helps to sell the look of these new props is the skin, or more precisely the texture of the undead flesh. This summer I’m offering a number of workshops where participants will build a severed zombie head from scratch. The workshop in intensive, 12 hours of classes spread over four nights each three hours long. During the third session we spend the time applying zombie skin using a variety of commonly found materials. Each material used for the rotting skin may not seem very convincing in its natural state but after being incorporated into the papier mache sculpture it produces a unique texture which after being painted and dry brushed will sell the concept of rotting zombie flesh. Some of the materials used to design zombie skin are:

-Paper Towels

-Shop Towels (heavy blue paper towels)

-Toilet tissue or Facial tissue

-Coffee filters

- Crept paper

-Plastic grocery bags

-Paper clay manipulated to look like raw flesh

Paper Towels soaked in papier mache paste then manipulated with a brush.

Plastic grocery bag after being heated with a heat gun.

Paper towel coated in papier mache paste with strands of unraveled twine.

Combination of toilet tissue and paper towels soaked in papier mache.

Paper towels soaked in papier mache paste.

Paper towels manipulated to look like tendons.

Paper Towels soaked in papier mache paste.

Each material yields a slightly different look and when combined work well to create a zombie head with convincing rotting flesh detail.