Hello,
As we proceed into October, I wanted to post a project I finished at the beginning of the month. Much like the past Halloweens, I made a papier mache pumpkin using Dan Reeder's mache techniques. Larger than the previous entries, here is Voracious.
 |
| Front View |
 |
| Side View |
One of the challenges of this piece was getting a large enough base mache ball to use for the body. I put together several large newspaper balls with masking tape and then joined them with other scraps, shaping the whole thing into a rough sphere as I went. Here is a sequence of images from the production.
 |
| Construction Phase |
 |
| Cloth Skin Phase |
 |
| Side View |
 |
| Paint Phase (pre blackwash) |
Once the main ball was mached, I cut it in half to start working on the details. The hollowed out core was easy to shape and I was able to fasten the eye sockets from the inside using two halves of a mache ball with a cloth skin. The eyes and teeth are polymer clay and glow in the dark like the past pumpkins. As I built the shape out, I tried to find some distinct details that would make this pumpkin unique. I settled on the sharp horns and forehead jewels. After the construction phase, it was just a matter of putting the piece back together. I did add a strip of black nylon on the inside of the mouth so you can't see into the hollowed out core. Once the piece was taped up and the shape finalized, I added the layer of cloth and glue and then painted it once everything was dry. The painting was straight forward and I washed over the final coat with diluted black paint to create the highlights and shadows.
That's it for this one. I am working on a multi-part papier mache project that I'm hoping to get done this month. I may have to release it in phases since there are several different pieces I need to make. There will be more to come.
Thanks for stopping by!
~Zan
