Effortless Paper Mache Snail
You will learn how to form
recycled newspaper into a snail, cover with paper mache, paint, and care for
with coats of shinny varnish.
This paper mache project is fabulous, easy, cheap, and great for someone wanting to learn the awesome art of paper mache.
Our colorful snail is to be a spring board for you and
we encourage you to tweak, change up the snail all you want.
YouTube
Video Link: https://youtube/MoEhnKjCQqo
Stuff List
Recycled
Newspaper
Masking
Tape
Paper
Mache Paste
Paints
and Paint Brushes
Paper
Clay (Optional)
H20
and Rags
Steps
to Make Your Snail Sculpture
1
Build Your Snail Armature
Draw the outline of the snail bottom onto cardboard
and cut your bottom out. Wade up newspaper, place this onto your cardboard and
build up the middle for the snail body.
The middle of the snail is about 4 inches tall. You are giving your snail a 3D body building up with paper. Tape all your paper into place with masking tape, slide your snail armature into a plastic bag, and tape the plastic bag tight the armature.
The middle of the snail is about 4 inches tall. You are giving your snail a 3D body building up with paper. Tape all your paper into place with masking tape, slide your snail armature into a plastic bag, and tape the plastic bag tight the armature.
Eyes: We used copper wire to raise the eyes of our
snail and attached round clay balls to the end.
2
Paper Mache and Paper Clay
1st Session
Cover the snail
armature with 3 to 4 layers of newspaper using your hands soaked in paper mache
paste. Lay your paper flat onto your snail and work out all air bubbles. As you
continue to apply layers of paper onto your armature your snail will begin to
take shape.
Once you have covered
your snail with paper mache they must completely dry. Lay
them out in the sun if you can for faster drying, they will take at least 24
hours to dry depending on the size of your snail.
Tip: If you feel that
your sculpture is strong enough you can skip to step 3 painting your snail
sculpture.
Paper
Clay or Paper Mache
You
Choose
2nd
Session
For this session you
have two choices; paper clay or paper mache. Both mediums are wonderful and
will render a perfect snail sculpture. The 2 best benefits to using the paper
clay vs. paper mache are time and toughness. Both recipes are on the channel; please
do check them out.
Paper
Mache: Cover
with 3 to 4 more layers of paper mache all at one time. Let it completely dry
before moving on. If your snail does not seem tough enough add more paper
mache. After each session of paper mache your sculpture must completely dry
before moving to your next step. Awesome, guys get excited to see
your snail take shape.
Quick Link to Paper
Mache Paste Recipe: http://goo.gl/BH5lgM
Paper Clay:
Cover
the entire snail with about 1/4 to 1/2 inch layer of paper clay, doing one side
at a time and letting that completely dry.
Apply the paper clay with your hands and smooth with paper mache paste, butter knife, etc. You can let your paper clay dry for about 6 or more hours and then smooth more with paste or add sculpturing.
Apply the paper clay with your hands and smooth with paper mache paste, butter knife, etc. You can let your paper clay dry for about 6 or more hours and then smooth more with paste or add sculpturing.
We are still learning and experiment with the paper clay
for better results every day.
The
size of your snail will determine how long it will take to dry. A large snail
will take 3 to 4 days to dry. You can use a fan, the sun, and the oven on the
lowest temperature it will allow. Our oven can go as low as 145 degrees, which
is a perfect temperature for slowly drying your paper clay. If you heat your
clay to fast it can turn dark brown.
Paper
Clay Recipe: http://goo.gl/xoTFbJ
Question: Can I skip the paper mache and put paper clay
directly onto my armature?
Answer: Yes, if your armature can support the weight of
the paper clay without the support of the paper mache strips and paste.
If you need once the snail has dried you can lightly
sand with sandpaper and wipe off before painting.
3. Paint Your Snail Sculpture
Paint a white coat of primer paint on your snail to
give you a white canvas for painting on. We use white flat interior house paint
to prime the surface our sculptures.
Once the primer coat as dried paint with acrylics
anyway you like. I begin with the darkest color first and work my way to the
lightest shade. On our snail we used many washes of color, layering is very
important when painting. Learning every day.
Let all you paint completely dry before sealing with
varnish.
Varnishing (Protecting)
You
must seal your paper mache pieces with varnish for protection against moisture.
Brush on 3 to 4 coats or varnish and let it completely dry.
Follow the instructions on your varnish to apply. We
use Polycrylic Minwax at the studio to varnish all our art.
Snail
Wrap Up
This is just one way to make a bright and beautiful snail
now it is your turn to use it to create your own snail sculpture and of course
share with the me at our studio.
Thank you for stopping by the studio please
subscribe (share) before you leave and have a great day.
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