Effortless Huge Paper Mache Strawberry
You will learn how to form
recycled newspaper into a Strawberry shape, cover with paper mache, paint, and protect
with shine.
This paper mache
project is easy, cheap, and great for someone wanting to learn the awesome art
of paper mache.
We hope to be a spring board to get you started and
encourage you to tweak, change the Strawberry up all you want.
Stuff List
Recycled
Newspaper
Plastic
bag
Masking
Tape
Paper
Mache Paste
Paints
and Paint Brushes
Paper
Clay (Optional)
Minwax
Varnish
H20
and Rags
Steps
to Make Your Strawberry Sculpture
1
Build Your Strawberry Armature
Begin by wading up newspaper into a huge teardrop shape
using masking tape to hold into place. Continue to wade up the newspaper
filling your bag until you have a nice fat strawberry. Slide your Strawberry shape
into a plastic bag use the end of the bag to form the strawberry stem.
To form the leaves of cut cardboard into the shape
you like and slide onto your strawberry stem. Use tape to hold into place.
This is your basic strawberry armature; change it up
to be uniquely yours.
2
Paper Mache and Paper Clay
1st Session
Cover the Strawberry
armature with 3 layers of newspaper using your hands soaked in paper mache
paste. Ready your recycled paper by ripping the paper into strips of say 3 to 4
inches. Lay your newspaper strips flat onto your Strawberry armature and work
out all air bubbles. As you continue to apply layers of paper onto your armature
your Strawberry will begin to take shape. Never give up you can do this.
Once you have covered
your Strawberry 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 Strawberry.
Tip: If you feel that
your sculpture is strong enough you can skip to step 3 painting your Strawberry
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 Strawberry 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.
We will walk through
both paper mache and paper clay finishing process.
Paper
Mache: Cover
with 4 to 5 more layers of paper mache all at one time. Let it completely dry
before moving on. If you're Strawberry does not seem tough enough add more
paper mache (see step 1). After each session of paper mache your sculpture must
completely dry before moving to your next step. Awesome,
guys get excited to see your Strawberry take shape.
Quick Link to Paper
Mache Paste Recipe: http://goo.gl/BH5lgM
Paper Clay:
Cover
the entire Strawberry 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 homemade 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.
The
size of your Strawberry will determine how long it will take to dry. A large Strawberry
will take approximately 3 to 4 days to dry, the paper clay takes longer to dry
than you think so don't rush it, wait an extra day before painting for caution.
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 Fahrenheit, which is a perfect temperature
for slowly drying your paper clay, we will place it in the oven over night and
pull out doesn't do well in the closed oven when off. Also, if you heat your
clay to fast it can turn dark brown in the oven which is okay because you will
cover with primer paint.
Paper
Clay Recipe: http://goo.gl/xoTFbJ
Question: Can I skip the paper mache and put paper clay
directly onto my armature?
Answer: Yes, yes you can 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 Strawberry has dried you can
lightly sand with sandpaper and wipe off before painting.
3. Paint Your Strawberry
Sculpture
Paint a white coat of primer paint on your Strawberry
this will give you a white canvas for painting. 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 and work my way to the lightest
color shade. Color is fun and you can't mess up, anything goes.
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 of varnish and let it completely dry. We brush on
Polycrylic Minwax at the studio to varnish all our art. The gloss enhances our
paint job. Follow the instructions on your varnish to apply.
Strawberry
Wrap Up
This is just one way to make a delicious huge Strawberry
sculpture, hope you will use it to create your own Strawberry sculpture and of
course share with the studio.
Thank you for stopping by the studio please
subscribe before you leave and have a great day.
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whimsypapermache.com 2016