Large Doll - Part 3

Last blog post I showed where I had covered a Styrofoam head with strip paper mache' and removed the head from the mold.  It took cutting the papier mache' head into three pieces in order to remove it from the foam head.  The first cut was along each side of the neck and over the top of the head.  The second cut was along the jaw line.  Perhaps I should have cut the head along the center line of the back of the head and the face.  I might have been able to pull it apart in two pieces that way.  However, I chose the other way because the seams on the Styrofoam head ran side to side.  Also, when you cut paper mache' and put it back together, generally a little ridge is formed.  That could have been dealt with.  However, I did what I did because it seemed to be the thing to do at the time.  Perhaps in a future project I will try slicing the head in the other direction.

Today I will be blogging about getting the head back together.  It was not as easy as one would think.  It took a lot of patience.  It also too a few tries to get things to come together properly. 

I began by taping the jaw back to the upper portion of the head.  The most important part of getting the head back together were the registration marks I made on the head before I cut it apart.  By aligning the marks it was easy to see how things joined up.  Rejoining the pieces was not simple.  When you cut strip paper mache' the edges will fan out slightly along both sides of the cut line.  This creates a little bit of a ridge.  Things do not want to go back together in a straight line.

Trying to get masking tape to adhere to paper mache' is not easy.  Masking tape does not easily stick to the dried flour paste.  The edges of the tape want to curl up.  It would have been a great time to use some of the cyanoacrylate glue that bonds in 15 second.  However, I did not have any and was not inclined to go out in frigid weather to purchase some.  I tried using some multipurpose glue, but it was moist enough that it was making the mask pieces mushy on the edges.  I toiled on with the masking tape.  Eventually, I prevailed and the top and bottom pieces of the face were back together.  After that, the area was covered with a layer of paper mache' to add some strength.

Even with four layers of strip paper mache' the doll head was not exactly rigid.  Some areas bowed inward slightly and some outward.  It was not just a matter of placing the two pieces next to each other and moving on.  I started by taping a few inches at the bottom of the neck on both sides; making sure that those registration marks lined up. 

Next I taped the top center marks of the head.  This was the hard part.  One section of the head bowed down.  Trying to hold the head together, force the bowed piece up, and tape it all at once was a real challenge.  Fortunately, the doll head is large enough that I was able to get my hand inside and push up and add tape to the inside of the doll as well. 

The masking tape was still giving me trouble sticking to the project.   I finally found a way of setting the tape that worked.  As I had written in an earlier blog post, I used a foam brush to smooth down the paper strip with the flour paste.  This essentially gave the flour paste a grain line.  By adding a layer of tape running on each side of the cut, in the direction of the grain, the tape stuck better.  Then, when I put the pieces of the head back together, the piece of tape that was going across the cut was stuck to the tape on either side.  I guess the best way to explain it is that it looked like a railroad line.  You have the two rails and all the cross pieces that hold the rails.  Anyway, the tape holding the pieces of the head together stuck much better to the masking tape than to the dried flour paste.  With a considerable amount of pushing and pulling, the head was finally taped back together.

Once the pieces of the head were taped back together, I gave the entire head two layers of paper mache' to the outside of the head and one layer to the inside of the head, making sure that all of the tape was covered. First, I put on one layer outside and inside.  Then I put the head down in front of a fan and let the fan blow air into the head for a couple of hours.  I wanted to make sure that the inside dried quickly to make sure that it did not mold.  Then I allowed the head to dry overnight.  The next day I added a second layer to the outside. 

This is the last layer for the full head.  I will be adding layers build up certain areas and smooth out the areas where there might be a ridge.  I am almost finished with the first stage of making the doll's head.  There will be more on this in a future blog post.

Before I get into the features of the doll head, I will be blogging on a second project.  I am mindful that I had blogged at the beginning of January that I was trying to create a Halloween themed project of some kind each month.  January is almost over, but I have almost completed a (relatively) quick  project.  I will be blogging about that in the next blog post.  Check back next Sunday for that post. 

Large Doll - Part 2

Paper mache' over foam head.

This has been a very successful crafting week.  It was aided by a winter storm.  It was snowing and cold and everyone was staying inside.  I actually got a fair amount of work done despite having a bad cold.

My new project is going to be a large doll.  It will be close to four feet tall.  This is my first attempt at making a doll in this size, so the whole project is one big experiment.  As with any experiment, you have a working hypothesis of what you think is going to happen.  Then you perform the experiment to see if what you expect is actually going to happen or if you end up with something else.  I am hoping that my doll making skills from working with smaller size dolls are going to translate well for this project.

In my last blog post I had just started the project.  I had put a layer of paper mache' over a Styrofoam doll head.  I was using a basic method of paper strips slathered with a paste made of all-purpose flour and water.   This post I would like to elaborate more on my method of working with paper mache'.  Many of my new readers have not seen the older projects and may not be familiar with my methods.  Long term readers may want to skip over the next three paragraphs and move on to the rest of the article.

Rubber  band used to mark center line.

There are many ways to work with paper mache'.  I use this method because it makes less of a mess during production.  I mix flour paste and water and stir until the mixture is really smooth and there are no lumps.  Newspaper is torn into strips appropriately sized for the project.  A large smooth area can use larger strips, but a curved surface will need smaller pieces to prevent the paper from forming folds and creases that will show on the surface of the project.   If you have folds and creases in the paper, it will require more sanding to achieve a smooth surface in your final stages.

I use a foam brush to smooth an even layer of paste on each side of the paper strip.  Then I use the foam brush to smooth the paper onto the surface I plan to cover.  If a piece of paper will not lay flat on the surface, I use scissors and cut the piece so that one side of the cut will overlap the other.  The foam brush helps smooth out air bubbles.  If you leave air bubbles under the paper, you may have a soft spot in the paper mache' after it dries.  The foam brush helps keep a smooth even layer of paper mache' on the suface.  The smoother the surface, the less sanding is needed.  Depending on the project you may or may not need to sand, but on a doll's face I would like for it to be as smooth as possible.

Horizontal registration marks added.

There is another method of working with strip paper mache' that is somewhat quicker, but as I said, it makes a mess.  Dip you strip of paper in a trough of the flour paste.  Use your finger and the side of the trough to remove excess flour paste from the strip.  It does work but... a good bit of the time the strip broke in half leaving me to fish a soggy mass of newsprint out of the paste.  It also sent drips of flour paste everywhere.  If you have a work area where how much mess you leave doesn't matter maybe this is okay.  But I found that flour paste was everywhere and once hardened it was difficult to clean up the work surface, floor and even at times on the wall.  Enough said.

Now, back to this project.  I put four layers of paper mache' on the foam head.  My plan is to remove the paper mache' from the Styrofoam mold.  Looking at the foam head I could see that the head was cast as a two part mold.  I was hoping I would be able to take the mask off as two pieces, but I suspected that it might have to come off in three pieces.  Four layers of paper mache is still fairly flexible, but I did not know if it would flex enough to be able to pull away from the overhang of the chin.  Again, this is an experimental doll.  I have to figure out how to make things work.

I placed a large rubber band on the head at roughly the center line.  I traced alongside the rubber band with a black marker to give myself a cutting line for removing the head.  Then I removed the rubber band.  If I had just used the rubber band, it might have rolled off as the head was moved.  It could come off and give me a sharp snap.  How do I know this?  Experience.   

After removing the rubber band, I added some horizontal registration lines so that I would be able to re-align the piece evenly.  In a previous project I had forgotten to add them and it was really difficult to make the piece line up.  Paper mache' is more flexible than you think and tends to curve inwards or outwards once it is cut.  It is not just a matter of taping the two halves back together.

I used a scalpel blade to cut along the marked line.  A scalpel blade is curved and does  not cut as deeply as a craft knife.  It is also very sharp.  I wanted to retain the foam head in as pristine a shape as possible.  I have plans for it in a future project.

Well, one can hope for a specific outcome, but you don't always get it.  As it turned out, it took cutting the mask into three pieces to get it off the face.  The overhang of the chin was too sharp to allow the chin to pull free.  I am guessing that the foam head was cast in a silicone mold that allowed the mold to peel back.  At any rate, it was not going to work with this mask.  It just means that there is a bit more work involved in putting it back together.

The second cut was marked just under the jaw line and the base of the chin.  If there were any ridges visible one the mask was put back together I wanted to be below the curve of the face.  The ridges can be sanded down, but still the less visible the better.

I won't keep you in suspense, the doll mask is off the doll and put back together.  This post is already getting long, so I will be blogging on how I put the mask back together in next Sunday's blog post.  It was not quite as simple as one would suspect.

Large Doll - Part 1

There is an old saying that well begun is half done.  I can't yet say that I am well begun, but at least I have my project started.  I decided to make a large doll.  The size of the doll is based on the size of the head.  In this case I will be using a Styrofoam head from the craft store as a mold for the doll's head.  The head is roughly seven inches (17.74 cm) long by 6 inches (15.25 cm) wide.  I had originally guessed that the doll would be 36 inches  (0.91 meter) now that I have actually started working on the head, it looks like the doll will be closer to 48 inches (1.22 meters).  Until now, most of my work has been in the 12 to 24 inch (30.48 to 60.96 cm).

My plan for creating the head is to cover the head in paper mache'.  After the head has a couple more layers of paper mache' it will be sturdy enough to withstand being taken apart.  Once the head has enough layers on it I will cup open the mask and remove the Styrofoam head. 

From a practical point, it would be less time consuming to leave the underlying Styrofoam in place.  From an artistic perspective it is important to remove the mold.  That way, I am making a head from a mold rather that using someone else's head for the doll.  At this point the head will be just a basic head shape and I will build up the features of the doll on my own. 

Currently, there are two layers of paper mache' on the doll.  I would like to get on  two more layers before taking it apart.  In order to make sure I could remove the Styrofoam head I wrapped the head in plastic wrap.  The first layer of paper strips was just brushed with water to make it adhere to the plastic wrap.  Then a layer of paper strips coated with flour paste was placed over the wet layer.  This should allow the plastic and the head to come loose from the mask easily. 

Once the head is removed I anticipate that the head may not go back together easily.  In an earlier experience with making a mold of a ball, the ball wanted to collapse inward once it was cut in half.  I expect I will have to do some internal bracing.  My first thought on the subject is to tape the head back together and stuff the head with polyester fiber fill.  It may also need a few wooden pieces of bracing to hold it rigid enough to stay together well.  A second thought is that I tape the head back together and fill it with expandable foam.  At any rate, once the head is back together enough for the two pieces of the mold to stay in place it will receive a couple more layers of paper mache'   Then I can start shaping the cheeks, nose and mouth.  Then I will work on the eyes.  I guess I had better get to work.  That alone is a lot of work.

Check back next week for an update on the progress of this doll.

Jupiter Sphere and Plans for 2018

I finished painting the Jupiter sphere with air dry enamel paints.  The paints will be completely cured and ready for the ball to go outside by the end of January.  I would have taken the ball out just to take a photo of it outside but we are in a real deep freeze.  We had a snow storm last week and had really cold temperatures since then.  The weather forecast for this morning was -2 degrees Fahrenheit (-18.89 C).   We have not had a day above freezing for about a week.  The snow has not melted.  I just have not felt like taking the ball outside to snap a picture.  So all I have to show at the moment was an inside photo.  I guess I will take an outdoor picture once the snow melts.

A few days before the snowstorm it was unusually warm.  A lot of humid air was coming up from the south.  We had a very foggy morning.  The moisture in the air mixing with the storm coming up the coast set us up for a big snow storm.  I snapped a few photos of the sun streaming through the fog.

At the craft store I visited, I did not have a good selection of paint colors in air day paints.   Overall, the sphere is a little darker than I would have wanted.  However, it may turn out better looking when I have it out in full sunshine. 

I guess blogging about the Jupiter sphere is a good sign in a way.  At least I have bestirred myself enough to complete a project.  Ironically, the first time I wrote about creating a sphere painted to look like Jupiter it was also completed at the beginning of the next year.  That was not planned.  I was trying to finish up the project in time to say I had completed one of my goals for the year.

Speaking of goals, it is time to think about what I want to do this year.  I guess the first thing on my list is to complete the Star and Leaf quilt I have been hand quilting for some time.  I also want to get back to making the doll that I planned to make last year; a Flamenco dancer.  I would like to try to enter it into the state fair.  Getting that started is going to be my first crafting priority.  The state fair rules say that the project you enter must be made in the same year as it is entered into the fair. The doll will be about thirty-six inches (91.44 cm) tall.  At the moment, that is an estimated figure, I will be making the head first.  The height of the doll will depend on the finished size of the head.  At any rate, I will be beginning on the head tomorrow.

I would like to make another wood burned and painted walking stick, but that may or may not come about.  It depends on how long the doll takes.  Of course, I want to do some Halloween projects.  In fact, I may try to make one side project each month of some type of Halloween figure.  We will see how long that resolution lasts.  Other than that, I am keeping the agenda open.  I generally find some project that captures my imagination and I end up working on that instead of what I thought I would be working on.  It seems that my plans get bigger and my crafting time is shrinking, so I decided to keep things light this year.  Last year I ended up feeling a little stressed over taking on too much.