Halloween Folk Art Cat - Part 1- Armature

Regular readers know that I am posting on my long term project and interspersing it with blogging about interim short term projects.  I like to have more than one project going at a time because sometimes I get bored with a long project.  If I hit a discouraging point on a project, I can turn to something else for a day or so.  Then I can return to the previous project in a better frame of mind.  Today I am writing about my latest short term project; a paper mậché Halloween themed cat.

I really enjoy making projects by the strip method of paper mậché.  (How about that, I finally took the time to figure out how to get in those accent marks.)  It is easy and relatively inexpensive.  A few spoonfuls of water and flour make up the paste.  The local newspaper that comes in the mail is free.  The only other expenses are some wire, foil, tape, a few inches of twine and a little paint.  For a mere dollar or two I have hours of entertainment as I match wits with the materials to bring a character into existence.

The project begins with a wire armature.  This project was relatively small and will not carry a lot of weight.  I start with a long piece of eighteen gauge wire.  (Heavier project may need different materials for the armature.)  To prepare the armature, you need to know how tall you want your  figure to be.  The armature will extend up into the head of the project, but will not generally come to the very top of the head.  Knowing the size of the head is a good way to start the project.  In this case, the head is going to be a two inch (5.08 cm) styrofoam ball.  (Regular readers may recall I am also on a mission to use up a lot of the odds and ends that are lying around the studio.  This ball had a pipe cleaner attached.  I could have pulled it out, but decided to leave it on to help secure the head and create the shoulders.)  Now that I know the size of the head, I multiply that figure by 7.5.  I use this figure because the average adult human figure is between 7 and 7.5 times the size of the head. 2 x 7.5= 15. (5.08 x 7.5 = 38.1 cm)  Double that figure because you will be folding the wire in half at the mid-point: 2 x 15 = 30.  (5.08 x 38.1 = 76.2 cm.)  Then add the length of the wire again because you will be folding the wire at the ankle point up to the top of the thigh on each leg.  30 + 30 = 60.  (76.2 + 76.2 =  152.4 cm)  That will get you very close to the length you need.  You might also want to add another inch or two because you will be losing a little of the wire's length as you twist the wire around and when you bend the wire out to account for the hips and feet.  60 + 2=62.  (152.4 + 2=154.2 cm.)  Note:  for the metric conversion, you might want to double check the math.

The arms need to be added as a separate piece of wire.  How do you know how long to make the arm wire?  On average the span of your arms from fingertip across the back to the other fingertip is almost the same size as the height.  I learned this from nurses at a hospital.  They use is as a way to measure height for people who are unable to stand.  So if your character is going to be 15 inches tall, your wire will be the height times 2 because your are going to double the wire 2 x 15=30. (38.1 x 2= 76.2 cm.).  The wire will lose a little bit of length as you fold and twist it, but that is okay because you want the armature to have a little room for the hands and a bend at the elbows. 

It could take a couple of tries to get the length of the armature wire down so that your figure comes out to be the size you want it if you want the figure to be an specific size.  It is one of those times where experience with the material is going to have an effect on the outcome. 

In this case, I was creating a cat rather than a human, so I changed up the proportions a bit to account for the shape of a cat body.  The figure is only going to be a foot high.  The body will be a little shorter and fuller than if I were making
a human type doll.

After you have the wires cut, it is a matter of folding and twisting the wires and putting it all together.  I taped the folded wires with masking tape to hold them together and make the extremities stronger.  Note the twisted wire in the spine.  The arm wire was inserted through the twisted wire that creates the body and legs.  That area has some tape also to keep the wires in place.   After you get the whole thing together, you may need to do a little work to straighten things up.  At this point you can see that the spine area is crooked and the legs are not the same length. 

In this case, I was making a cat figure.  I added an additional wire armature for the tail.  When I first started thinking about the figure, I had envisioned the tail coming over the shoulder and curling so that it could hold a pumpkin or trick or treat bag.  However, I soon realized that this would create some balance problems and I would have to build an additional stand to help keep the figure upright.  I decided that the tail should come to the floor and help to support the figure.  A figure with three points of support will stand on its own without having to have an additional support.  If you work at it hard enough, you can make a figure stand on its own two feet, but it is time consuming and may need adjustments as you add accessories to the figure.

At this point, I started to shape the arms in the position that I wanted them to be in the finished product.  It is helpful to have an idea of what pose you want the figure to portray.   I don't want my figure to just be standing there.  I want my figure to look like it has been caught at a certain moment; as if he were in the middle of an action.  In this case, the cat will be trick or treating.  I want him to be holding a trick or treat bag and a piece of candy, specifically a lolly pop.  I have posed his hands (paws) accordingly.

After the armature was complete I began adding foil and taping it in place to form the body.  In my opinion, the more time you spend on this part of the process, the happier you will be with end result.  Foil and paper can be used to pad the figure any way you want.  If you see an area where there is a bit of a divit, fill it in with more foil, paper or bits of tape until you have the surface fairly smooth.  Remember, this is only the basic form.  The detail will come later.  I spent the better part of an afternoon pushing, prodding, and massaging the foil into the shape I wanted.  I prefer to have my foil fairly solidly crumpled as I put it in place.  If the foil is too loose, it may deform as other pieces of the armature are added. 

Besides foil, paper, and tape I may incorporate other items into the armature.  In this case, I added a couple of very small styrofoam balls to fill out and round the cats hind quarters.  It was quicker than creating the area with foil and gave me the rounded shape that I wanted. 

It is worth noting that while you are filling out the body that you should also check the stance of the character.  Is it leaning forward or backward or to the side?  Straighten the figure continually as you are adding the material.  It is much easier to fix a problem here than later in the process.

Finally, I added a few details to help define the features.  The first part of the ears were added by adding some folded cardboard triangles that I cut from a recycled file folder.  (This same file folder was used to create the base for my autumn scarecrow centerpiece that I blogged about at the beginning of February.  I make my recycled material work until I hit the very last piece of it.)  To fill out the back of the ears I used balled up bits of tape, which were taped down with more tape.  I used a little bit of foil and cardboard to shape the nose so it stands out from the face.

Then it was time for the first two layers of paper mậché.  Once I had a couple of layers on I decided that I wanted to add some more armature to help create the clothing, specifically the suspenders and pants.  I added some cardboard armature to create the trousers and define the area of the suspenders.  The clothing could have been just painted on, but adding the cardboard will make the trousers look like they have more body and texture.

After the first couple of layers of the paper strips, the mouth was added.  The mouth was shaped by a bit of twine.  I just used a bit of twine on a spool to figure amount I needed for the shape.  Then I cut the twine and taped the ends together to form an oval.  The oval was taped to the face.  This will create the lips.  This cat is going to have a big smile.

About this time I also noticed that the tail was cracking where it intersects the body.  The movement of the figure while I was adding the paper mậché was causing the area to crack.  I had to go in and reinforce the area.  I did this by adding some strips of the recycled file folder that had been soaked in white multi-purpose glue over the cracks.  Soaking the cardboard in white glue caused to cardboard to become malleable.  This helped shape the strips to fit on the curved area.  It will also strengthen the area once it is dry.  After the cardboard pieces tacked up, I covered the area with a layer of masking tape.  Since then, I have had no more problems with the area.  After that, I added more layers of paper mậché.

Next Sunday I will be blogging about the conclusion of this project.  After that I will be back to blogging on the progress of my long term project, a large, almost life-size doll.  Check back on next Sunday afternoon for the next post.