I am moving on with my shrunken head project. The heads will be part of a larger project: a life-sized figure will be holding the shrunken heads. I am making the heads from pâpier mâché. When they reach the finishing stage, the heads will be painted and sealed with spar varnish. However, I am not that far along yet.
In theory, the project should be able to withstand the weather and be outside. Old cigar store Indians made from pâpier mâché have stood outside for decades. The yellowed patina they have is from spar varnish. If it does not cure in sunlight, it will yellow. If you have gone to the trouble to make that type of project, you would most likely varnish it inside to keep the dust off of it. However, I expect that this project should be kept on a covered porch, as it will be dressed in clothing and wearing a long wig. They might retain moisture if it rains on them. I might be able to scotch guard the dress, but I don't think I could do but so much with the wig. I will research that at some point.The figure is complete, but I have not put on her outfit. For the moment I am concentrating on making the shrunken heads. Why shrunken heads? Mainly because everyone else is using plastic skulls for everything in Halloween props. I just don't like to be doing the same thing everyone else is doing. I decided that it would be interesting to use plastic skulls as a base and build a face. I know a lot of crafters are just leaving the skulls and heads inside their projects, but I prefer to remove mine. The only thing I really want is to set a basic shape, then I will take it from there.
Once the first three layers of pâpier mâché set firmly, I removed the cast from the plastic skulls. Just to make it look different from the original, I alter the shape of the head. (Scroll back to my previous blog post to see more on how the heads were altered.) Once the heads were shaped to my satisfaction, I started building up the face.
You might notice that as I construct the heads I added a small hanging hook. These heads will be hanging from something, probably a chain of some sort. The hooks will allow me to attach to the chain with a little clear fishing line or some type of clip. Since the heads are very light weight, I straightened and twisted a paper clip to make the hook.
I build up the lips and nose using bits of foil and tape until I get the shape that I like. I have found that it is better to build it up a bit and cover the area with a layer of pâpier mâché to see how it looks before building the area up to look exactly how you want it. Those layers of paper add up. If you start with it looking just right, it will be too big by the time you get all of the layers of paper you need on it. Sometimes things don't go exactly as planned. On two of the heads I had to tear the nose off and do them again to get them to look right. It may not be that big a deal on shrunken heads, but I want things to look normal even if they are not perfect. After all, this is not a forensic reconstruction.
The first picture shows three heads in various stages of completion. The head on the left is ready for sanding. The head in the middle has just had a layer of pâpier mâché added after being reconstructed. The third head has also been reconstructed and is in the process of having its nose built.
The second picture is a closer view of the building of the noses. Bits of foil and tape were added to create the shape. Aluminum foil and masking tape were used to make the shape. When I liked the shape, I used hot glue to hold the nose in place. The tape helps smooth out the rough foil and creates a surface that the pâpier mâché will adhere to easily. I add three layers of paper over the nose.
I have another layer to add to the two heads. After that, I am waiting for a nice day to go outside to sand the items. I prefer to sand outside so that my studio is not covered in dust. So far, if we had a fifty or sixty degree day, it has rained or it has been a very chill wind. I am hoping that it won't be too long before a nice day.
I will be blogging about the progress on this project as time goes on. Once the paper layers and sanding are complete, I will be on to painting and decorating the heads. Now that the paper layers are pretty much complete, the project will be picking up speed. Check back in about ten days to see the next post. I would say a week, but I don't think I will get very far in the next few days.
