I have not had time to put anything on the blog for about three weeks I guess. It seems like I picked an unfortunate time to start a new project. Life decided it needed to intervene. I had a major surgery, and there has been an ongoing family crisis that has required me to make multiple trips out of town. I probably have to make at least two more trips. I will do my best to get something on the blog as frequently I can.
When I left off at the last blog post I had just finished softening some of the hard edges. The next part was to add the wings. I had to decide if I wanted the owl with wings open in flight or whether I wanted the owl sitting on a branch (or standing on the ground) with the wings closed. This is my first attempt at making an owl in paper mâché, so I decided that wings folded would be the easier option. Wings folded will make the owl easier to store as well. I have made so many paper mâché projects that I am running out of room. Space is at a premium.
Decision time! Did I want to work on the wings first or the legs first? I decided to do the wings first because the legs were going to require some wire. I can see that I might be getting some scratches as I work with the wire to bend and shape the lower legs and claws. Sooner or later I will have to make the claws, but that is the part of the project I am not looking forward to at the moment. Perhaps that part will not be as difficult as I think it will be.
I had already drawn lines on the owl's body to indicate where I wanted the wings to be and also where the legs should be coming out of the body. I used wadded up pieces of aluminum foil to create the shape of the wings. The wing area was then covered over with tape, but at this point I did not give the body a full layer of tape because I was planning on adding some waterproofing material.
I have a love/hate relationship with working with cardboard in an armature. If moisture gets through the tape at any point, it can soften the cardboard and cause the armature to soften and lose its ability to hold its shape.
One time I made some cardboard figures that I planned to cover in paper mâché and then paint. I used masking tape to cover the cardboard. Then I covered the figures in paper mâché . All seemed to be going well at first, but later that evening, I heard three thumps, one after the other. The moisture from the paper mâché had infiltrated the tape and moistened the cardboard. All three of the figures slumped and fell over. The work on the project was a total loss.
There was also a similar incident when I was trying to make some cardboard covers for a handmade book I was making. The cardboard became wet, and warped, making the book covers useless. From then on, I found my not so secret weapon for keeping the cardboard dry. I say not so secret because the box for the product now contains a suggestion that it has uses for craft projects.
I did not come up with the idea, but I read it some time ago in my doll making days. I use a product called Press and Seal. It is found at the grocery store near the plastic wrap. I think this works even better than plastic wrap. I pull off a sheet, and cut it into strips and wrap my project with it. Because I am working with narrower strips, it does not bunch up and leave a lump like a large sheet of plastic wrap would. (Pro Tip here: use a cutting board and a box knife to cut the sheet of Press and Seal into strips. It does not cut well with scissors.)
My owl has been covered in strips of Press and Seal, taking some time with this and make sure that each strip overlaps the previous one. Press on each strip firmly. It will adhere to the project and also to the other strips, forming a watertight seal. Once the owl was completely covered, I then added a layer of tape over everything.
Next time I will (fingers crossed) be working on the legs and claws. My schedule is not my own at the moment, but I will try to get something on the blog about it next week.
