Paper Mâché Carousel Animals - Rabbit - Part 17

This week I started working on the figure of the last animal that will go on the carousel.  Regular readers may remember that I had at one point said that I was thinking of making this figure a camel.  I changed my mind for a couple of reasons.  The length of the camel seemed large compared to the other figures.  It just looked as if it would be out of scale to the other animals. In the long run, it would also have required me to make a larger base for the carousel in order for it not to look crowded.  This carousel is going to be fairly large, and I did not want to make it any larger.  Not everyone has room to display a one-eighth scale carousel.  

So rather than expand the size of the carousel, I decided to make the last animal a rabbit.  I have plenty of cotton left from making the coats of the cat and tiger.  Having another animal with a fur coat seemed like a good way to use some of that cotton.  

The photo on the right shows my drawing of the rabbit.  It is a little hard to read, but the drawing on the left is the far side of the animal.  The photo on the right is the Romance side of the animal.  Carousel makers call the side that faces the public the Romance side because this is the side that has most of the decorations on it.  Carousel makers generally do not put as much work on the decorations on the inside because it is not seen from outside of the carousel and because it takes so long to make an animal.

The front ear is pointed up, and the far side ear is pointed forward.  That creates an opportunity for the public to see the other ear.  If the ears were in line, it might have looked as if the animal had only one ear.  

The tail is not shown in the plan.  It will be a little round cotton tail.  There was not point of putting it on the drawing because it does not sit on the edge of a side but in the middle.  If I had cut out the tail on the drawing, I would have had a tail on each side.  Not the look I was going for.

The drawing was transferred onto blue card stock.  Regular readers know, but new readers may not know why I used blue cardstock.  The main reason is that I have a large quantity of blue card stock.  Someone had gifted me a mostly full ream of this stuff.  I did not know what I would do with it at the time, but I knew I could find something to do with it.  Other than that, the contrast of the blue on the white background of the plastic covering my work area works well for photographs.

I am a big fan of using what I have on hand.  I try to use up odds and ends of things before I go out to purchase something.  

Once I transfer the rabbit figures onto the card stock, I cut the figures out with a sharp craft knife.  I saved the cutouts of all the animals.  I am not sure exactly what I plan to do with them, but I did not want to toss them out.  They could be used as a stencil in another project.  Or just used for someone to trace around to have their own rabbit to use in a drawing.  I am thinking of children coming to visit that I might need a quick craft for their amusement.  

Sometimes I do crafts with programs for seniors or the disabled, and I think they might enjoy coloring or painting them it as much as the children.

This is as far as I have started on this project.  I hope to have the animal together by next week's blog post which will show the process of turning a two-dimensional object into a three-dimensional object. Regular readers know why there are four animals.  New readers will be able to see the full process of building an animal in the next post.

 Check back next Monday or Tuesday for the next post.

Paper Mâché Carousel Animals - Cat - Part 16

Another week, and four more hours of working on the cat for my carousel.  I have given the cat a second coat of cotton "fur".  This week, instead of trying to complete the process in one sitting I worked on one half of the cat at a time.  That made it a lot less frustrating and easier to handle.

This is a picture of the cat with the second coat of cotton "fur" added.

I used deconstructed cotton balls and a 50/50 mix of glue and water.  There is a learning curve to this method.  What I learned from last week's first layer is that the cotton must be pulled out very thin in order to keep it from forming large damp clumps.  I also learned that the cotton has a grain to it.  As long as I brushed the glue on in line with the cotton shreds it did not clump up as much.  There may be a couple of areas where I may want to add a little more cotton, but for the most part, I am calling this section of the project finished.

After I added the layer of "fur" to each side of the cat, I used the stiff brush I had used to paint on the glue to pound out many of the worst lumps and stipple some texture into the cotton.  Many of the higher bumps will be knocked down when I start sanding the animals, but I think that the slight depressions from the brush pouncing will add an interesting look to the cat when it is painted.

This was a picture of the cat before I added the second layer of cotton.  

The wisps of cotton were so thin that I could still see the print from the newspaper strips through it in most areas.  

The platter shaped object covered in paper mâché strips is not a part of this project.  It was something I was working on while I had some extra paper mâché paste left over from making the cat.  It is not part of this project.  In the future, this platter will be a wall hanging.  More on that in a different blog post.

With the completion of this stage of making the cat, I am ready to make the next animal.  That will be the last animal for the carousel.  I will be so glad to get to it.  Even though each animal is unique, the construction of the animals is pretty much the same.  It gets a bit boring to do the same thing over and over again, but from a production standpoint, it makes sense to get each animal to a certain phase before going on to the next phase of the project.  If I completed the painting of the animals one at a time, I would have to spend multiple days sanding and make multiple batches of the clay used for the decorations.  

Regular readers may remember that I still have to add a tail to the tiger.  I had one idea in mind of how to add the tail but was waiting until I made the clay for the decorations to use on the tail.  However, I have figured out a different way to make and add the tail.  I will add that when I make my next batch of paste for paper mâché strips.  The new way will be lighter and have less of a chance of becoming detached than the previous idea.

After the next animal is complete, each one will get a good sanding.  Then I will experiment with a new clay recipe to add the trimmings.  Each animal will have a saddle and a bridle and decorations of flowers, ribbons, tassels, and/or blankets.  

Check back next week on Monday or Tuesday to see the first look at the next carousel animal.

Paper Mâché Carousel Animals - Cat -Part 15

I have made more progress on the cat I am making for my carousel.  This week I added two more layers of paper mâché to make sure the animal was good and sturdy.  Then I added a layer of cotton to try to make it look like fur. 

When I was making the tiger, I used a cotton clay recipe that I had found online.  It worked, but it was difficult to work with, so for the cat I tried another way of working with cotton that I also saw online.  

It was easier to apply, but I think it will need a second coat.  In some areas it looks like it might have mange.  Some areas covered better than others.

The reason for the change was not only because of dissatisfaction with the previous method but also because I like to experiment with different techniques.  I enjoy trying new ways of doing things.  What I learn can be passed on to my readers.  It helps others if they can read about how different techniques work or what can go wrong before they give it a try for themselves.  Sometimes, there is a learning curve on working with a craft recipe or technique and people would rather know some of the pitfalls before they try it out on a project.  It can be discouraging to work long and hard on a project to have it fail in the later stages of adding finishing touches.  Fortunately, these carousel animals are 1/8th scale, and it is only a minor frustration to have to start an animal over if it did not come out well.

So, on to what I have learned from this project.

This method was just to pull the cotton out into a very thin wispy layer and paint it with a diluted glue and water mixture.  I used a fifty/fifty mix of PVA white glue and water.  

The layers of cotton need to be very thin.  Thin enough that you can see through it.  When I tried to put the cotton on thicker it retained too much of the glue mixture and was very soggy.  I had some concerns that it could affect the stability of the animal.  The thick wet cotton also took a long time to dry.  I sat the animal in front of a fan for about seven hours, flipping it over from time to time in order to get it dry.  I had concerns that it could mold if left to dry naturally.

I was using unrolled cotton balls rather than using cotton batting.  My motto is use what you have, and what I had was cotton balls.  But whether you use cotton balls or rolled cotton there is one thing worth knowing about the experiment:  cotton has a grain.  If you are brushing the glue on the cotton and brushing with the grain, it goes on fairly smoothly.  If you brush against the grain the cotton tends to clump up.  

When adding the cotton, I started on the insides of the legs, tail, and belly.  Then I did the face and back.  That left both sides dry for a longer period of time.  After that, I did one side and took a break so that the glue could tack up a little bit.  Even then, it was still damp and sticky when I came back to it.  I had my work surface covered in plastic and a sheet of freezer paper.  The animal did not stick to it, but some of the cotton pulled away slightly.  I had to smooth it down a little.

After the second side was finished, I set it in front of a fan for several hours.  By the time I was ready to call it a night, it was dry enough that I did not have any concerns about mold.  It finished drying overnight well.

This week I will be adding a second coat of cotton to the cat.  I feel that this way of adding cotton "fur" has potential.  Now that I have learned the ins and outs of it, I think a second coat will be worthwhile.  That is my plan for now.  If it still looks like it needs some work, I have a Plan B.  When I make the clay for the decorations on the animals I could cover the cat in clay.  Just a thought, but I do not think I will have to do that.

If I finish the cat early in the week I may start on the final animal for the carousel.

Check back next week on Monday or Tuesday for a new post.

 

Paper Mâché Carousel Animals - Cat - Part 14

Today's change in the paper mâché cat I have been working on is slight, but at least it is progress.  I have added two layers of strip paper mâché to the cat.  I would like to add two more layers of strips before I start adding the "fur" to the cat.  Since the "fur" will also be a layer, I am not adding as many layers of paper mâché strips.

This is a one-eighth scale project.  It seems that working this small it would not time to get two layers on it, but that is not really the case.  The smaller size makes it a little harder to handle and you have to use smaller strips of paper.  Also, the first layer is always the hardest one.  After that, the second layer adheres much better.  

To make the first layer stick to the form better, I often smear it with some of the paper mâché paste so it has a bed of paste to lay the paper strips on so that it has a sticky base.

I allow it to dry thoroughly between layers of the paper strips.  Generally, that means that I only do one layer a day.  Most weeks I only have time to work on it two days a week.  

This was how the cat looked before the paper mâché strips were added.  This photo shows more accurately how the cat will look when it is mounted on a pole.

I felt as if I had hit a wall on the project this week, and I needed to take a break for a couple of days which also contributed to my not getting as much done as I would have liked.  

My husband and I went up to the mountains for a few days.  After weeks of just pushing through one thing after another we both needed time to make an attitude adjustment.  After a few days of relaxing and enjoying the fall colors, I am able to come back to my project with fresh eyes and some much-needed enthusiasm.

I guess I should tell anyone who plans on working on a long-term project that burnout can be a problem.  Working day after day, week after week on a project is wearing.  Enthusiasm starts to wane, and you start wishing you had never started the project to begin with and would rather be working on something else.  When it hits the point that you would rather do just about anything than head into the room to work on the project, it really is time to take a break.  After a while you will be ready to take up the project again.  So, give yourself a little time to do something else you enjoy when you begin to feel this way.  You and your project will be the better for it.

Anyway, that is today's progress report on the project.  I want to do a little research on another way to use cotton to make fur since I was not enamored with the type of cotton clay I used last time.  I hope to have photos of the cat with fur in the next blog post. Check back next Monday or Tuesday for a new post.