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.