About a year ago, I bought several of Dan Reeder's books on making paper mache "monsters," dragons, etc. He has creations he calls "Screamers" that don't look too much like my own Screamer creations. A local art teacher used to have her students make these big Screamer creations, and our local public library would display them hanging from the mezzanine. I liked them a lot and it was always interesting to see the variations that kids would produce.
Anyway, I managed to get several of Reeder's now out-of-print books, and I intended to make one of his dragons last summer, but never got around to it. So I decided that I would begin my dragon now, and work on him out-of-doors this summer, as the paper mache part tends to be pretty messy and I am known for my ability to make even "clean" projects quite messy.
So here is the humble beginning of my dragon: simply a wadded up big ball of newspaper, stuck into a wire coat hanger, and taped around with masking tape. Doesn't look very promising, you say? Yeah, I know, but, believe it or not, it looks just like the picture in his book Dragon Makers Handbook. Stay tuned. I'll post pictures of each step, and if you want, you can make one, too. One problem I have already run into in my rural, off the interstate, locale, is that I can't find white glue in quart bottles, and I need 2 quarts. Guess I will try Michaels, as our Home Depot didn't have it in that quantity. I know they make big bottles of Elmers because when I worked in a public school, we had quarts of it, or maybe it was even a gallon. I had to stop where I was for lack of a second wire coat hanger.
Anyway, I managed to get several of Reeder's now out-of-print books, and I intended to make one of his dragons last summer, but never got around to it. So I decided that I would begin my dragon now, and work on him out-of-doors this summer, as the paper mache part tends to be pretty messy and I am known for my ability to make even "clean" projects quite messy.
So here is the humble beginning of my dragon: simply a wadded up big ball of newspaper, stuck into a wire coat hanger, and taped around with masking tape. Doesn't look very promising, you say? Yeah, I know, but, believe it or not, it looks just like the picture in his book Dragon Makers Handbook. Stay tuned. I'll post pictures of each step, and if you want, you can make one, too. One problem I have already run into in my rural, off the interstate, locale, is that I can't find white glue in quart bottles, and I need 2 quarts. Guess I will try Michaels, as our Home Depot didn't have it in that quantity. I know they make big bottles of Elmers because when I worked in a public school, we had quarts of it, or maybe it was even a gallon. I had to stop where I was for lack of a second wire coat hanger.
