papier mâché large mask

I decided to come up with some new projects for the after school art classes for Halloween this year.

I have been dying to create large head papier mache mask for quite some time and October seemed to be the perfect time to present it to the teen class.

pug photobombing the fox

Let me say upfront that this project was far more time consuming than I had anticipated. Some students came to the studio on the weekends in order to complete the project by Halloween -on top of the three hour and a half classes we used to create these great pieces.

grade 9

I'd be lying if I didn't say I internally panicked a bit worrying that I would lose the students in all the work.

grade 9

My oldest daughter had just redecorated and so I had some large Ikea boxes from some of her furniture purchases. I cut them into long strips about the width from my hand to my elbow.

grade 8

Each teen took a cardboard strip. I had them roll the cardboard up first just to make it a little easier to manipulate and then they circled the cardboard around their head, cut off the excess and taped it together to create the mask base. They worked in pairs for this part.

grade 7

I asked them to make their base a little wider than they thought necessary, anticipating as they taped details and used the mache it would become tighter around their head.

They then put an "x" on the outside front while wearing the cardboard structure to mark where their eye hole needed to be. I cut out the hole shape they wanted using a box cutter and they taped a window screen either on the inside of outside of the cardboard so they could see out but at the same time hide their face. These holes actually are the mouths of the mask.

grade 8

Once they had their cardboard cone shape complete, they used paper bags, newsprint and tape to round the mask and add any features.

Then it came time to papier mache.

"donaldette" grade 8

Because of the deadline, we used plain newsprint that I had already cut into strips. I used a watered down white glue for the paste. It dries quickly, is less messy, and kids don't seem to mind it on their hands nearly as much as they do the flour paste mixture. I also did not know if I had any gluten allergies in the class, so the glue paste was best.

Once the glue mixture dried, some of the teens were not happy where the paper didn't adhere smoothly and formed little raised gaps. For that I let them add a bit of masking tape over to smooth out any last details. Great thing about masking tape, it paints and looks just like papier mache.

grade 9

For smaller projects, it is all I use with kids anymore. Here is a bird created using masking tape instead of papier mache.

Then it was time for painting. It took to the very end of the hour and a half class to complete these mask. Thankfully they were so large that they were mostly dry by the time the last brushstrokes were added so I could get some great pictures of the kids wearing them.

grade 8

Oh how we laughed. 

grade 8

Let's be honest, I am guilty of laughing most of all. I had to cut the sound out of this video because of my very loud cackling.

The hours of labor was quickly forgotten once finished. I think they will make great sculptural pieces at home when not on their heads.

grade 9 best friends

I'm not sure the parents agreed as their eyes widen with wonder of where in the world they would find space for them. But the smiles and giggles they produced from the artist and families in the studio when finished were enough to fondly look back on this project for a lifetime.