Papier-mâché dragon. Cool papier-mache dragon Papier-mache dragon detailed instructions

This dragon is made from newspaper, papier-mâché paste, sticky tape and paint. This is a budget option, since the cost of the dragon was only $ 5.

Look at the photos, borrow ideas and create your own dragon.

Step 1:

The first step in creating a dragon is to create a small paper mache dragon sculpture. For this project, I took newspaper rolled into the overall shape of a dragon, and then I taped all the pieces together with masking tape. For inspiration, you can look at some drawings of dragons to imagine what they look like.

Please note: do papier-mâché away from books and other things, as this is a very dirty activity.

I made the two back legs of the dragon separately, then attached them to the body to make sure both legs were the same size. The legs are attached to the body so that the thigh is close to the dragon's spine.

At this stage, I don't pay much attention to details, like fingers, for example. I'm just trying to build the overall shape of the dragon and give it an interesting pose.

Step 2:

So, the hind legs are in place, now we attach the front ones. I continue to cover the paper with duct tape, this will give more strength to the inner shape of the dragon.

Step 3:

Now add the tail, spikes on the back. Then carefully attach the tail and hind limbs to the board.

Step 4:

Now we have already added the wings. First, the wings are made from newspaper using the papier-mâché technique of the same shape as the forelimbs. And then we cut out something that doesn’t look like a fan from the box for breakfast cereals and attach it with adhesive tape to the wings.

Attaching wings to an animal that already has forelimbs is not an easy task, because the forelimbs are attached where the wings should be placed. Let's hope that the final figure will be quite tolerable.

Step 5:

And now the dirtiest part. I dip pieces of newspaper in a mixture of flour and water, wring out the excess and put it on the dragon. You need to do this as carefully as possible so that the surface is smooth.

Continue until the entire dragon is covered. I also covered the paper mache and the sticky tape that keeps the dragon on the board.

Step 6:

The weight of the wet paper can distort the shape of the dragon, so prop it up with, for example, a cardboard cylinder from under the toilet paper until the first layer is completely dry.

As soon as the first layer dries, apply the second and prop up the dragon again and let it dry.

Since this dragon is not a toy, two layers of papier-mâché will suffice. Once the layers have dried, the mold will be strong enough to stand without support.

Step 7:

Then we add details with the help of small pieces of paper towel, which we also dip in papier-mâché. In the photo you can see that I added a mouth, eyes, nostrils and chin.

We also leave these parts to dry. Then we cover the entire sculpture with a layer of papier-mâché paste, diluted with a small amount of wood glue. This will help us even out the texture and give the dragon's skin a smooth, bumpy surface.

Step 8:

Now we paint the dragon with copper paint. The base itself is painted black.

Step 9:

With relatively dry paint, I begin adding color to the dragon. The first layer was applied with green paint. The photo shows that the copper color is still visible. You can stop at this stage, but I want to continue. Mix green with silver paint and add some copper color, on the sides of the dragon paint black and silver to make spots. We paint the eyes last.

Once the dragon was painted and the paint was dry, I completed the sculpture by painting it with varnish mixed with a little copper paint. Copper will help bring all the colors together so they look harmonious.

This dragon is made from newspaper, papier-mâché paste, sticky tape and paint. This is a budget option, since the cost of the dragon was only $ 5. Look at the photos, borrow ideas and create your own dragon.

Step 1: The first step in creating a dragon is to create a small paper mache dragon sculpture. For this project, I took newspaper rolled into the overall shape of a dragon, and then I taped all the pieces together with masking tape. For inspiration, you can look at some drawings of dragons to imagine what they look like. Please note: do papier-mâché away from books and other things, as this is a very dirty activity. I made the two back legs of the dragon separately, then attached them to the body to make sure both legs were the same size. The legs are attached to the body so that the thigh is close to the dragon's spine. At this stage, I don't pay much attention to details, like fingers, for example. I'm just trying to build the overall shape of the dragon and give it an interesting pose.

Step 2: With the back legs in place, now attach the front legs. I continue to cover the paper with duct tape, this will give more strength to the inner shape of the dragon.

Step 3: Now add the tail, spikes on the back. Then carefully attach the tail and hind limbs to the board.

Step 4: We have now added the wings. First, the wings are made from newspaper using the papier-mâché technique of the same shape as the forelimbs. And then we cut out something that doesn’t look like a fan from the box for breakfast cereals and attach it with adhesive tape to the wings. Attaching wings to an animal that already has forelimbs is not an easy task, because the forelimbs are attached where the wings should be placed. Let's hope that the final figure will be quite tolerable.

Step 5: Now for the dirtiest part. I dip pieces of newspaper in a mixture of flour and water, wring out the excess and put it on the dragon. You need to do this as carefully as possible so that the surface is smooth. Continue until the entire dragon is covered. I also covered the paper mache and the sticky tape that keeps the dragon on the board.

Step 6: The weight of the wet paper can distort the shape of the dragon, so prop it up with a toilet paper roll until the first layer is completely dry. As soon as the first layer dries, apply the second and prop up the dragon again and let it dry. Since this dragon is not a toy, two layers of papier-mâché will suffice. Once the layers have dried, the mold will be strong enough to stand without support.

Step 7: Then add the details with the help of small pieces of paper towel, which are also dipped in papier-mâché. In the photo you can see that I added a mouth, eyes, nostrils and chin. I also added the fingers on the limbs and applied another layer of paper to give the leather texture. We also leave these parts to dry. Then we cover the entire sculpture with a layer of papier-mâché paste, diluted with a small amount of wood glue. This will help us even out the texture and give the dragon's skin a smooth, bumpy surface.

Step 8: Now paint the dragon with copper paint. The base itself is painted black.

Step 9: Using relatively dry paint, I begin adding color to the dragon. The first layer was applied with green paint. The photo shows that the copper color is still visible. You can stop at this stage, but I want to continue. Mix green with silver paint and add some copper color, on the sides of the dragon paint black and silver to make spots. We paint the eyes last.

According to the Chinese horoscope, this year is the Dragon. However, in the East it does not begin on January 1, as we do. In China, the Year of the Dragon only comes into effect on January 23rd. Therefore, we propose to meet the New Year according to the Chinese calendar fully armed. So cute papier-mâché dragon will cheer everyone up and become a real symbol of good luck this year.

Let's get to work:

1. Create a sketch.

2. According to the sketch, lay out the wire frame of the body, exactly repeating all the bends.

3. Wrap a layer of newspaper soaked in PVA glue on the frame, diluting the glue with water. In places of thickening, an additional layer should be added. You can make one layer of fabric. To do this, take a loose fabric.

The workpiece should be with a margin of volume, that is, thinner than necessary, because a textured layer will still be applied on top.

4. The workpiece should be thoroughly dried.

5. Now you should apply folds on the stomach and teeth on the back. To do this, cut the teeth out of thin cardboard. And for folds, you can use a dense linen fabric. Soak it in glue and drape it. Leave to dry.

6. Now it's the turn of the wings, legs and arms. Take copper wire, if there is a three-core one, it is best suited for the legs. After removing part of the braid, glue the wire fingers with paper, creating webs that look like flippers.

7. Single-core wire is also suitable for wings. It should be elastic. Form the wings according to the sketch, fastening with a thread or thin wire. Cover with guipure.

8. For fingers, take a thin copper wire, which should be wrapped with strips of paper handkerchiefs.

Strips are best torn off by hand. Glue on paper tapes must be applied very carefully: take a bottle with a thin nose - pour glue over the entire paper tape with a thin thread and immediately wind it on the wire, a brush is not needed. Dry the item.

9. Now it's the head's turn. Cut the workpiece from the building insulation.

When cutting, take into account the margin of volume for subsequent layers.

10. Paste the workpiece with a layer of newspaper. The top layer should be textured - paper pulp moistened with PVA glue. For convenience, place it in a plastic bag and roll it out with a rolling pin. By the way, in this form, this mass can be stored for several days, until you use it all.

This layer should be applied especially carefully, compacting with a dry bristle brush, at the same time trying to keep all the irregularities without smoothing them out.

11. The next step is to connect the parts. Make holes in the right place with an awl, drop a little thick glue into the hole and insert the parts of the legs and handles into them. For the strength of the void in the hole, fill with papier-mâch mass.

After drying, everything will be quite strong.

12. The next step is coloring the figure. Use the technique of multi-layer coloring - the lower layers should be darker, the upper ones - lighter.

Apply the upper layers, so to speak, on the “tops”, while not completely overlapping the lower ones, so that the lower layers of paint are visible in the recesses of the textured layer. Layers of paint should be three to five. This will give the figure even more expressiveness, emphasize the relief of its surface.

Here is ours ready! If desired, you can glue the cilia and forelock.

For a long time I wanted to do something unusual. Somehow I came across on the Internet a photo of a dinosaur head, which was placed on the roof, it was made of a metal frame, on which paper and sticky tape were glued. Since then, I have been on fire with the idea to make something like that and place it on the roof of my house. After looking at a lot of pictures, I decided to make a dragon. Unfortunately, I had to sacrifice large wings, otherwise they could be broken by the wind. Well, in general, the dragon retained the outlines of its brothers, from the pictures of which I collected the image. It came out quite decent size: 170 cm long and 75 cm high, weighing about 4 kg.

The papier-mâché technique makes the sculpture light and strong enough. It is this material that is the best suited for "roof sculptures". I read in some source that the church, made of papier-mâché, stood for 35 years. Here I have decided. But bad luck, I was engaged in papier-mâché technique back in primary school, a lot has been forgotten since that time. Then my dad and I made New Year's toys from light bulbs. They glued the light bulb with paper, and when it dried, they cut it, took out the light bulb, glued the cut parts with strips of paper, polished, painted. From light bulbs they made pears with a red barrel. A note was placed inside almost every toy. At one time, I took a lot of such pears to the New Year tree at school. But now I was faced with a much more difficult task than a pear from a light bulb. As always, I turned to the Internet for tips. There were step-by-step photos of how to make little dragons, but there was not a word about one that could be placed on the roof. You can find videos on YouTube, but there were papier-mâché dragons not for the street. I decided to correct this injustice, so I post 47 photos in this article with a detailed description of how and what to do.

So, let's get started, but first I will list the materials that we may need in our work:

1) newspapers, magazines, toilet paper;

2) PVA glue;

3) plastic bottles of different sizes and yogurt cups;

4) bamboo toothpicks of large and small sizes;

5) adhesive tape (regular and masking tape);

6) threads, needle, scissors, lining fabric;

7) baby powder;

8) blender;

9) deep penetration primer;

10) water-based and gouache paints;

12) ship varnish.

First you need to take yogurt cups and bottles. Glue them with thin tape, as in this photo:

Now all this needs to be collected in one pile with adhesive tape:

In the place where the tail will be, insert a cut 2 liter plastic bottle, as in the photo above. I'll explain later what it's for. The whole structure must be well fastened with the same adhesive tape. We need to make the outlines more rounded, so we need to enclose the paper:

The paper is attached to the base with adhesive tape, as in the photo. After that, with the help of PVA glue, the sculpture is pasted over with paper. It can be various newspapers and magazines, that is, what you do not mind. To do this, I pour glue into a bowl and add a little water, mix and use for pasting.

You see, in front, where the dragon's chest will be, a hollow has turned out. To fix this, I crumpled up the magazine and secured it with masking tape (it's wide and easily torn off by hand), after which I sealed it all with paper.

As a result of this, this is what happened:

Now we need to make the head, tail and wings. For this I needed these balloons:

To make the head, you need to inflate a round balloon and form the outlines with paper and masking tape. Then all this is pasted over with paper.

The tail is also made quite simply, we inflate a long ball, bend it a little to give it a shape, fasten the paper, giving the desired volume, paste over the finished shape.

When the tail is dry, it is inserted into exactly that cut-off 2 liter plastic bottle that I talked about earlier. Thus, a sufficiently long tail is securely fixed. From above, it is also pasted over with strips of paper. Now it will sit firmly and will not fall off.

A graceful curve to the neck can also be given with a 1.5 liter plastic bottle, as in the photo below. As it turned out, it is perfectly inserted and fixed on yogurt cups:

Now is the time to think about limbs. The principle is the same:

When the limbs are dry, they need to be properly glued to the dragon. This is very important, because it is in the limbs that self-tapping screws will be drilled or slate nails driven in to securely fix the sculpture.

After that, I decided to additionally paste over the dragon with thicker paper.

Now it's the turn of the wings. I inflated a long balloon and folded it in half. Further, the principle of action is the same as with the tail.

When the wings are dry, use a sharp knife to cut holes for the wings. When I cut out the hole, I was pleasantly surprised by the thickness of the paper. In order to securely fix the wings, it is necessary to cut the bottles inside.

Take long bamboo toothpicks, or rather kebab skewers. Tape several pieces together with duct tape. Cut a hole with a knife and insert them in there. Cover with paper on top. Small spikes are made according to the same principle, only ordinary small bamboo toothpicks are taken for this.

You can sculpt small details using this mixture: take PVA, add water, a little baby powder, tear toilet paper into small pieces and grind it all in a blender. This mixture is applied to the entire sculpture. When it dries, it will give the sculpture very good hardness and strength. TIP: apply the resulting mixture in parts, under its influence the sculpture becomes very wet. I didn't know this, so my dragon's head was slightly deformed, and it almost fell off!

Before you completely wrap around the sculpture, you need to insert the fabric into the wings. I took the usual green lining fabric. Cut a line with a knife along the entire length of the wings.

Adjusting the fabric with a knife:

The best way to fix the fabric to the thin part of the wings is to sew it on:

We do the same with other parts where you need to apply fabric:

After that, you need to carefully stick the mixture around the fabric, as in the photo below:

When everything is dry, cover the dragon completely, paying special attention to the bottom, where the dragon will come into contact with the roof.

After complete drying, the sculpture is covered with a deep penetration primer, preferably with an antifungal additive.

When dry, paint the dragon with water-based paint. It is better to take the one that is intended for facade work.

I gave the green color with the help of ordinary gouache paints:

Well, now a little fantasy. I covered the spikes with gold-colored acrylic decorative enamel. She painted with an interesting ornament and hieroglyphs, which mean happiness, health, prosperity, success. In general, I applied hieroglyphs only with a good meaning. Here are photos from different angles:

After you paint the sculpture. It needs to be covered with 2 layers of ship varnish. Pay special attention to the bottom, it will be in contact with the roof. The fabric on the wings is also varnished. Ship varnish protects well from the negative effects of the external environment, has special additives that protect against ultraviolet radiation. In simple words, your sculpture will not fade quickly.

This is how the dragon looks now on the roof of our house:

Papier-mâché dragons.Toy

In this master class, we will try to make these funny papier-mâché dragons.

Before starting, we turn on our favorite music, forget (for a while) about all the problems, worries and deeds and start ... meditating.
Yes, yes, it is to meditate, because any manual work done with pleasure is very calming, it makes it possible to escape from the hustle and bustle, worries, problems ...
Well, where do we start?
Let's start by creating a sketch.
A ready-made picture can help us with this, if an image already invented by someone is created.
Well, if this is an unprecedented beast, then it would be nice to draw all the details, their location and proportions.I want to note that in the process of work it may turn out that the image itself will begin to dictate certain refinements to its appearance and, as a result, may
not quite what was intended. But if the image is already well built and polished mentally, that changes in the manufacturing process can be
quite small.

So - the sketch is ready. On it we lay out the wire frame of the body. You need to try to more accurately convey all the bends. The expressiveness of our work depends on this.

A layer of newspaper soaked in PVA glue must be wound on the frame. It is better to dilute the glue with water - it will interfere with us if it “grabs” quickly.

The newspaper bundles should tightly wrap around the wire. In places of thickening - add another layer.

The photo shows that several layers are applied - and one of them is fabric. For convenience, you can use shabby fabric.
In order to make it convenient to continue working further, the workpiece must be dried.
You can do this in the summer in the sun, in winter - on a battery, or in a not very hot oven (dried fruit cooking mode)
The blank of the body should be made with a margin of volume - be thinner than necessary - because another textured layer will be superimposed on top of it. It is for the textured layer that we will leave a margin of volume.


Additions must be applied to the dried workpiece. In our case, these are teeth on the back and folds on the stomach.
The teeth are cut out of thin cardboard. And for the folds, I used a dense linen fabric.
It also needs to be moistened with glue and draped. We leave everything to dry.
And proceed to the manufacture of wings, legs and handles.
For them we need copper wire. For legs, it is more convenient to take a three-core one - three fingers on the leg will turn out if you remove part of the braid at the end of the wire blank.
The membranes can be made by pasting the wire “fingers” with paper so that something resembling flippers is obtained.
For the wings, single-core copper wire is suitable.
The main requirement for wire for wings and legs is good rigidity and elasticity, it is on this that the stability of the figure and the strength of the wings depend.

We also make the frame of the wings according to the sketch, fastening pieces of wire with a thread, or thin wire.

Glue a piece of guipure onto the finished frame. The glue should be thick, with good adhesion. Here I use PVA wood glue.
When the guipure is firmly stuck, carefully cut off all the excess. For strength, it is possible to sew on guipure with a thread “in the girth” of the wire.
After that, cover all the wings with a layer of PVA. We dry everything.

Let's start making pens.

For fingers, you need a thin copper wire, which will be wrapped with strips of paper handkerchiefs. We do not cut the strips with scissors - but tear them by hand - the torn edge will be less noticeable on thin parts.
You need to apply glue on paper tapes very carefully, and it is better if it is in a bottle with a thin nose - just pour the glue with a thin thread over the entire paper tape and immediately wind it on the wire, do not use a brush.

I also want to add

that it is better to dry the finger blanks by placing them vertically, sticking one at a time into a stand made of a piece of foam.

Making fingers is the most painstaking part of the work. For whom it is difficult - you can make a pen without fingers - just fashion a simplified pen from paper pulp.

Well, and whoever wants to work hard - it's worth it, you see - such pens will greatly decorate the work, give it a special expressiveness ...
The handles are made in the simplified technique of Natasha Lopusova-Tomskaya.

The glued dried blanks of the fingers are collected in a brush and fastened together with the same strips of paper that were used to make the winding for the fingers.

For the head, we will cut a blank from building insulation ... The material is very pliable, it is easy to work with it.

This is the detail I got. Here we must not forget that you need to cut it, taking into account the fact that
that paper layers will be superimposed on it and its size will increase in the process of work. This means that when cutting out, we also take into account the volume reserve for subsequent layers.

We cover the workpiece with a layer of newspaper. And the top layer will be textured.

Textured layer - paper pulp moistened with PVA glue. For convenience, I roll it out with a rolling pin, placing it in a plastic bag.
In this form, it can be stored for several days until you use it all.

Carefully remove the mass from the film and apply to the workpiece. This helps us evenly cover the entire figure with a textured layer.
You need to apply it carefully, compacting with a dry bristle brush, trying to keep all the bumps, not smooth them out.

This is what we should end up with.

Connecting parts is easy. With an awl we make holes in the right place, drip thick glue into the hole and insert the details of the handles and legs into them. And for strength - we fill the voids in the hole with a papier-mache mass.
After drying, everything will be quite strong.

And then the most important thing begins - painting the figurine.
Here you will need all your imagination and imagination. There are a lot of color options!
But the most important thing is to emphasize the surface texture of the craft. For this, a technique such as multi-layer coloring is used.
The bottom layers will be darker, the top layers will be lighter.
In this case, the upper layers are applied along the “tops”, without completely overlapping the lower ones, so that the lower layers of paint are visible in the recesses of our textured layer.
This will give expressiveness, emphasize the relief of the surface.
There are usually 3-4 layers of paint.

And for even greater expressiveness, add cilia and a crest.

That's it!
On top of the figures you need to apply a protective layer (we remember that all this is just paper). Lacquer or wax will protect the paper from moisture.
Lacquer can be used for any household floor covering. I like wax more - work covered with wax is very pleasant to the touch and does not have a strong shine.
To cover the figures with wax, use wax floor mastic. After application, it must be allowed to dry and rub with a soft cloth.