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Some older Paper Mache Dragons

This is just a page with photos of a few dragons. Most are old photos, from back in the day when cameras used film and you had to get them processed at “One Hour Photo” (which always took a full day), resurrected from boxes.

I thought I’d start with my first paper mache dragon, made in 1980-ish. His name was Punk. He was supposed to be a young dragon, almost fresh from the egg.

Punks stands about 5 feet tall. I still have him in my studio, although he has fallen into severe disrepair. In fact, I just took his eyes to use for my latest iteration of Drogon (the young adult version). It’s a bit sacrilegious to do such a thing. But, it’s also kind of the circle of life when it comes to paper mache art.

Now the second paper mache dragon I made was his mother. It was also the first drogon trophy I made. I wanted it to look like his mother, big and protective. She also had to have features that would lead you to believe that punk would some day grow up and like her. Now the photo of punk is terrible by today’s standards. He actually had elements of orange and red on him. And she had elements of green on her that matched her son’s colors.

I am severely disappointed that I never got a photo of them displayed together, as they were intended. He stood underneath her in my grungy, little, monster-making apartment by the zoo. She hovered over him protectively. They were a perfect pair of dragons.

Some other older dragons include the one that hangs over my bathtub.

A little closer look.

And then there is this red dragon. It was very large and very heavy. I donated this to a school that is housed in a public building at the base of the Space Needle (in Seattle, where I live). They are the “Center School Dragons”. It is permanently displayed outside the front door of the school. Sorry, this is a terrible photo.

And another older project, a paper mache “Sea Dragon”. It is obviously based upon those little sea dragons that live in the sea.

As opposed to another paper mache Sea Dragon that I made within the last couple of years. It is still my current, favorite dragon.

I really like the baby in the nest.

Speaking of babies…here is a dragon I made as a commission . It was supposed to be a “toddler”.

Here is another older project that I made for my daughter, Allison. It is titled “Family Jewels”

I forgot. Here is another very old paper mache dragon. I show it because it has a very different shape than most of my dragons. I wanted it to look more like a dinosaur, a raptor. Hence the short neck and stubby head.

I do want to mention another little dragon I made in conjunction with a baby lion. I call this project “Parallel Paper Mache”. I tried to maintain parallelism in every aspect of the two pieces, the same basic shape, the same look on their faces, the same attitude. It was quite a challenge. I think it turned out very well.

I’ll end with a notable project. This are not terribly old, but interesting. Here is a piece I call “Double Trouble.”

The challenge here was to entwine two dragons.

Your Paper Mache – Page 9

I’m always thrilled when people use my books and videos and to make something they love. Here are more photos sent to me from people doing paper mache. If you would like to share a paper mache project on this site, send it to me at: dan@gourmetpapermache.com. Note: Partly because of my trophy videos that went viral (and my books showing how to make them) I’ve received many photos of paper mache dragon trophies. They are all great. There are quite a few on this page.

Here are the first two dragon trophies made by Andy Matthews. Excellent work!

Andy also made this great Panda for his nephew as part of an endangered species project.

Below is Hunter Wickersham’s. I love these colors. Great look on the face. Fabulous!

Of course I get other wonderful paper mache project photos as well. Here is Laura Moleman’s adorable little elephant.

And here is Dara’s paper mache “IMEddie” head prop. Very cool.

Here is Jim Popp’s paper mache “Voltathrax the Wicked”. Great job!

Not all paper mache trophies are dragons. Check out Ashley’s paper mache unicorn! Wonderful!

Bob Sigsbury runs a pawn shop with many animal trophies hanging on the walls. He decided to make his own trophy, a paper mache dragon! Perfect!

Bob also made a fantastic paper mache pumpkin. Every day is Halloween when you have something like this!

Look at Laura Moleman’s first paper mache project, a very cute elephant that she gave to a little girl. Adorable!

Below is Vicki’s paper mache dragon trophy. Very nice job! It looks like a brother or sister is close by!

Here is Catharine Kennedy’s paper mache dragon. It’s tricky to get a dragon to stand. Nice job!

And here is Catharine’s second dragon.

And her third!

This is Arnie’s paper mache “ice” dragon trophy, complete with crystals. Cool (literally)!

And this is Kel’s paper mache dragon trophy. I love the colors, and the intensity, of this piece! Excellent!

And look at Arial and Leah in the new paper mache witch masks that their dad, Steven made! Adorable.

Click here to go to the next “Your Photo Page”.

Your Paper Mache- Page 8

I love it when kids do paper mache art. The teachers who do it with kids are saints in my book. I know how hard (and messy) it is to lead a class of kids through a paper mache unit. But the kids love it, and I think the experience does wonders for their artistic self-awareness.

Kathy Nelson is an art teacher in Texas. She had her kids making paper and cloth mache projects. Of course she made one for herself! We’ll start with that one (along with Kathy). Fantastic!

Here’s a shot of the whole creature.

Here is another paper mache trophy made by one of Kathy’s students. Dramatic!

And look at these cool little creatures from Kathy’s class! Aren’t babies cute!

And here is a beautiful mouth from one of the kid’s projects.

Along with a paper mache bird-like beast. Excellent!

Another student in Kathy’s class made this monster on a plaque. Check out that mouth full of teeth!

And another great monster from Kathy’s class.

Finally, a really cool paper mache snake-like beast made by one of Kathy’s high school kids. Magnificent!

Andrea De Luca, a teacher at Fata Carabine Center in Geneva, Italy, had her students make these masks. Wonderful!

And look at these 5 and 6 year students in Hanoi Vietnam. They are Kate’s students. Can you find Kate? They read Sendak’s book, Wild Things, and looked at my work. Then they made their own “Wild Things” masks. Adorable

And more Wild Things

And more

And more.

And more on the playground.

Another teacher friend of mine, Pat Rainey (can you find Pat?), does a paper mache “Screamer” unit with her students. Here are here little monsters! Adorable!

Click here to go to the next “Your Photo Page”.

Your Paper Mache – Page 4

I’m always thrilled when people use my books and videos and to make something they love. Here are more photos sent to me from people doing paper mache. If you would like to share a paper mache project on this site, send it to me at: dan@gourmetpapermache.com.

Below is Joey’s paper mache “Jabberwock”. It is an amazing articulated head. The jaws will open and close!

Below is Liza with her pet paper mache dragon! This is her first paper mache project! Love it!

Sandy’s paper mache “Kylie”. Can’t tell which dog is cuter! Okay, both are adorable.

This is Jeremy’s paper mache “Critter”. Personality plus!

Jeremy is also a master at paper mache zombies. Here is his “Toxic Zombie”

Bailey and paper mache paper mache Nibbles

Bailey and Calvin are brother and sister (Mike’s kids). Above is Bailey with her paper mache “Nibbles”. Below is Calvin with “Marlin”. These two photos are a couple of my favorites. This is Julie’s paper mache (articulated!) dragon, “Dimi”

My good friend Suz makes the most fantastic shoes…out of paper mache! Well, she alters shoes using paper mache. I just think they are the coolest things! (And Suz is cool too!)

Fish and Shoe

And her Giraffe shoe. Magnificent!

And of course Suz would have a dragon shoe!

See more of Suz’s work here.

Below is Maria’s little paper mache dragon named “Genaro JeJeJeJe”. Great job!

Here is Nessa’s first (amazingly) paper mache project. A Cheshire Cat. Fantastic!!

My friend Mona has made some great paper mache projects.

I really love this little guy riding a turtle! It’s called “Faster Faster!” So much fun!

Monas paper mache two headed turtle with driver

Mona also made this little guy called “Franky the Dentist”. Mona’s cat loves it!

Check out Sabine’s giant paper mache Doll! And her first paper mache dragon (below).

Jean made a paper mache goldfish. Cool!

Up close. And Jean’s paper mache Seahorse below.

Oh…and she made a paper mache dragon coming out of a wall!

Check out Sonja’s full size, paper mache “Tinkerbelle” pinata. So cool! But I would hate to hit this with a bat!

From the back

Click here to go to the next “Your Photo Page”.

Paper Mache Unipossum

People keep asking me to make a paper mache unicorn. Sorry. I just don’t want to. Actually, I did make one a long time ago. The publishers of my Simple Screamer book wanted me to make one project that showed you could use the techniques for something “cute” (or at least, not ugly). So I made a unicorn. I might get brave and post an old photo of it. I just never liked it. Anyway, I decided that a good compromise would be to make a “uni” something. An opossum seemed like a good idea. So I did. Here it is. If you would like to see the time-lapse video of this being made, then check out my Youtube video, here.

Your Paper Mache – Page 3

I’m always thrilled when people use my books and videos and to make something they love. Here are more photos sent to me from people doing paper mache. If you would like to share a paper mache project on this site, send it to me at: dan@gourmetpapermache.com.

First, let me introduce my friend from Turkey, Salih Bugra Algan with his amazing red paper mache dragon! Some people use falcons, others use dragons! Wonderful! You can find Salih here.