Environmentally friendly faux animal
heads by Cheryl Olson, published in the October 2017
It was love at
first sight! I walked into a trendy home décor store while on vacation and
spotted it. “It” was the bust of a 10-point buck, white, shiny, and brilliant. At
that moment I knew I wanted him in my home, but, more importantly, I knew I
wanted to develop a lesson so my students could create and sculpt their own
similar animal busts. I was hopeful that
my excitement over this unique design piece would spread to my students. Two
years later, the excitement has not dwindled. Each semester my 8th
grade students choose an animal to represent in a faux beastie head.
Preliminary Work
I created a PowerPoint
presentation with many examples of traditional taxidermy heads and a review of the
history of animal trophies. This showed many examples of the trendy home décor
animal busts that are made with many different materials, such as wood, paper
mache, and cloth. This prompts my students to think about the type of animal head
they would like to create. I encourage them to choose an animal that interests
them, one that isn’t too small.
Students next research
images on the Internet to find visuals that will help them plan their
three-dimensional pieces. I request that students sketch front, side, and back
views of their chosen animals. I also encourage students to look for
images of the animal’s skull, as seeing the underlying bone structure helps in
building the armature or interior framework of the head.
Constructing the Wall Mount
Students begin
construction by cutting out the back panel that will support the animal head
and hang flat against the wall. They first need to determine the size and shape
of the back panel that will hang flat against the wall. The shape of the animal
head/neck area determines the shape that is cut out.
For example, a
panda’s head is round so it would need a large round piece of cardboard. Any type of animal with antlers would need an
elongated oval to provide space for the neck to be mounted. Alternatively,
students may choose to just use a square piece of cardboard. Students use thick,
sturdy, flat pieces of cardboard for the back panel. I always encourage
students to cut pieces out larger then they think they will need, as making
pieces smaller is always easier then cutting new pieces.
Wiring the Back
The next step
is to attach a wire hook so the panel can be hung on the wall. This step must
be done before the armature is attached to the back cardboard panel. I use the
sharp ends of a compass to puncture two holes about one to two inches apart at
least two inches away from the top of the back panel so the hook will not show
when the piece is hung. Once the holes are punched, students place a piece of
wire to through the holes to create a loop or hook on one side and then twist
the wire together many times on the opposite side to secure it. The wire hook or loop should not hang above
the cardboard. The side of the back panel where the wire is twisted together is
the side the armature is built on.
Creating the Armature
Students are
now ready to form their armatures. They build the forms using lightly crumpled
up newspapers, cardboard from cereal boxes, and lots of masking tape. Students
tend to want to ball up the newspaper tightly, but lightly crumpled newspaper
is easier to work with. Cardboard from cereal boxes works well for ears, fangs,
horns, and the like because it is strong but folds, bends, and cuts easily with
scissors. I have the students cut and fold tabs at the base of parts of the
head, so it is easier to tape them down.
Paper Mache
After the
armature is completed, the paper mache process begins. I use a paper cutter to
cut large amounts of newspaper into strips ahead of time. For students with larger
animal busts, I cut pieces that are a little larger. I require 2 to 3 layers of newspaper and it
is important that each layer is given a day to dry. For the final layer of paper mache, students
can use scrapbook paper with patterns or designs, or solid construction paper.
(I have even printed off sheet music for students to use on their final layer.) Students are responsible for cutting this
paper into stripes or shapes such as triangles, to fit in the ears, and circles
for checks and eyes. Some students even cut out spots or other unique shapes to
add to their heads.
Finishing Touches
Once the final
layer of the paper mache is dry students then paint their projects with a water-based
sealer. This ensures that all the paper
pieces will stay flat and smooth and gives a shiny finished look. All that
remains now is the amazing display and audience reactions as the faux animal
heads are hung together.
Cheryl Olson is an art teacher at Granada
East School in Phoenix, Arizona.
Web Link
https://www.etsy.com/market/faux_animal_heads
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