About my paper technique

 By: Andy Ferrari    18:43  cartapesta, masks, modeling, paper, paper mache, papier mache, plaster, pulp, sculpture, strips, technique   No comments

What is cartapesta?

Well, basically, it's italian for papier-mâché. But the technique I use for the masks was adapted, to give a better finish. When people ask how I make the masks it's always a bit complicated to explain that cartapesta is not exactly the most commonly known form of papier-mâché, which uses  pulp (paper dissolved in water to make a paste). It is actually made with strips, but still not exactly as you'll see on papier-mâché tutorials.

Most of the pulp and strip techniques you'll find online are quite messy. You have to use a lot of water, and a lot of glue, and lose a bowl forever by filling it with adhesive and macerated or striped paper. And have glue all over your hands through the whole process. That's a no no for me.

The technique I use I learned from the amazing mask maker Agostino Dessì. You can see pictures of the courses he gives on his facebook page.

So how is it done?

• To start we need a negative of the form (a negative means it is a concave, you'll be seeing the inside of the form). It will look like this:

• The strips are molded one by one inside the plaster. I use a squirt bottle to moisten them as much as I need before putting them down, so no big bowls full of water. After a few were adjusted to the plaster, I put on some glue with a paintbrush. It will start looking like this:

I was using used coffee filters for this one

• After I completed the form I put on a coat of glue on all of it and let it dry

• And voilá. When it's really hot I can take it out in about 5 to 6 hours, but usually I'll leave it overnight. After that it will receive a coat of glue on the outside, which was facing the plaster, and after a good dry my fingers will die trimming the edges and opening the eyes (the paper becomes so hard, you have no idea)

That's about it! Takes a long time of practice and experimentation, but it's a very nice technique that makes smooth, strong, and durable pieces.

Hope you enjoyed the post, and see you next time ;)

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I've got an atlas in my hand

 By: Andy Ferrari    10:49  cartapesta, chita flowers, florence, handmade, hydrangeas, masks, moon, paper, sugar cane   2 comments

Ok! Now that I finally did that post about Sam, I can go on (I promissed I wouldn't post anything till I finished it, or I would be risking leaving it behind for too long...)

So in the last post about the masks, Saisons de L'esprit wasn't even finished yet, and I worked a few new things, that are already on flickr and facebook.

I experienced with some handmade, natural fibers paper, and it worked really well. I had a piece of paper stored since I was on my 3rd year of college (I don't even remember what it's made of) that I used for La Lune (the moon shaped one). The final result was weirdly similar to glass fiber. For the other base shown in the picture below, I used sugar cane paper, and it's the base I used for my first Florence, which are the ones with the hydrangeas applications.

La Lune already went to a new home, this is looking like now:

So, as could probably guess, the second news is that i started using the natural dried hydrangeas, and this is what I got:

The second one is not done yet, as I made her a bit too big for the amount of flowers I had. Waiting for them to come from Curitiba.

And, for a more vibrant ending, the chita flowers I found! I got them at the City Market, they came from Bahia:

Now, unfortunately I couldn't find out exactly where/from who they came from, so I'm trying to make some of my own, though I didn't quite achieve the beautiful form these ones have yet.

I already have a green base for some of them, also on sugar cane paper, and another one only in my head for now, still looking for a paper in the color I want(blue...but not just any blue, a very specific blue. I can be too picky sometimes, but well, she is going to London. And I actually already got her name, but that I'll explain when she's done ;]).

Oh, and there's a possibility of ceramic masks in a near future, let's see how it goes.

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Like when were children

 By: AndyFerrari    19:16  alliance française, ancient, french books, literature, masks, mubbins, paper, swallow   No comments

I have mask neeeews! But first look at this cutie! It's a swallow, and it was standing on the edge of my balcony. I can never get pics of birds cause they fly away before I can get my camera, but this one stayed put  as I came closer and closer, completely posing for the camera haha I even reached for it as it let me get so close, to check if it was ok, but yes, it was just fine :)

Now about the masks, we were talking at Alliance Française about the end of the year party, which will be with an expo about french literature and our class will be in charge of Science-fiction and all. So I thought, what if I try to make masks with ancient book pages? So as I've been to Curitiba, I went to the second-hand bookstore and got some books that looked a bit worn out. 

The book pages worked beautifully, and molded with no problems. I was afraid it would not work, since I tried using newspaper once and it wouldn't attach properly to the mold, causing bubbles. I already demolded them, but they stayed in the workshop to dry, so no pics yet.

I'm also making paper rosettes to apply to some of them. 

(I've been all about yellow lately....before it was blue for about a whole semester.

 Wonder if those color changes make any sense)

And, oh, the cuteness. My mom brought Mubbins from Mubbinland (aka, a store in Paris)

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