Thread: Giant paper mache troll from artist Kim Graham

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Hello all,
Has anyone ever created something on this scale before.? This thing is amazing. I thought this might give people some good ideas for their own haunts and collections.

She is not a horror/halloween artist, but if this troll had an evil face...what a great greeter it would be for a haunted hayride or maze...

OMG!! thats amazing....
i would love just to have that in the front yard haaha!

Ive got this photo saved on my comp, but wasn't sure who made it. It's the raddest paper mache project ive ever seen!! I was thinking it would be cool with a bench to sit on across the lap.
I showed it to my friends little kids, their jaws just dropped when I told them how it was made. So cool.

Hello ct and cs... It's astounding.. Here is the link for how it was made..

http://kimgrahamstudios.com/troll.html

Also, here is another one of her pieces

I put this in another post. I'll put it here too:


I emailed Kim about the troll back in 2008. Here's what she wrote me back:

Thank your for your compliments. I had intended that the sequence of pictures on Kimgrahamstudios.com to be as informative as possible. It is wonderful if people can take the ideas and run with them. Here is an excerpt from another email describing the process....

What I would like to know is how you made it? I saw the pictures and the making of the frame (wood / carton) is quite clear, but then: the paper maché. What kind of glue did you use for it?

Wall paper paste. You can get it in 5 gallon buckets at the local hardware stores.

And the paper, is it special paper or just newspaper or something similar?

There were two types of paper. Brown construction paper is used by contractors to protect floors from paint and debris. Any hardware store here carries it. The other is toilet paper. This gave the really believable wood texture on the surface. Take a small handfull, dip it in the glue, rip it slightly, re-dip and apply.

Do you apply the glue at once on the paper or does it really have to be soaked?

Neither had to be soaked. We just dipped the construction paper in quickly, removed the excess glue off and applied it.

What techniques could be of use as well?

Honestly, one of the very best is this: Sculpt your basic form with aluminum foil glued together with hot glue. Mix ordinary white glue (or ordinary house paint) with fine sawdust to a paste. With a palette knife, apply the paste to the aluminum. This makes a very strong, wood like surface that is simply perfect for sculptures under 4 feet tall. It receives detail beautifully.
Also if you use the house paint and apply three coats of spar varnish, this will last for years out doors with bright colors

For going larger, metal lath (expanded metal) for a underlying structure is really good. This is the lightweight stuff that is used for concrete. You can bend it with your hands easily.

I intend to try a lot with styrofoam/polyurethane/polystyrene stuff. Do you have suggestions for that as well?

Avoid them. They are toxic and filthy to work with. Carved foam gets everywhere. The white bead stuff is impossible to clean out of a studio and the polystyrene is itchy and difficult to get off your skin. I really do not like them

thats awsome im going to make something that big for sure!!!!!

Thanks very much billman... That is very informative... Wow, she is a very humble and giving artist to share her information so freely....

I am pretty sure I have seen this work in person. It was in a studio in Seattle's
Fremont neighborhood.
It was real big!
Pete

http://silkmermaid.com/

She made a cool looking mermaid statue and the website is also a blog that shows the process from start to finish! While the materials used are not paper mache the process looks to be very close!

That's awesome! The details are fantastic!

I was wondering about how durable paper mache was after reading a bunch of tutorials & stuff and that interview answered my questions!