This wonderful little creature went on quite a journey on its way into existence. Here’s a closer look at the progress and how-to.
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG-20221112-WA0001.jpg?resize=861%2C1024&ssl=1)
I recently finished this paper mache sculpture after working on it for several months. It’s quite large for the amount of workspace I have, and I find it completely charming. What’s funny is that it didn’t start out to be this thing at all.
How to Build a Fantasy Creature from Paper Mache
This creature started out as something very different. I wanted to make something fairly large, and wanted to work with chicken wire as a fast way to create lightweight volumes. So I thought to make an elephant head, and started with the trunk, like so:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220710_202937.jpg?resize=1020%2C471&ssl=1)
It was easy enough to form the chicken wire into a large cone, but when I tried to bend it around a curve, it kept denting and crushing rather than curving. I found that stuffing it tightly with bubble wrap forced it to keep the cone shape as I formed the curve of the elephant trunk.
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220710_211143.jpg?resize=553%2C1024&ssl=1)
I then formed some empty chicken wire to make the base shape of the skull, as seen here.
Then, because I wanted to hang it on the wall as a trophy, I took some cardboard to make a flat base, as seen here:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220710_211225.jpg?resize=473%2C1024&ssl=1)
Then, because neither chickenwire nor bubblewrap are very glue-friendly surfaces, I wrapped the whole thing in cotton string to have something that would “take” for a first layer of paper mache.
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220711_171312.jpg?resize=1020%2C611&ssl=1)
The first layer of paper mache was pretty rough, of course, but all it needed to do was stay in place as a foundation for subsequent layers.
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220730_110237.jpg?resize=685%2C1024&ssl=1)
Because of the weight distribution of the piece, and the flat base, it was easier to work on it and store it in this position, with the trunk upright. I then tried to incorporate the wrinkles/creases that you would see in an elephant’s trunk, like so:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220806_180654.jpg?resize=714%2C1024&ssl=1)
Then, dear reader, a strange thing began to happen.
I think that because I had it sitting at this angle most of the time, working on it in this way, a second face began to emerge. Instead of the elephant head I thought I was working on, I started to see a different kind of creature altogether.
If you notice where the eyes were originally supposed to be, I think it’s easy to see the elephant face:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG-20220814-WA0005.jpeg?resize=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
But instead, I started to see the eyes and face like so:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG-20220814-WA0007.jpeg?resize=576%2C1024&ssl=1)
I started to see the trunk as a tail, and this creature as a kind of underwater axolotl/insect scorpion kind of thing. It became, all by itself, an alebrije!
So I decided that I can always make an elephant, but this might be my one chance to see what THIS creature evolves into, and pursued the new concept instead.
Making a Paper Mache Alebrije
The first thing I made was, of course, the feet, because I love making these little feet, and having the sharp little toes poking out from under the face was key to the new plan:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220815_195616.jpg?resize=562%2C1024&ssl=1)
(PS – does anyone want a tutorial on how to do these kind of claw toes? I love making them!)
When I painted it black, it really started to have its own personality:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220816_195919.jpg?resize=770%2C1024&ssl=1)
Then came many many weeks of making and adding scales. The scales were a multi-step process, that consisted of:
- Buying wooden party spoons from the grocery store
- Painting the entire bowl of the spoons midnight blue, one by one
- Using a dry brush to paint the base and high part of the spoon bowls black
- Stacking the spoons up in overlapping rows, so that only a half-moon of the tips was exposed
- Painting the half-moon tips iridescent green
- Moving each spoon in the overlapping row to expose more of the tips, but still in a half-moon shape
- Painting each tip with Winsor & Newton iridescent medium
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220827_183855.jpg?resize=473%2C1024&ssl=1)
Stacking the spoons in long overlapping rows made this process much faster, but each row could still only stack nicely with 10-12, spoons. After they were painted, I cut off the spoon handles and used hot glue to attach them to the alebrije in staggered rows. Altogether, I think I used about 300 spoons.
I also gradually changed the amount of green over the course of its body, with a lot of green at the tip of the tail, and no green at all on the back of the head:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20220909_173915.jpg?resize=473%2C1024&ssl=1)
For the face, I decided to try making flat, iguana-style scales rather than these overlapping fish-style scales. I had never done that technique before. To make the face scales:
- I took heavier-weight black paper
- I cut it into irregular, rounded shapes of various sized
- I glued them to the face, with small scales around the eyes and large ones for the “cheeks”, and filled in the other spaces like a puzzle
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/20221111_091304.jpg?resize=1020%2C898&ssl=1)
I then dry-brushed midnight blue paint over the face scales, trying to create more highlights and dimension. To be honest, I don’t love how the face scales came out, but I did learn a lot to apply to future monsters.
The last step was using tissue paper to make the “frilly parts” at the ears, tail tip, and top of the hind legs. I am also a bit ambivalent about how these came out, but I like the top of the hind legs quite a lot:
![](https://i0.wp.com/thereformschool.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/IMG-20221112-WA0003.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1)
The final detail, as I have been doing with almost everything lately, was to add a sheet of felt to the bottom of the figure, so it sits nicely on surfaces and doesn’t scuff/wobble.
All in all, I find this little creature extremely charming, and had a lot of fun making it. I am glad I followed my imagination.