Page 18 - Creating Whimsical Characters Using Simple Wood and Paper Forms, Wire, Paperclay, and Encaustic Medium

Making a long thin character makes building the armature even

more of a challenge. The small body doesn’t leave a lot of room for
inserting dowels for two arms and a neck. If this happens to your

form, build and attach the arms and legs first. When the glue is dry,
redrill the hole for the neck and glue the head and neck in place.

If the character has wings:

• You need to determine the kind and size, develop a paper

pattern, and cut and bend where required.

• Don’t attach the wings until all parts are assembled, glued, and
dried.

• If the body form is large enough, you can tack the wings in place

with a metal wood staple and then apply wood glue.

• If the body form is too small to tack with a metal wood staple,
use wire thread or thin wire and a push pin to secure the wings in
place and then apply wood glue.

We’ve included two pages with examples of wing patterns. You can

download easy to print versions of Simple Wing Patterns and

Complex Wing Patterns from our website at southofharmony.com/
news.

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