Page 8 - Creating Whimsical Characters Using Simple Wood and Paper Forms, Wire, Paperclay, and Encaustic Medium

Building Armatures

You can use any unfinished, porous material and/or wire mesh to

build armatures for supporting paperclay sculptures. Many of these
items can be found at hobby stores (Michael’s, Beverly’s Fabrics &

Crafts), hardware stores (Home Depot, Ace Hardware), and online
art suppliers (Dick Blick). Below is a list of supplies and materials

I’ve used.

Elmer’s Wood Glue Max - This glue is a must have. It’s strong, it’s
waterproof, it sands well, and you can stain or paint it.

Wax paper - For protecting surfaces when gluing parts together.

Card stock - For sculpting thin objects like paint palettes.

Cardboard tubes in all sizes - inserts from rolls of paper, mailing
tubes, etc.

Laser-cut cardboard decorative shapes

Wood sticks for stirring house paint.

Chop sticks (round and square), wooden skewers, ornate wooden
toothpicks

Dowels in various shapes (round, square, rectangle) and sizes

Unfinished wooden shapes - eggs, wheels, balls, beads, knobs

Unfinished wooden people shapes in various sizes and shapes

Unfinished wooden blocks in assorted sizes

These sets offer an economic way to get a nice assortment of wood

• Midwest Balsa Bag Assortment
• Midwest Economy Wood Project Bags Basswood Pieces

• Midwest Mini Carving Blocks Bag

Cardboard - to mock up items that a sculpture has to interact with
(guitar, bass). This allows you to get sculptural details right without

messing up delicate props.

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