Mardi gras mermaid giant puppet

Start mold with upside down bowl. I added some to the base for the chin.

Sculpted clay face on top of bowl.

Cover clay mold with plastic wrap. Now ready to papermache with cornstarch paste.

Five layers papermache, three paper bag,and two newspaper.

Hand mold.

The only tools I use to construct the body. The more unusual staple gun (Arrow P22) works like a traditional paper stapler except it can handle a lot more like cloth and cardboard.

Backside of mermaid body, you can see the cross like skeleton that is attached to the back pack.

Finished face.

Moving along in Muses parade.

This is my giant mermaid puppet I created for the Muses parade Mardi Gras 2015. It was my intention to document a play by play of creating this puppet but my working process is a bit chaotic and of course I forgot to take pictures. If you are interested in more detailed instructions for building your own puppet got to;   http://puppetco-op.org