Bunny+Cheetah

Paper mache

27th June, 2023

Elandi Van Jaarsveld

In the realm of the imagination, where light and darkness intertwine, I present to you my creation—a captivating dragon chimera of a cheetah. This extraordinary piece serves as an embodiment of the contrasting aspects of my personality, melding both my dark and fierce nature with my inherent light and gentle side, represented by the remarkable qualities of a cheetah and a bunny. The cheetah, known for its swiftness and agility, reflects the deep recesses of my soul, harboring untamed energy and a tenacious spirit, while the bunny emerges, representing the softer facets of my being, embodying innocence, purity, and a boundless capacity for love and compassion. Through the artistic techniques of paper mache and acrylic paint, I sculpted the contours of this mythical creature, giving it a three-dimensional presence, each layer of paper mache becoming a vessel for my emotions and thoughts. With acrylic paint, I added vibrant hues and delicate brushstrokes, reflecting the interplay of light and dark in my soul. Regrettably, this creation remains unfinished, a testament to life’s interruptions, yet even in its incomplete state, it stands as a reminder of the ceaseless pursuit of self-expression and the ever-evolving nature of my artistry, whispering a tale of unfulfilled potential and the untapped depths of my own creative soul.

This week I was barely at school since I had much stuff going on. I am thinking of going during I week to finish up if my marks go down. I did a lot during my short time but I feel like I could have used my time better and finished in time. Here is my project maybe the final maybe not.

This week I was not at school for some days so I tried to do as much as possible with little time.

I finished the inside of the ears by painting the white fabric and then using white glue to glue it down and small clips to secure it while I cut the excess fabric off. I then finished the insides of the mouth and I started with the nose and then next week I have to paint the cheetah print on the nose and finish all the mouth details and then I can start doing the fur. I also still have to make the eyes so I am hoping to be finished by next week Friday I still have 2 weeks to work on the inquiry. Struggles this week were little time and the fabric was kind of difficult to fold perfectly without getting funny-looking folds in the ears when it was already painted which is why I used tiny clips to secure them in place and used my time wisely. What went well is the painting I really liked the way the paint turned out and also the nose part looks realistic and I cant wait to see the end result.

This week I started painting the ears while I was waiting for the mouthpieces to dry. I tried to water down the acrylic paint to make it a bit more realistic and tried to make colors that matched the reference pictures. I used a very thin brush to make the veins in the ears and make them stand out a bit. I used white paint to stick the fabric to the paper-matched headpiece. After that, I used clips to secure it in place until it is all dried up. I am going to cut it probably tomorrow and leave a bit of extra fabric hanging over so when I go to add the fur it looks as realistic as possible. I also started painting the top half of the mouth but I will continue on with that on Friday.

Next week I am hoping to finish the mouthpieces and the insides of the ears so I can start working on adding the fur and attaching all the parts.

The teeth are out of the kiln and ready to be glued into the mouthpiece. I started gluing with a hot glue gun which was silly because that was not exactly what was supposed to happen. I was supposed to do it with white glue but it is all right we will start fixing it by using the white fabric and white glue. It is like what we did with paper mache where you dip in the newspaper but this time It is white fabric and white glue. I had help from Mx. Vittie to explain the process and teach me how to make it look like the teeth are as realistic as possible coming out of the gums.

Next week I am hoping to finish gluing the white fabric and then start painting and making the tongue if I do end up making one. If I am productive and finish it I could start working on the ears maybe.

This week I was only here for a day since I was sick but I still would say I got a lot done during this day since I tried to be as productive as possible. I finished the paper mache on the ears and head so that I can start working on the mouth next week.

This week I worked on cutting and paper mache so I could get the right form for my mouth. I had to keep trimming the sides to get the right form with scissors. Then I made the teeth and let them bone dry to go into the kiln to be bisque fired.

Next week I am hoping to finish the fabrication of the mouth and the fur.

This week I started on my dragon chimera. I have settled on a bunny and a cheetah. I started by making the newspaper balls with paper mache, newspaper, and masking tape. This part was easier than expected, I just crumbled newspaper and then taped it into a circular shape bigger than my hands. I made three of these one for the head one for the mouth and one for the neck. Then I started on the ears and made the main shape out of foil and then paper mache over the taped-up foil. I then taped the ears to the head and next week I am hoping to finish the main pieces of paper mache.