Paper Mache Terracotta Warrior

My 6th grade students were studying ancient China and the Qin Dynasty. I decided the best way to gain students' interests would be to build a life-sized terracotta warrior. This warrior was a collaborative construction by my students and myself. Students were able to view and participate in a wide variety art and construction related skills. This project helped my students see what a daunting task it would have been to make just a single warrior, let alone an entire army of warriors.

Supplies

Wood Base:

• (2) 2"x4'"x8' pine wood
• 1 2'x2'x 1/2" plywood
• Screws
• (4) Casters - to make it easy to move
• (2) 5" "L" Brackets

Warrior:

• Plastic Wrap
• 10-30 Rolls clear packaging/book tape
• Masking tape
• Stocking cap
• News paper (lots and lots of it)
• Cardboard (some large pieces and some small)
• Elmers glue (glueing cardboard pieces together)
• Paper mache paste (we use Elmer's Paper Mache Art Paste), a mixture of Elmer's Glue and water, wallpaper paste, or ever a mixture of water and flour will work
• Masking tape
• Utility knife and cutting mat
• Wood Spheres for eyes (optional)
• Yarn
• Wooden or flexible metal ruler
• Scissor

Paint:

• Primer
• Terracotta
• Brown
• Cream

Step 1: Building the Base, Shell, and Filling the Shell.

To build the base, you will need to:

1. Construct a 2'x2' square using 2"x4"wood. I also placed a piece of 2x4 down the center of the box to add support.
2. Place a layer of 2'x2'x1/2" ply wood on the top of the square to make a platform.
3. Attach casters.
4. Mount the remaining piece of 2"x4" (I would cut it to just under 5") to the center of the platform using the "L" brackets. This will be the post that will build the warrior around.

Building the shell:

YOU WILL NEED ADULT SUPERVISION ON THIS STEP! You will also need several people to help and 1 volunteer to be wrap (someone who doesn't get claustrophobic easily). I would also direct a fan on this person as it can get a little warm. The volunteer will need to wear snug clothing that they wouldn't mind getting cut (it usually doesn't happen, but it could by accident). I completed the shell in 2 parts (the body and the head) and then attached them together.

These steps need to be done fairly quickly so the volunteer doesn't get too warm. If need be, you can create all of the major parts in sections (arms, legs, and torso) and then put them together.

1. Wrap the volunteer tightly with plastic wrap (not so tight to cut off circulation.) You can use a little tape to hold the plastic together. Cover everything from the bottom of the feet up to where the head and neck meet. Make sure there are no exposed areas (or tape will stick to those places making it difficult to remove the shell).
2. Wrap several layers of clear tape around where the plastic is placed. Wrap fairly tightly making sure you push into crevasse like between fingers. Once you have enough layers that the pieces are fairly stiff, then you can begin cutting the shell off of the volunteer.
3. Have an adult slide a ruler down the back of the neck. Using scissors, cut a line down the back of the neck and down the back, moving the ruler down as you go. If you keep the scissor blade on the ruler and cut carefully you will not cut the volunteer or their clothing. You may need to cut down the back of the arms and legs a little bit in order to slide them out.
4. You will repeat these steps for the head and neck. Use an old stocking cap to cover all of the hair, so it doesn't get cut. I would cover the neck again so that when you attach the body to the head, the two necks will overlap creating better support. Cover everything except the nose, DO NOT COVER THE NOSE!

Stuffing the shell:

1. In middle of the bottom of the body, cut a hole slightly smaller than the end of a 2x4. You will slide the body over the support post, making the body stand.
2. Take newspaper and stuff the feet tightly, but night so right that you change the shape of the shell. You will continue this method until you have the she completely stuffed. Make sure you use tape to close the seem so the newspaper stays in.
3. Take some tape and connect the feet to the platform, making sure it cannot move.
4. Now, overlap the neckpiece of the head with the neckpiece of the body. Stuff and take their two pieces together. You will need to use some paper and tape to form and seal the missing nose.

Step 2: Forming the Body and Details.

Your next steps will be creating the uniform and details of the entire sculpture.

1. I began by making the robe/coat expand slightly at the bottom by rolling cardboard along the edge of a table to give you a nice curved piece of cardboard. I place these piece. on the sculpture and tape them into place as well as stuffing them with newspaper.
2. I roll, layer, and tape cardboard to create the "V"on the coat and the shoulder pieces. I began to use making tape at this point because the paper mache glue that we will be using will stick better to masking tape.
3. I crumple, packed, and tape newspaper to create the collar, facial features, and headdress. Many of the smaller features (and the mustache you will see later) were made by using the following technique.
   1. I use a decorative "rope" - Take a half sheet of newspaper and twist it tightly (not so tight that it rips , but tight enough to be about roughly 1/2 inch thick). Tape this rope tightly so it doesn't come loose. Now, using masking tape, I formed and taped these features into place.
4. I cut holes where the eyes will be and and place a wooden sphere in each socket, then crumple, form, and tape newspaper to form the eyelids.
5. For the hair, I braided yarn over a piece of cardboard (it had 3-4 layers of cardboard to create depth).
6. Once I had the hair piece braided I attached it to the back of the head.
7. I then covered the hair with a layer of paper mache glue, so the year would harden.
8. I cut, rolled, layered, and taped cardboard to create the chinstrap for the headdress.
9. Before adding paper mache, covered everything that had packaging tape or newspaper exposed.

Step 3: Paper Mache

Now comes the fun part, adding the paper mache.

1. I use Elmer's Paper Mache Art Paste, but any paper mache past will do (yes even homemade paste). Also, you will need a lot of torn paper strips (roughly 2.5 -3 inches x 5-6 inches). We did put a layer of plaster guaze before the paper mache in specific areas to strengthen them,

I always start on the bottom of my sculptures and work my way up.

1. Dip a strip of paper into the paste.
2. Using your fingers like scissors, slowly pull the strip through your fingers removing any excess glue.
3. The paper strip should be damp, but not dripping wet.
4. Place the strip on to the sculpture and "massage" into place, removing any air bubbles.
5. repeat these steps, making sure you slightly overlap each strip of paper.
6. Continue this process until the entire sarcophagus is covered (I would recommend 3-4 layers, allowing each layer to dry). Details.

***After giving the chest area a layer of paper mache, I went in and added the individual chest plates and then covered those with paper mache.

Step 4: Painting

For this final step, I layered terracotta, cream and brown paint to the warrior depth.

1. First, I painted the entire statue with a layer of the cream color. This will help strengthen and seal the paper mache.
2. Next, I blended layers of the terracotta and the cream. I sponge painted some of the terracotta over the previous layers to give the sculpture some texture.
3. Finally, I added layers of brown and bended them into the cream color whenever needed. The brown will give the warrior shadows and depth.
4. I then sprayed a clear coat over the entire sculpture