Mother Gorilla : 9 Steps

The following is a step by step tutorial on how to make a Jungle scene on a budget.

List of Materials

7 empty one gallon milk or water plastic jugs Free after drinking the contents

Dollar store Duck Tape $3.50

4 One litter water bottles

1 roll of newspaper paper or gather newspaper sheets $1 or $0.75 for the day edition

1 Flour package $1.00 dollar store

Water

2 cans of black spray paint from he dollar store or Walmart $2.00

1 can of white paint ( I already had it so no expense but if you need to get one add $1.00 more)

1 black and 1 brown markers or colors. $0 since i already had them.

1 Foam or card board to fill in body I used top of egg cartoon boxes

3 Great Stuff cans $2.50 each average so $7.50

9 hours on and off

So far = $16 By approximately give or take a few cents.

Step 1: Frame or Body Shape

Tape the empty and clean gallon jugs.

You can glue them if you desire but I was in a hurry.

add more duck tape to stabilize the frame.

Add the egg toppers or card boards to fill in the shape.

Notice how I added the arms also attached with duck tape.

I did this so I did not had to use more of the expandable Great Stuff foam.

Step 2: FOAMING

Add the foam and make sure to follow the shape of the body. I place the body facing up so that gravity could take its course and shape the body.

After it dries preferably 12 hours turn it and do another area. In this case I used the second can for the head and shoulders.

Wait at least 12 hours to shape it.

Step 3: Papier Mache and Shaping

In this step is when we get our hands dirty.

First use a knife to carve the foam into shape. the Foam dries without shape so we need to shape it.

After you are satisfied with the shape we need to start shaping it with paper.

Prepare the paste by mixing flour and water to glue consistency. Use warm water and mix. The more you mix it the best it is to work with.

Cut the newspaper to shreds and start pasting them around the foam.

I also crumbled some paper to use it as modeling clay to shape the chest and face of the Gorilla.

Wait for it to dry at least 24 hours.

Step 4: Hands!

While the paper dries, I started on the hands. I used left over Styrofoam

I shaped them with a knife and sanding paper.

Since I was going to use spray to paint the gorilla I proceeded to paint them in this step because most spray paint melt Styrofoam.

I used acrylics in this case.(No extra because I already had the paint).

After the paint dried on the hands, I attached them with hot glue and more newspaper to give shape.

Waited another 12 hours.

Step 5: PAINT

In a regular world, we would have more time, but I had to turn this by the next day....So I started to paint it.

Used one can in this step of black paint.

Good thing we had sun this day, It had been raining and cold this particular week. The weather affects the drying time of the flour based paste.

The HORROR.

The gorilla felt and it broke an arm and the face got a smashed a bit.

At this moment I used the extra can of Great Stuff to reinforce the arms and refill the smashed belly.

Fortunately!

Great stuff dried fast and I reshaped it and covered with a thin layer of paper, while these sections dried I continued working on the details for the face.

Step 6: Face Details

While the arms and belly were drying, I started working on the details of the face.

Worked with brown and yellow markers and a hint of green and brown, all watercolor markers, but you can also use watered down acrylics or watercolors, after all it is paper.

With a brush I painted some hairs and wrinkles around the eyes and nose as well as used some reds and pinks to detail the mouth.

The smashed nose bothered me a lot but there was no time to sculpt another one with paper.

Step 7: Final and Extras!

After the arms semi dried using a heat gun and a fan, this was already late on the fourth day. I continued to used the second layer of black spray paint to cover the patches of the arms and belly.

It was time for delivery!.

I used a recycled Barrel prop and got three dollar store poster boards to work on the ambiance for the Gorilla.

I drew and cutout monkey silhouettes as well as a zebra a toucan, a frog and a snake to create the scene.

Some of the girls at the office brought in plants and stuffed animals to fill the jungle scene.

Added some plants and there we have it. A jungle scene on a budget.

****Note the stuffed animals and plants are on loan and did not took place on the crafting.