It's LeeAnn and I am back to give you a little more information on how to use wire contour mesh as a possible armature option in addition to aluminum foil when building your armatures.
Earlier this month, I posted a tutorial on how to sculpt a jointed bunny. I showed you two different ways to create the bunny's ears. One using aluminum foil and one using wire mesh called WireForm® (See the picture above.) Today, I am going to give you a little bit more information on using the wire mesh.
WireForm® comes in a roll shown in the picture above. I usually buy mine at www.dickblick.com - this is a wonderful art supply company and has a multitude of items perfect for incorporating with Creative Paperclay®.
The wire mesh I use is very pliable, however it comes in several sizes and gauges depending on what you are going to use it for. The roll above is 10 ft long - 20 inches wide. It is the 1/16" pattern.
When incorporating wire mesh with your paperclay, the wire mesh (since it has holes in it) acts like re-barb would to cement. Creative Paperclay® sticks nicely to it and fills in all those tiny holes for a super strong armature. Because the wire mesh is pliable, you can bend it and form it any way you want. The sky is the limit to the possibilities of posing your sculpture.
Here are the suggested uses -- WireForm® is an excellent sculpting medium for light armatures and crafts, gently sculpt, pull, stretch, gather and twist the WireForm® into a shape or lift impression by pressing and stretching the mesh over an object. Seam edges or join pieces by folding, crimping or hot gluing.
I love the fact that you can use scissors with this. It is not hard to cut a piece off, in fact you can even tear off a piece. I would suggest wearing some kind of protective gloves when you are scrunching it for a inner armature body shape. The edges do get a little sharp.
I realize that there are a lot of us that use aluminum foil for inner armatures ... I do too. But now that I have had some time to play with WireForm®, I have learned that I can also incorporate this with foil. For example, maybe the body is made out of foil, but I want some really cool wings or a tall collar coming off my sculpture, with this wire mesh, it makes it so easy to do. Personally, I think the mesh has more flexibility to bend and conform in the intricate shapes I want better than foil.
My suggestion is to use your foil for more bulkier parts of your armature and use wire mesh for your thinner more delicate parts like bunny ears, wings, long tails, horns, collars, etc.
WireForm® contour mesh is just another great option out there to put into your Creative Paperclay® toolbox. That is why I love Creative Paperclay® so much -- it works with practically everything!! I hope you give it a try someday!
Thanks for stopping by the Creative Paperclay® blogsite and if you have a little more time to spare, stop by my site at www.charmedconfections.com
Until next time! LeeAnn
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