PaPIER MaCHE: Painting Papier Mache

1. • 5 years, 7 months ago

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   • can anyone recommend a brand or type of paint, primer and/or sealant?

     i'm specfically interested in types of paints, water-based, acrylic, enamel
     also i'm curious about primers and sealants to use with each type of paint...

     any help is appreicated, thanks!

2. • 5 years, 7 months ago

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   • just go for it and use whatever seems like it would be fun! art is about exploration and finding out what would work best for you

3. • juanita 5 years, 7 months ago

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   • I have found that most water based paints will work well, but I especially like working with acrylic. I usually use a base coat, like gesso, to seal the surface and often use textured acrylic based products and finally, seal with an acrylic, clear varnish, often 5-7 layers of acrylic are built up.........for performance masks, I think it's more important to add many layers to strengthen them......... There are many brands and types of acrylic paint, depending on which part of the world you are in.

     There is no right way to paint papier mache........whatever works best and is readily available to you, many artists use many different techniques.......

4. • 5 years, 7 months ago

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   • thanks for the help!
     i went with jo sonja's all purpose sealer...but i wasn't able to get the surface as smooth as i wanted...but thats ok, theres always next time!
     i decided on a mixture of white and gold pearlescent crafters paint and triple-thick brush-on acrylic sealant. i got the desired glossiness and shimmer, but the surface is still a little rough for my liking.
     all thats left is attaching the feathers and headband!

5. • juanita 5 years, 7 months ago

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   • Sounds as though you got the painted surface down correctly....good choice of materials. To get a smoother surface, you need to work on that BEFORE painting. No matter how many painted layers you add, the surface will only reflect what you started out with. I use an acrylic wood putty to work on smoothing the surface first. You apply thin amounts of acrylic wood putty with a palette knife and then sand each layer repeatedly until the surface is as smooth as you want......with some effort, it can become like an eggshell surface. Apply the primer, or base coat next, before painting and glazing. Also, adding a layer of paste wax to the finished mask, adds a nice lustre and finish to the mask. (such as used for tile floors.......or even for polishing cars....)

     The same is true for just about any surface you want.....smooth or rough. Just remember to texture the surface before sealing and painting. No amount of paint with smooth the surface.

6. • isadora 4 years, 11 months ago

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   • Hello,

     I have a question for Juanita about the sanding.

     Do you use regular fine-sandpaper or one of those tools? thank you very much!

     As far as the paint question is concerned I use acrylic because of the intensity of the colours and than a brush on varnish sealer to make it shiny, protect the paint and also make the mask harder.

     Thank you!!!

7. • 4 years, 10 months ago

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   • In answer to your question about sanding..............depending on the quality of the surface and how smooth you want it......I would start with a rougher sandpaper, like grit 80 or so and then work up to a smoother one, like a 150 grit..........also, varnish works well as a sealer (either before or atter painting) But, what I really like to use on a finished mask, is a hard wax, like carnuba wax (this wax is found in auto parts stores)....it's a car wax. The wax really seals the surace well and makes it waterproof AND gives it a beautiful lustre. The wax can work on most surfaces; papier mache, metal, ceramic, etc.....apply the wax onto the warmed (in the sun) mask....after 10 minutes buff it out with a shoe brush or soft cloth. The more layers you apply, the more wonderful the surface feels and looks!!  

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