"Still racoon"

I'm crafty.
Not in the sense of bing 'wily' or 'devious'...as in 'I like arts & crafts'.
And I have been since I was a kid.
I would go to the library and check out scads of arts and crafts books and make all sorts of models and projects.
In the early '70s my folks bought me a set of ChildCraft encyclopedias, there were a couple of volumes that were devoted solely to things you could make from construction paper, cardboard, string, clay, etc. I don't think there was one project from those books I didn't undertake. I was always artistic (I can draw) and my parents always encouraged my artistic abilities, buying me all kinds of crayons, markers, watercolors, and drawing papers.
And the medium that was probably my favorite of all?
Paper maché.
And I love it to this day.
It's sculpture and painting combined...and it's a very forgiving medium, you can't screw it up.
And I love, love, love that the materials are so humble: just water, flour, and newspaper. How easy is that?
So the last few years I've taken to making more and more sculptures out of paper maché..what better way to spend a snowy or rainy weekend?
One of the first projects I undertook was a racoon. Yes, a racoon. I'm sort of drawn to these wily creatures (there's that word!), probably because my name is an anagram for "STILL RACOON".
I know it sounds crazy but there you have it.
So a racoon made out of paper maché it was.
And I'm very happy with the results.
The following photos show the progression of how it was made. Mind you, these were taken over several weeks. You can only do one section or part of the sculpture before you have to wait at least 24 hours for it to dry. And since I only come to the house on weekends you can see why it takes quite a long while to finish. But the feeling of satisfaction is great when the results end up like this.
I initially thought that Mr. Racoon would look good up in the rafters of the dining room, but it turned out he was too far away and too small up there, so he now holds a place of honor on a bookshelf in the living room keeping watch over everyone who enters, a smug looks on his face as if to say "who the hell are you?" LOL.

Start with a balloon and a crumple of newspaper

Add a front leg

Then the head, ears, and front paw

Drying

The second front leg and hind leg

Adding the paws

Shaping the tail

The tail drying

Back hind leg

Back leg drying

More drying

Finishing touches drying underneath

A white coat of primer

The finished paint look

Up in the rafters: a bad idea

At home on a high living room bookshelf

Mr. Racoon: final look with a coat of Mod Podge