Portrait bust made of papier-mâché: Have your own bust made

You can have a portrait bust made by me. You can have your own bust made. However, the bust does not have to be of yourself, i.e. your own head. You can also have a bust made of a friend, business associate, someone who has passed away, or some historical figure. I make the busts from photos or other illustrations such as paintings.

The paper busts are made of papier-mâché or papier-mâché. The colored surface is a collage of newspaper and magazine clippings. That is, the busts are not painted. Only the wooden pedestal on which the bust is placed can be painted if desired.

Portrait bust after photo

If you have the opportunity to take photos of the person you want to have the portrait bust made of, please take the photos from all sides:

from the front
from the three-quarter profile (three-quarter view), i.e. diagonally from the front
from the sides, i.e. from the left profile and from the right profile
and from behind

This allows me to accurately represent the person being portrayed. If you are unable to photograph this person but have photos of them, please select photos taken from different angles. And if it's possible, the photos should be from about the same time.

If you wish to have a portrait made of a person who is deceased or a historical figure, and you only have photographs (or perhaps paintings) of that person from the front or three-quarter view, I can still make a bust. However, I have to use my imagination to recreate places that are not photographed or, for example, painted.

Format of the portrait bust

It is possible to create the portrait bust with a colored surface, whereby the colors are not painted, but come from colored newspaper clippings or magazine pages that I glue. Colored surfaces go well with additional decorative materials that can be attached to the bust, such as shells or buttons.

However, if the surface is to remain colorless or have a newsprint look, I find it more appropriate to limit oneself to the paper material and not to attach any additional decorative objects to the bust.

The normal size of a portrait bust, showing the full width of the shoulders, is approximately 32 cm high and 30 cm wide, including the pedestal. The depth of the bust depends on the person to be portrayed.

For some time I have also been making busts on square pedestals with the shoulders cut off. Since I am placing these portrait busts on a 20 x 20 cm and relatively flat pedestal, the proportions are different from the busts with shoulders. The head appears larger in busts without shoulders. A timeless, non-colored finish suits these busts.

The paper sculptures, whose horizontal section is square, are about 40 cm high and about 20 cm wide, with the width meaning the pedestal. The depth of the platform is also 20 cm.

If you would like to have a portrait made of your pet, please read my information on thePet portrait theme.

Instead of a bust, I can also make a full-body sculpture if you wish. Such a paper sculpture can show the whole body standing, sitting or moving. The person portrayed can also be connected to certain objects or these can be attached to the full-body sculpture.

For example, certain professions can be symbolized. If the person portrayed is a librarian, for example, it makes sense to incorporate books into the portrayal. You could put a tape measure around a tailor's neck. If the person to be portrayed has a certain hobby, you can also portray this, for example by adding a basketball or perhaps a fishing rod.

I offer yoga lovers the opportunity to portray the person of whom the portrait sculpture is to be created in their favorite yoga position. Here it makes sense to portray the person to be portrayed as a hybrid; either half human, half animal, i.e. half as a lion in the lion pose or half as a camel in the camel pose, or half as an object such as in the tree pose half as a tree.

With the full-body sculptures, you can also choose whether I make the surface colored or leave it in the newspaper look. You can determine the size of the full-body sculptures yourself up to a maximum height of 50 cm.

Production process of the portrait busts

The portrait busts are made using the papier-mâché technique, using the "laminating technique". So it's not paper pulp that I use as papier-mâché, but my sculptures are created layer by layer, over a stuffed wire frame or cardboard, by gluing pieces of paper on top of each other.

The pieces of paper used are usually newsprint, which I tear or cut into small pieces, which are then coated with paste. After the pieces are glued on top of each other, the whole becomes a hard structure. Since the hardened material can be sanded well, I can also create very smooth surfaces.

Occasionally I also use other materials such as buttons, shells, glass beads or jewelry to decorate the figures. I make items like glasses out of wire and paper. Sometimes I use crayon paper, greaseproof paper, or parchment paper for the hair. Most of the portrait sculptures are made of recycled paper and cardboard. As a finish, I apply colorless acrylic varnish to the bust.

If you would like to have a portrait bust made as a gift, you should order the bust from me in good time. Because the production, including all processing steps, takes between one and two months. However, the exact duration also depends on how heavy my workload is.

Before the portrait bust or full-body sculpture is finally varnished with colorless varnish, I give you the opportunity to look at it. So you have the opportunity to tell me if you want minimal changes. However, these changes can only be desired and implemented to a minimal extent, because the bust or full-body sculpture is then already at a very advanced stage.

After painting, there is no possibility to make any changes, because this would mean having to redesign the entire surface. If you are thinking about a portrait as a gift, you can also offer the person to be given the opportunity to see the portrait bust or full-body sculpture before it is painted.

Last questions before making a bust and contact me

If you want to have a portrait bust made, the following questions need to be clarified:

In what period of life, i.e. at what age, should the replica of the person of whom you want to have a bust made be made?
Should special attributes like glasses, a hat, one hand, two hands or clothing be added to the portrait?
Should the surface of the bust be colored or have a newspaper look?
Should the format of the paper bust be oblong (with shoulders) or square (without shoulders)?
Should the portrait bust be on a pedestal, and if so, what kind of wood do you want and should the wood be coated with a paint?
In what posture should the person to be portrayed be portrayed if it is to be a full-body sculpture?