Paper Cup Shark

This ‘Great White Shark’ is another of my paper cup projects, using the subtle curves of the cup to suggest the form or the shark. This kind of work is effective because it is ‘immediate’ and each stage is adaptable. As you work, you can alter or reposition pieces until you are happy with the design. I do that for a while and then glue the pieces in position. (Paper cups have a slightly waterproof sheen and so for these projects I use a slightly stronger version of PVA glue, usually called ‘wood glue’. You can get it online or in most DIY stores)

The cup pieces placed in position.

Once the glue has dried you can introduce the colour. It helps if you add a layer of tissue paper on before painting. This could be just kitchen roll, toilet roll etc, but I usually use scraps of coloured tissue paper. It doesn’t have to be the exact colour, but it helps if the colours are somewhere close, it gives the work a kind of undercoat at the same time as strengthening it.

The tissue is still wet here, you can clearly see the different pieces. Three simple colours, dark blue on the shark, turquoise on the sea, and a cream/white on the underside of the shark.

You could leave this as a paper/collage, or once dry, you can experiment with some paint. I decided to ‘mask off’ some parts with ripped strips of masking tape, this can be carefully removed once everything is dry. It isn’t vital, I just did this to add a little more interest. You can see this in the ‘making video’ attached below.

This video has the ‘Jaws’ theme behind it on my social media, you’ll have to use your imagination!

. . . and here’s the final piece. You can see how I’ve added some paint colour onto the background, and also some patches on the shark itself, but still left some of the tissue paper showing. I’ve also removed the masking tape (once dry!) to reveal those shadowy lines in the background.

You can clearly see how this could be adapted, simple fish with younger children, or other specific sea creatures, turtles, dolphins, rays, etc . . . it’s a technique I’ve used many times when making larger sculptures with children, but just using cardboard. The paper-cups just help by offering that initial ‘curved’ 3D property to play with. Have fun!