Friday, January 30, 2009

My Masquerade- PART I

Mardi Gras is in just a couple weeks and I’m currently working on a mask for a guy at the hubster’s office who is in a Galveston krewe. I thought you might enjoy taking a peek into my process. This first stage took me about 20 hours.

Stage I: Building the Mask


I started with two plastic masks like this one to use as a base. I took off the elastic bands, the bells, the sequin trim and the pipe cleaners, then glued the two masks together to give it a bit more structure. At this point the mask is too flimsy to decorate, so I used papier-mache to make it nice and sturdy.



In this picture, the mask is in its initial phase with several layers of newsprint papier-mache. I used Aleene's Craft Glue to layer the paper on like decoupage. You could use real decoupage medium, but I always have Aleene's around, so I used it instead. I also covered the other side of the mask with a couple layers of papier-mache.



To finish the mask form, I trimmed the edges with an X-Acto knife, sanded down any bumps and added a few more layers of papier-mache. Instead of using newsprint, this time I used tissue paper to smooth out all the seams created by the layers underneath.




Finally, after a couple days of dry time, I put a thick base coat of white paint. Now, the mask is ready for Stage II: Design.

1 comment: