Masks

Wet Paper Armature Idea for Paper Mache Masks – and a Problem With the Comments

Last week I played around with some paper and clay to find a more spontaneous way to make temporary forms for paper mache display masks. And, on a totally unrelated note, we temporarily lost all the comments on this blog. I’m looking for some expert help, so I hope the comments will be back online [...]

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The Wolf Mask is Done…

He’s finally done – the grey wolf display mask is painted. Well, he still isn’t entirely done – he hasn’t been varnished yet. But close enough. Big question for you: Do you ever work very hard on a project, and about half-way through you realize that you’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about [...]

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Paper Mache Wolf, Part 5 – Plus, Pinterest – Are They Violating Your Copyrights?

The wolf is coming, but first — after seeing all the Buzz about Pinterest and looking around their site for a little while (because so many people claim it’s the next big thing) I started to get a bit worried. It looks to me like Pinterest is making it easy, (and heavily encouraging), the [...]

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Sculpting a Paper Mache Wolf Mask, Parts 3 and 4

I don’t usually put two videos on one post, but this time I thought it made the most sense. A few days ago I filmed myself working on the wolf’s ears while I talked. (That’s part 3.) Then I woke up the next morning and changed my mind about most of the things I [...]

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Sculpting the Wolf’s Eyes and Nose – Wolf Mask, Part 2

This is the second video in this series. You can see the first video here. This time I add the eyes and nose, and put on the basic shapes that surround the eye. The sculpture still has a very long ways to go. I do like this guy, and I’ve decided to make a [...]

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Sculpting a Wolf Head Display Mask, Part 1

I tried out the human skull-shaped mask form I made, but adding the features of a wolf’s head. It will eventually become a display mask for my wall. I thought there could be problems with the human bones inside the wolf’s head, but it is actually helping. For one thing, it’s making sure that [...]

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Making Changes to My Mask Making Studio

I spent some time today making a new mask form over a life-sized plastic skull, and then modified it a bit so it will (hopefully) work for animal masks as well as people. I also made a few changes to the tiny rolling table that I like to work on, so I can work on [...]

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The Original Business of Paper Mache Masks in Trouble

I found this news video this morning, and it was interesting for several reasons. First, it shows that any successful craft will eventually get competition from other countries in the global economy, so the old ways of doing things can become unprofitable. That can mean that a way of life that has lasted for many [...]

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How to Make a Pantalone Mask, Part 3

In the first two videos I created a mold for a traditional Pantalone mask with modeling clay, and then covered it with two layers of fast-setting paper mache. In this video I show you how I finish the mask. This is similar to one of the mask projects from my new book “How to [...]

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How to Make a Pantalone Mask, Part 2

This is the second of three mask-making videos. In this series I’m making a traditional Pantalone mask using the same methods and materials that I used for the masks in my latest book, How to Make Masks! If you didn’t see the first video, you can find it here. We made the positive mold [...]

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How to Make a Pantalone Mask

My book How to Make Masks! is now officially published, and it’s available on Amazon.com. To celebrate, I put together the first of a short series of videos so you can see the actual process I use to create the masks in the book. Pantalone is one of the characters in the Italian Commedia [...]

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Question about Foam and Paper Mache, and My First “Review”

This will be a quick post this morning. First, I received a question from a reader that I can’t answer, but if someone else out there has some experience and can shed some light on this issue, I would like to know, too. Here’s the email: Hello from Cape Town, South Africa Jonni! I just [...]

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Last Two Masks – Texas Outlaw and Iron Celtic Helmet

Well, this is it – the last two projects I planned for the book are finished. I think I’ve run out of pages, so one or more of the masks I’ve shown you might not be included – I’ll have to make some tough decisions in the next few days. In fact, in the last [...]

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Three More Masks Made, One More to Go…

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope life is treating you well so far. My paper mache mask book project is winding down – just one more mask to finish, and one more chapter to write. I ordered some Instant Iron and Instant Rust so my ancient iron Celtic helmet should look very realistic. The [...]

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Paper Mache Mask Book Progress Report

Several months ago I had this crazy idea that I could finish my paper mache mask book by the first of December. Ha! I’m still not even close, and here it is almost Christmas already. Well, I may not be very fast, but I’m having a great time with these projects. I’m using positive molds [...]

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