Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Green Man


I've been fascinated with masks since I was in the 7th grade. Once upon a time, I was a part of a mask ensemble at school and since then they've always been my favorite way to work in theatre. Recently, I'd had an itch to make a half-mask and decided that I'd make one depicting a green man/woman. To find out more about the history of the Green Man, please feel free to begin your search here.

So I was sitting in my house thinking, "Well great. To make a mask, it tends to require clay and paper mache. Neither of which I have lying around."

To the second: Flour and water works. Recipes abound on the internet. (Beware of the smell.)

To the first: Oh yeah. I just happen to have a ceramic mold of my face lying around from a stage makeup class.


Fancy that
So Vaseline was applied to the ceramic part and then covered with a plastic bag. From there, it was a lot of cutting up and applying pieces of newspaper, shaping, and then letting sit.
After everything was dry, there was cutting of the eye holes and the cutting/shaping of the edges around it. Sanding down smooth. Reapplying a layer of paper mache around the edges on the outside and around the edges of the eyeholes. I applied artificial leaves and then let sit another while. Painting (with acrylic paint) and the cutting of the holes for the elastic band happened after. You've seen the outside of the mask, this is the inside:

(My camera gave up the ghost after Ireland, so these are taken with a webcam. I'll repost these after I acquire a new picture-taking device, I promise. This looks way cooler in real life.)
There is another mask in progress, so I'll be around!
-Kendra

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