Masks and other Art

[Buster's Uncle]

Hmm.  The ancient Greeks weren't exactly geniuses with chemistry, but I would have guessed they'd figured out something cleverer than that...

[Rusty Edge]

I guess I presumed sheet copper. I thought I'd seen some partials in museums.  It's possible. I was on tour in Greece for about 10 days in 1974. But I really don't remember. It was my impression. It would be easy enough to confuse a piece of a sculpture's head with a piece of a mask or a helmet, and ancient copper with ancient bronze. I really have no vivid memories of artifacts.

[Buster's Uncle]

News flash - if I do Greek, it'll be paper mache.

[Dio]

Since the objects were never preserved, the majority of authors appear to think that the masks held ritualistic purposes. The ritualistic purposes often involve offering them towards the gods in ceremonies. The only surviving examples remain decorative terracotta reproductions. I did find a few examples of authentic images from pottery that display the masks. I found several recreations of the masks in modern times. It appears that several frescos of Roman reproduction survive from Pompeii. I will attach the images below:

[Dio]

The fresco from the Pompeii site appears as follows:

[Buster's Uncle]

Yes - as I said before, Greek drama had its roots in religious festivals.  That could have left behind a lot of traditions and (unexamined) residues we no longer associate with theater.  Derivative Roman theater could have been a different thing, mind you.

[Buster's Uncle]

I'm working on a new mask form.

-I need to find the molds for mine and Mylochka's faces and cast new ones; the bases are clearly not going to turn up, and I have nearly 20 years worth of noses and snouts and various semi-forms that were made over those noses and won't sit right on anything else...

[Buster's Uncle]

This is the idea I talked about in the cat thread - wresting masks for Mylochka to go wild decorating.

So my first try at this, with Sculptamold (paper pulp), turned out sorta shapeless.



It's pretty impossible to get a smooth surface with the stuff, so I put a layer of paper on top, which has worked great before for something smaller like building up a jawline - but the whole face took too long, so it was starting to set up before I could do the fine shaping.  -Also, it's pretty big; the face casting I'm working with is a big face to begin with, and it was a mistake to build a shell over the entire thing, making it bigger.


I've made a good start on something I think will turn out far more satisfactory...

[Buster's Uncle]

So, starting with the face-


I wrapped it in foil-


And applied a few layers of mache-



Tonight, I begin filling in low points with Sculpey.  When I'm satisfied with that, I'll lay another layer of paper over to hold all the bits together and put a few layers of latex to smooth and waterproof, which should make for a durable shell to fit over the base and make masks over.

This is something I've never tried before, but the simulating of the way a cloth mask smooths out features it covers called for a lot of small pieces that would be a nightmare to keep track of and in place and have to individually pry out of each mask copy each time - a real pain.  I have high hopes for this...

[Bearu]

^
The mask looks wonderful and the product will look even better. I remain certain of the skills you possess on the topic.

[Buster's Uncle]

I've done the sculpey fill



 and paper layer.  It should dry overnight, then I can start painting on the latex layer.

Hopefully, I can start making actual masks by Wednesday night...

[Buster's Uncle]

Latex application initiated...

[Buster's Uncle]

Second layer drying now...

[Buster's Uncle]

3rd layer - and I've started work on a base for something else...

[Buster's Uncle]

Been working on this all day, but not a lot to say about dabbing yet another layer on and waiting for it to dry.



The little child-scale one, I cast off a wig dummy back in Texas.  I'm going to build a complete kitten face base over it - the latex coating is for ease of getting a mask back off once it's dried, masks being made partly of glue.  No plans to make a mask of that face, but might as well...