Masks and other Art

[Buster's Uncle]

Yeah; the Christmas window design event a week and a half ago - there was no one in charge...

I regretted that the stained glass windows didn't show up better in the photos.  Agreed on all counts.  The sign over the door is a local historic tourist trap style - but needs color on the craftsman figure at the top, and/or "Heritage" bright red; something like that to give it a little pop.

[Buster's Uncle]

Here's something I just finished...








-And here's the next three forms I have lined up to make masks on...




I had an idea that I think will prove a masterstroke; have Mylochka paint up the first mask off the noseless space monkey form that I largely made at the center with a Valdese Heritage Art Center motif, probably based on the look of the sign and storefront, and donate it to the shop.  If it goes over well, not only is it a great diplomatic move with the committee that runs the place, it ought to get heavily featured, and that would promote us at the same time...

[Buster's Uncle]

Finished:

[Unorthodox]

From that angle, that monkey mask isn't terribly far from creature of the black lagoon...

[Buster's Uncle]

Hmmm.

[Buster's Uncle]

Finished

[Buster's Uncle]

Oops.  I finished this one this morning, but forgot to get a pic until it was already moved to Mylochka's painting studio in the playhouse...

This one isn't to give away/promote the gallery, so I trimmed the eyeholes the shape they naturally want to be - with the first, I deliberately made the eyes bigger and rounder; friendlier-looking...

[Buster's Uncle]

While I was there, I took a few shots of the mask painting studio space.


Mylochka's taken to leaving the screen door open while she's in there working, because sometimes kittens wander in...



I count an eighteen mask backlog in these shots - and that's at least one mask light, 'cause I only see four of the five mini halfmasks I made on short notice a week ago...

[Buster's Uncle]

The Captain is a comedia del arte character -think The Skipper on Gilligan's Island- and we've been talking for years about doing up a set of the stock characters from that genre.  When I first got the face I used in the wrestling masks, I knew it would modify into a mighty fine Captain.

Work on that has commenced:

Since I'd already stared on a corner before I thought to get a before photo, I included the mask I used for a mold to give an idea of the original shape...

[Buster's Uncle]

Roughed in:




-A non-trivial portion of the work I put in is thinking about a thing I haven't done yet, or aren't quite ready to finish.  This, I built up the chin a little, and built up the left side underneath where it doesn't show, but improves the symmetry.  There's smoothing left to do, and it needs to wait for everything to dry thoroughly first.  There's a couple of ways I can go from here to build up the cheeks and mouth to make a faint smirk -paint on more plaster or shell-and-sculpey- and I think I'll show it to Mylochka and get her input first...

I deliberately cast the face in a light plaster mix -1 to 1 in stead of 2 to 1- to make it soft enough to carve easily; but that resulted in a pretty fragile base.  I'll definitely be coating the end result in mache and latex for strength...

[Buster's Uncle]

So for comparison, this is the original casting of the face I'm working from.



And here's where I am now with the Capitan:





I do believe I've reached the practical limits of what I can do with varying densities of plaster - time to paper mache over the base, smoothing over some roughnesses in the process, and alter the mouth and cheeks in sculpey...

[Buster's Uncle]

Okay; I glued the base to a piece of plywood for stability on the soft underside, put a layer of mache on - and totally ran out of gas after supper and sunset with the kittens.  I've only spent an hour and a half on this this evening.



Looks more like Dick Van Dyke than Alan Hale.

-Anyway, I want to build up some full lips before I bake, mache, and start applying latex.


I'm also ready to start work on the ape nose optional appliance on the alien base, but in the thinking phase.  -I've realized that doing it this way, as a separate thing, means I can make a separate gorilla nose.  Those are very different, and now I can do General Urko as well as Galen...

[Buster's Uncle]

ACK!  those silhouettes need to go.  Valuable advertising real estate being eaten by white blandness.

You'll love this - The Facebook VHAC page updated the cover photo yesterday...

Never put a schoolteacher in charge of anything creative, I say...

[Buster's Uncle]

Ready for the first coat of latex before I go to bed:

[Bearu]

The masks appear to progress at a decent rate. The products of the labor remain under your control.