Masks and other Art

[Rusty Edge]

Awesome!

[Buster's Uncle]

This, I've been doing over and over in my head for over a week - I'd really like to avoid ruining the paint job.  I'd also like to extend the edges of the base a bit further than the close trimming of the mask edges.  We'll see; I've got everything I need set out, and ma working up the nerve, now.

[Rusty Edge]

Today I took another stab at re-creating one of my wife's favorite dishes. It's been off of the menu of my favorite restaurant for about 10 years. I have a recipe, but there are 4 parts to it, and it's a start the night before or have a  total kitchen destruction day. ( That's when you use so many things/ get them dirty that the kitchen is good for little else during and after). So I tried to Lazy Gourmet it.

I had setbacks. I burnt the edges of my crust and had to trim it. I used a food processor for about the first time in 10 years and was reminded why I prefer blenders.  So I switched appliances halfway through. I forgot that I didn't have a couple of ingredients. All those challenges derailed my schedule, too.

It was a success. It was close enough that I am to continue making it. I have learned from my mistakes and I'll do it again for guests and I expect it to be great. I'll post it to the Lazy Gourmet thread at that time.

At some point I had to stop planning for perfection, give it a try and consider it an experiment. Today was that day, and I'm glad I did.

You've got this, Buncle.
Now I should get back to cleaning the kitchen.

[Buster's Uncle]

We'll see in the morning.

[Unorthodox]

Kinda surprised that mold held the weight. 

[Buster's Uncle]

I was pretty sure it would - I did the same with an untrimmed mask of your face to make the copy I turned into The Captain.

-However, not harming the paint job is still in some doubt...



-But the bit on the tip of the nose chipped off cleanly, and that's all I've tried so far...

[Buster's Uncle]

Well, it is what it is.









I got all the thick bits of the plaster off the outside of the mask, and the rest ought/might come up fine with a damp wipe - but I'll need to repair some small tears around the edges.

The base ought to prove serviceable, but I'm seriously tempted to build the bottom up, maybe an inch, with more plaster; as is, it doesn't leave me a lot of options as to shape and size of masks built off it...

[Buster's Uncle]

For comparison, here's a pic of the original:



My new copy spread wide, noticeably - dunno if that's a bad thing, though.  I could certainly make some adjustments if I decided to build up the new form more...

[Elok]

Oh, fun!  It's great to see you creating again.  Do you guys see an uptick in business around Mardi Gras/Halloween/any other time of year?

[Buster's Uncle]

Nothing's come of web sales so far - Mylochka still hasn't gotten to various contributions, and I'm stuck getting set up until...

[Buster's Uncle]

...I note for the record that in the back of my head, I keep finding myself adding that inch or two to the base of the base.  Carefully duct taping the edges with a goodly bit of the width standing up ought to make a sufficient retainer.  This is a goodsign for me getting around to doing more if I'm still thinking about it/bored enough tomorrow...

[Buster's Uncle]

-Meanwhile, I tried to make a face base off this years ago, but the plaster gauze mold wouldn't come off in one piece.



Let's see if I can't fix that.

[Unorthodox]

I’d be tempted to do the whole head as a mold and dissolve the styrofoam.

[Buster's Uncle]

Yeah; see, I'm not even going for the ears.

I'm latexing the face first, to smooth out the Styrofoam texture.  Nothing that photographs well, so far.

[Buster's Uncle]

Turned out the duct tape didn't want to stick to the plaster, but a layer of latex applied around the edge last night took care of that.



That's close enough to the shape I need to sand down to when it's dry.



-At least, I hope so...