Behind the Mask

Okay, so one layer is all done, and this is a photo of two completed layers. I have only six more layers to go! Some of the costume staff were telling me today that I act like a proud father about this mask, because I have been telling anyone who walks by and will listen about my mask. We get closer everyday! 

Well, the process is going slow, but I have one layer down on the forehead of the mask. I'm told it starts to go faster after the first layer.

All covered, now the fun begins! 

So, I have to form a layer of something to protect the clay from the news paper and glue; in this case, that layer is foil. He's today's work of overing the mask in pieces of foil. We're almost ready to start mask making for real. I have a little more clay to cover here. 

Well, today's work was a bit boring. I had to cut up small news paper squares that will form my mask eventually. Here they are...

Okay, so here's the finished clay relief; I can now move to the next stage! 

Well this is two more days of work (I forgot to take a picture from the first day). We are getting close; the only thing left to do now is to add forehead wrinkles and smooth the whole thing down. After all that's done, I can move on to the next stage; I'm so excited! 

Day two of work. The forehead is built out highly now; I have to make everything very exaggerated in the clay stage so it will show through in the next stage. There is so much clay on the head; it's gotten very heavy. A nose and upper lip are beginning to form. It's still got a long way to go, but this is certainly coming along! 

My first meeting. My rendering got approved, and I was told to dive right in. The mask making process we're using involves building up the mask in clay relief first, then layering mask making materials on top of that to start building the mask. This is simply a base layer of clay that I got on my mask blank. I'll start building up and forming features next time! Hope to have more pictures soon. 

Not sure if it relates, but it's a cool read! 

My first ever rendering. My mentor asked me to render my first mask and here's what I have come up with. This is the first ever time I've had to render anything so I'm pretty proud. I'll see what he says at our meeting. This is Arlecchino the lowly acrobatic servant. He's often referred to as cat-like so I involved some feline elements into my design. I also wanted to create a kind of 3/4 mask instead of the traditional half mask; I thought it might be interesting to hide more of the performer's face, blurring the line between character and actor. 

Oscar Wilde 

Commedia dell'Arte:An Actor's Handbook by John Rudlin 

I had a meeting with my mentor on this project this afternoon. It looks like we're gonna get started in the coming week! I'm so excited to get it off the page and get it into practice. I'm ready to start getting my hands dirty!

Jacques Lecoq's "The Moving Body"