Mardi Gras Masks

So for Mardi Gras this year, I will be traveling to St. Louis for some fun festivities! I decided to make a mask for myself, which turned into making three. First You will need plaster cloth, Vasoline, sandpaper, plaster, paint brushes, cotton balls, cardboard masks with straps, black, white, and gold acrylic paint, glitter glue sticks, white fabric paint, a hot glue gun, and feathers/a feather piece.

I started by making mine first, which I made to contour my face. Be sure to pull your hair back and cover the area you are plastering with Vaseoline. Using plaster cloth strips. Dip them in water and apply to your face. Be sure to rub the plaster with your finger tips, so that it fills in as much as possible, creating a smooth, more seamless look.

Next, allow it to dry and then remove by wiggling your face. It isn't too difficult to remove. Once removed allow it to set before going back over with plaster to remove and further cover imperfections. This is done by adding water to the plaster and then using fairly quickly (it sets in 20 minutes).  You know it's beginning to set when the material warms up. I applied my plaster using a brush and cotton balls. The cotton balls help smooth out any brush stroke lines.

 

 Also, if you missed any areas like I did under the eye, just cut off a small piece of cardboard (I used a piece of an ear that I cut off the cardboard masks I purchased) and attach it with more cloth plaster. Then repeat the same process to smooth it out. 

Next you will want to begin shaping your mask. I did this by standing in front of a mirror and drawing the areas I wanted to cut off. I used small scissors for cuticles to cut out the eyes and edges. I used an Exacto knife to poke out the wholes for the straps (just poke and twist gently). You generally want the wholes directly to the sides of the eyes. After shaping it's time to sand. This helps remove any other flaws in the surface and gives it a more finished look. 

The fun part is definitely the design though. For this I drew the design directly on the mask and then began painting. For the gold trim I used white fabric paint (gold would have been easier), that I then painted gold with acrylic paint. To fill in the glittered area I just used a glitter stick and then placed some of the glitter glue on my index finger to smear over the rest of the mask. This helps hide imperfections, especially on an all white surface. For the trim I added a line of the gold acrylic paint and then glued the feather piece on to add some flair. 

After finishing my mask I decided to make two more with the cardboard cutouts I had purchased. They had ears on them so I cut them off and used the cardboard as a base for the plaster. To get them to set in the shape of a face I placed them between two weighted boxes to crest a bowing effect. Finally I drew out an different pattern and painted the two extra masks the same way.