Module 10 Mask Making

This animal mask of the Amazon Indians was used as an inspiration for the creation of my own mask because of the addition of "hair" coming off of the mask.

The use of contrast here really draws your eyes to the texture and color of the hair and to the shape of the face, appearing to have the animal ears sticking up above the eyes, through the use of line. There is very little color and a limited amount of detail which does not allow for much of a pattern, but the use of contrast, line, texture and also form are obvious. You can not see it in the front view of the mask, but the nose is formed and protrudes outward into a round shape with a hole through the middle. 

This parade mask from the Devils of Yare, made in Northern Venezuela was an inspiration to my own mask creation because it is similar to the masks we make in my home country of the Dominican Republic. I took from this, the use of multiple colors and the use of paint.

This mask has a very clear use of pattern, contrast and color throughout the entire design. Both sides are made to be almost perfectly symmetrical, although the shape differs slightly because it is hand made. There is also a clear use of line, repetition and form, in how the horns, ears, nose and mouth all have a 3 dimensional shape to them. and the small repetitive lines throughout.

This Mexican day of the dead mask was an inspiration to the creation of my own mask because of its use of circular patterns throughout.

This mask uses pattern, color, form, line, repetition, rhythm, shape, contrast all in one very clean and symmetrical design. the use of the different bright and dark colors through make each section stand out on its own, while flowing together perfectly. The details in the circular designs draw your eyes from one area to the next, noticing more and more detail the longer you look at this piece.

My sketches

My Mask

I focused on using color with the bright colored paints of the face, line with the black lines outlining and separating the colors from each other, pattern by creating a somewhat symmetrical design from one side to the other, texture by the use of the crinkled paper hair, contrast through the use of color as well as black and white, and lastly shape is used by creating different shapes within the design. There is a rhythm to the use of the various designs and details such as the gems.

My overall opinion of my mask is that it turned out well, it is bright and makes me feel happy when I look at it, whereas many of the masks I saw through research were kind of frightening or freaky. I enjoyed making the mask, but I will be buying new paint brushes as i have realized the ones i have are not very good.I accidentally hot glued on the one "ear" too high but wasn't able to remove it and change it so the symmetry I was aiming for was slightly thrown off.