La Bricoleuse (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
labricoleuse) wrote2008-03-31 04:25 pm
labricoleuse) wrote2008-03-31 04:25 pm
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Project focus: Masquerade masks for Amadeus
I've shared some photos of some of these in-process, in previous posts, but i've got finished photos now. These masks make only the briefest appearance in the show (opening Saturday, with previews starting Wednesday evening), so get a good look at them here!
Foxes
Recall that this was my research image to work from as inspiration for the fox masks, which are worn by Salieri's two courtier-henchmen, the Venticelli, at a masked ball (mine is a bit more angular and sinister-eyebrowed):
matrix sculpture made from (still wet) air-drying clay, from which two masks will be formed
Recall back during The Little Prince, i posted about this process of maskmaking using air- drying clay and thermoformable felt (part one, part two). Well, here's the dry fox matrix with the two formed masks, which have been painted brown and covered in a half-dozen layers of Sculpt-or-Coat:
finished fox masks, with metallic paint, jeweled and feathered ornamentation, and ruched ribbon band
Vizard
Constanza vizard
You may (or may not) recall that a mask on a stick is called a vizard. This vizard was made by Craft Artisan Emily VanDervoort Mason, who assisted me on this show. The basic mask portion is papier mache, with the decorative loops made from metallic horsehair wired and edged in gold ribbon. The stick handle is made from thick steel wire shaped into a varying curve and wrapped in the same ribbon as the edges of the sunburst loops. The whole thing is decorated with Austrian crystal rhinestones in golds and silvers.
Unicorn
In this scene in the play, Mozart wears a unicorn mask. His mask needed to be able to be quickly put on over a lace-front wig without mussing the wig, and he needed to be able to raise and lower the mask on-stage, also without disarranging the wig. This mask was also something that was kind of up-in-the-air until the last couple weeks, so i didn't have a lot of time to bust it out. I decided to make it as a papier mache structure, mounted on a sort of "head cage" support.
Because time was of the essence, i had to act fast and think creatively. We had about a dozen of these transparent masks in stock from a past production, so i took one of the male faces to use as a base. I cut it off at the "equator" across the cheeks and under the nose. Then i took the chin portion, flipped it upside-down, and used it to form the base nose and lips shape of the horse-head, bridging the gap with a conical section of Bristol board:
at left: unicorn mask, partway through the mache process
at right: tiny paper maquette of unicorn mask
If you look closely here and think about the horse's muzzle actually being the upside-down chin of a man's face, you'll see it. There are probably about 6 layers of thick papier mache in a Sculpt-or-Coat medium at this point. The horn is a little cone carved from styrofoam with a hot wire cutting tool, attached to the base using a wire infrastructure. I was working at lightning speed so i don't have any other process shots, but i do have a couple pictures of the final mask:
ruched ribbon covers the head-cage support structure
feather boa creates the "mane"
Hope you have enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes process on these. Carnivale-style masquerade masks are always fun to do, because they are so overly ornamental and fantastical!
Recall that this was my research image to work from as inspiration for the fox masks, which are worn by Salieri's two courtier-henchmen, the Venticelli, at a masked ball (mine is a bit more angular and sinister-eyebrowed):
matrix sculpture made from (still wet) air-drying clay, from which two masks will be formed
Recall back during The Little Prince, i posted about this process of maskmaking using air- drying clay and thermoformable felt (part one, part two). Well, here's the dry fox matrix with the two formed masks, which have been painted brown and covered in a half-dozen layers of Sculpt-or-Coat:
finished fox masks, with metallic paint, jeweled and feathered ornamentation, and ruched ribbon band
Vizard
Constanza vizard
You may (or may not) recall that a mask on a stick is called a vizard. This vizard was made by Craft Artisan Emily VanDervoort Mason, who assisted me on this show. The basic mask portion is papier mache, with the decorative loops made from metallic horsehair wired and edged in gold ribbon. The stick handle is made from thick steel wire shaped into a varying curve and wrapped in the same ribbon as the edges of the sunburst loops. The whole thing is decorated with Austrian crystal rhinestones in golds and silvers.
In this scene in the play, Mozart wears a unicorn mask. His mask needed to be able to be quickly put on over a lace-front wig without mussing the wig, and he needed to be able to raise and lower the mask on-stage, also without disarranging the wig. This mask was also something that was kind of up-in-the-air until the last couple weeks, so i didn't have a lot of time to bust it out. I decided to make it as a papier mache structure, mounted on a sort of "head cage" support.
Because time was of the essence, i had to act fast and think creatively. We had about a dozen of these transparent masks in stock from a past production, so i took one of the male faces to use as a base. I cut it off at the "equator" across the cheeks and under the nose. Then i took the chin portion, flipped it upside-down, and used it to form the base nose and lips shape of the horse-head, bridging the gap with a conical section of Bristol board:
at left: unicorn mask, partway through the mache process
at right: tiny paper maquette of unicorn mask
If you look closely here and think about the horse's muzzle actually being the upside-down chin of a man's face, you'll see it. There are probably about 6 layers of thick papier mache in a Sculpt-or-Coat medium at this point. The horn is a little cone carved from styrofoam with a hot wire cutting tool, attached to the base using a wire infrastructure. I was working at lightning speed so i don't have any other process shots, but i do have a couple pictures of the final mask:
ruched ribbon covers the head-cage support structure
feather boa creates the "mane"
Hope you have enjoyed seeing the behind-the-scenes process on these. Carnivale-style masquerade masks are always fun to do, because they are so overly ornamental and fantastical!