Mask-Making Techniques

As previously mentioned, my power animal is an octopus. Today we have been told to see how we can make our masks by looking into the different techniques and materials used in mask-making.

This face-mask is one of the simpler type of masks to make. The person who made this could have either created it through paper mache and then, using the same technique, meld the tentacles (which I assume are just tubes) and the mask together. OR used modrock to form up the initial part of the mask and made sure to include holes in which the tubes could be inserted into.




Tribal masks are often made out of wood and then have all the facial features carved into them and sometimes decorated with other materials like fur, wool, pebbles, or even paint.








These are called clay masks and the technique used creating them is similar to how you would use modrock. By applying a soft slab of clay to the face for the basic structure of the face and then slowly molding in all the little details into, kind of like how sculpture works really.


This next mask is a lot more detailed than the previous ones. The mask itself is made from a material called 'foam latex', and the tentacles were made using silicone which could be a useful idea for my own tentacles, but I currently have no idea whether they even sell that kinda stuff without having surgery. The eyes are actually electronics which can be controlled to either light up, or give slight movements.

I'm not too sure on what kind of materials I could use to make sure my tentacles are flexible enough to easily move about, along with a pudgy head if I decide I want to include that part of an octopus. If silicone doesn't work out for whatever reason, I might try other materials like foam, fluff, or even jelly! The attribute I'm looking for is something soft though. I'll see what I can find anyway :)