I tried with two layers, but this didn’t seem strong enough for me. It was then I found the Video by Jonni Good about using shop towels and a water/PVA/Plaster mix for glue.
This process never really produced a good result. At first I used a PVA/water mix with small bits of craft paper, however this needed around 10 layers and tended to curl away from the mould. I used the plaster wrap that I had left over to make a negative mould from my fibreglass buck and started experimenting with laying paper mashe inside it. I found a few online resources what showed how Venetian mask makers go about their business, and decided to try that. I started with the idea of making the masks out of plaster wrap, but soon abandoned this. I was already aware that I needed to be careful of undercuts and closed details so I started with a simple 3/4 mask and set about researching ways to turn it into a product. I started by making a fibreglass plug (or buck if you are in the U.S.). I had already been involved in costuming for some years, and started to think that there could be a way of generating an income from the skills I had picked up. I started making Masquerade masks under the Paper Faces name late last year when I found myself being made redundant. Thanks, Adam! How Paper Faces make our masks.
You can download the pattern for a 3/4 mask here (pdf).
Update: Adam has generously offered to allow us to use one of his papercraft patterns for our own work. You can also find Adam at his Facebook page. If not, remember to bookmark the page, because carnival time isn’t all that far away. And do check out Adam’s etsy page, because you might still have time to snag one of his hand-made masks before Halloween. Thanks, Adam, for showing us your techniques!Įven if you aren’t familiar with computer 3D programs, you’ll still want to see how Adam uses the shop-towel mache in negative plaster molds, and how he fine-tunes his original model before creating his plaster molds. Adam creates paper mache masks using a method that is so unique that I’m sure you’ve never seen anything like it. Today’s guest post is by Adam Shaw, the mask maker behind the company Paper Faces.
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