Skull-A-Day 2.0 Interview

Noah Scalin of Skull-A-Day recently interviewed me for his Skull-A-Day 2.0 project. I was very excited about it, since it was Noah's original Skull-A-Day project that was the leading inspiration for 365 Masks. The interview went up yesterday, and you can see it here!

Thank you, Noah!

Guest Mask Maker: July N.

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365 Masks' first guest artist is my eight-year-old niece, July! (Like the month, not Julie, you stop that right now.) July is a brilliant little artist, always amazing me with how advanced her skills are and how much creativity she has. She can sit down at the kitchen table with some paper and a pen and draw the most amazing things out of her head, something I was never all that good at as a kid. I drew best when I had something to look at, but she just thinks of it and brings it to life!

I recently got an email from her mom with these pictures of some masks that July made. Her grandma had some empty peach baskets and July noticed that the cardboard bottoms with their double holes resembled masks, so asked if she could have them. A little while later this is what she had come up with! Here's a picture of July modeling her first one:


Her baby brother then wanted a mask as well, so July created him his very own Spiderman mask:


Wow. Thank you so much, July, for letting me share your masks on my website!

Mask #121: A Slightly Crazed Mask

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This mask started with a masking tape and tinfoil base. I cut the eye-mask shape out of a few layers of tinfoil and covered that with masking tape, then used a hot knife to cut out the eye holes. I sealed the edges, then used white glue and water to apply a couple of layers of black tissue paper to the front. After that dried I used a bottle of green dimensional paint to apply tiny dots all over the front of the mask. That took a while, as I had to do it in stages so they wouldn't all run together. When that was finished I tore up silver tissue paper and glued it in a fringe along the top inside of the mask.


I hadn't yet cleaned up the bits that were sticking out from behind the eye holes when I took this shot, but liked the detail of it so here you go. I was kind of going for a crazy, slightly psychotic version of a Mardi Gras eye mask and I think next time I do I'll use a variation of bright colours to make it seem even crazier. I like the ragged feel to the fringe and the texture of the dimensional paint and think they go well with the slightly asymmetrical eye mask.

Mask #120: Paper Plate Chimpanzee Mask

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I attempted another paper plate mask, this time following the directions at The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute. I took some minor creative liberties by drawing hair on the ears, which was not part of the directions, but otherwise stuck as closely as possible to their method.

All it involved was three paper plates, some glue, a black marker and pink paper. Their instructions called for a crayon but since I don't have any crayons (something I'm going to remedy soon) I used a very smelly permanent marker instead. I also didn't have pink construction paper so used some pink scrapbooking paper as a substitute.

The linked instructions talk about exploring the various facial expressions of the chimpanzee. I opted not to give mine a big smile and ended up with a serious, thoughtful-looking chimp. My friend Rich finds it bewildering that I'm not a fan of monkeys and primates in general, so I dedicate this one to him! I've explained to him that I just don't see the humour in them that's always pushed on us in kids movies and circuses and whatnot, finding the monkeys-in-clothes bit to be creepy and off-putting, but I think he thinks I'm crazy anyway. Ah, well. Make sure you read the FAQ at CHCI as well, as it talks all about the plight of the chimpanzee. Poor chimps.

Update: August 5, 2008

Well, hello. I'm posting to announce some changes to the way that 365 Masks works. As you might have guessed I've been having some difficulty with the daily aspect of the original project, and if I don't change that goal I'm not going to be able to finish the project.

So, I've made the decision to change the project from a year-long deadline to a site that updates whenever a new mask is made. The goal is still to create 365 masks, and I'll be working toward that goal regularly. I just really, really didn't want this project to drift off to an unfinished halt and if I don't take this step, I fear that's exactly what will happen.

Also, I'm doing this because I'm going to start a sister site, one that showcases all of my non-mask art. With the pressure of creating a mask a day I felt shut off from other forms of art, and when I indulged in other forms of art I felt like I was failing my mask project. Both stresses shut me down artistically in a big way. Allowing myself to create without the pressure of a self-imposed deadline feels like the answer for me. The feedback I've received on my work has been invaluable to me, and the interaction with people here on 365 Masks about the masks, people's perceptions and opinions on my materials has given me a lot of enjoyment and encouragment.

I hope you'll stick with me as I change the focus a bit. Masks coming soon!

Mask #119: Lemon-Yellow Fellow Mask

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This lemony mask started out with a tinfoil and masking tape base built over my favourite mask form. I cut out an eye mask shape first, giving it small round eyes, then used a piece of the jaw to create the nose shape, trimming it until I was satisfied and then taping it to the eye mask. After I'd covered the whole thing with another layer of masking tape to bring it all together I gave it a coat of gesso and let it dry. Then I started layering on the yellow tissue paper using varnish, purposely varying the thickness and placement of the tissue to make the colour deeper in some spots and lighter in others. The ties will probably be plain white ribbon.


I'd planned to give this some colour using transparent washes of acrylic paint, but liked the richness of the yellow so much that I left it as is. The texture really carries it, so it's not boring and plain. I know that this guy seems birdlike at first look, and maybe even second and third, but the more I look at it the more it seems alien and person-like rather than avian. So, I didn't call it a bird mask, but just a yellow fellow.

Bonus Art: Developing a new style

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"Untitled"
16x20
paper, acrylic paint and varnish

I had some canvas left over after Commingle Too, so was inspired to create something new. I've used tissue paper a LOT in 365 Masks and have grown more and more interested in the textures and colour effects I can achieve with it. I didn't start out with a specific theme in mind with this one, just layering blue tissue paper over black using varnish and coaxing as much crinkling and texture as possible.

When I let that dry and then give it a wash of diluted gold paint it turned into a deep-sea dark-greenish blue and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I used more diluted gold paint to add some impressionistic deep-sea effects, then finished it off with a single fish cut from a sheet of paper patterned with pumpkins, if you can believe it. I'd bought it for the colour, not the subject matter, and it worked perfectly for this. A couple of coats of varnish later and it was finished!

This is not a perfect shot, by any means, but I like how the side lighting highlights the texture of the tissue paper background. Colour-wise it's actually pretty accurate, although some subtleties have been lost in the gold paint.

Bonus Art: Commingle Too!

As many of you know I recently showed some pieces in Michele Jacot's show, Commingle Too; the second of its kind. It was a fantastic event and everyone had a great time. I showed pieces in Michele's first Commingle event as well, so this year I was much more relaxed about the whole thing and had much less nervousness about showing my work.

Michele had seen some of my cut paper work before and requested some similar pieces for the show. I obliged, although since I ended up using a different technique the look of these pieces is quite different from the ones she'd seen before. People actually kept assuming they were paintings rather than paper media.

The lighting at Hugh's Room wasn't terribly conducive to taking photos, and there were lots of glare issues as a result of the acrylic medium, but these are the best shots that Andrew was able to get that night after trying multiple angles. Without further ado, here they are:

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"Brown On Blue"
16x20
paper and acrylic medium

The octopus is my favourite, and was the piece used for the silent auction that night. I was thrilled in the end that it went to the home of a dear, lovely friend and may actually end up enjoying shared custody between two dear, lovely friends! I was so in love with both of the papers that I used for this that I plan to use up every single scrap that's left from them.

"Mostly Positive"
4 8x10
paper and acrylic medium

These four trees were all about the funky paper I used to cut them out of. It was a series of patterned paper and I couldn't resist the colours and designs. They reminded me of the seasons and each tree is actually mean to represent one of the four. I know which, but I'll let you decide for yourselves.

"Three Little Friends"
12x16
paper and acrylic medium

I used more of the beloved octopus paper for this one, and then used pages from the destroyed book, "The Little Friend," to add the birds and cloud. The title is obviously a play on the book name, but my favourite part of this piece is that the text on the pages used is from a very scary and disturbing bit from the later chapters and so if you read it it really clashes with the cute, friendly feel of the piece. This one is also now living with a dear, lovely friend. The friend who gave me the book in the first place!

"Warming Weather"
8x16
paper and acrylic medium

I had the positives from the trees I cut out for the "Mostly Positive" piece and wanted to put them to good use, so created this as a sort of complementary piece. I used more pieces of pages from "The Little Friend" for the background and layered a single sheet of pale blue crinkled tissue over it, then added the bookend trees. I liked the feeling it gave me of trees at the tail end of winter when the air is warming but it's still too cool for buds.

Masks #117 and #118: Cut Paper Variation Masks

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These masks are made only out of paper and water-based varnish. I drew out the design that I wanted on the patterned paper and used an exacto knife to cut out the interior designs. After that was done I traced the outlines on the blue background paper and cut that out, plus the eyeholes. I coated the front of the blue paper with varnish, smoothed the patterned piece onto it and then heavily coated the patterned piece with varnish as well, smoothing out any wrinkles if they appeared. When the fronts dried I then flipped them over and coated the back sides with varnish. I didn't add ties to these ones yet, but if you're making this project with kids just use a hole punch or poke a hole through by the eyes and tie ribbon on, or make it into a stick mask with a stick and a bit of hot glue.

I was once again trying to come up with an easy mask project that could be done with kids as well. The techniques that I used aren't totally kid-friendly, but can be modified pretty easily. I know that Crayola makes a thing called a Crayola Cutter that is designed to let kids cut holes in paper without using an exacto knife, and instead of varnish you can easily use decoupage medium or even plain old white glue. I like that these ones are basically waterproof and the varnish really gives them durability while still being flexible. Decoupage medium and white glue would not be waterproof at all.

Next time I make masks like these, though, I'll have to be more careful when applying the varnish on the back. You can see on the first one especially that some beaded up on the front edges and discoloured a bit.

Update: June 24, 2008

Hello, mask enthusiasts and accidental visitors. This is a note to let you know that the 365 Masks project is not over yet! There's been an unplanned hiatus, yes, but things will resume in short order. I'm in a show this week and after that craziness is finished I'll be focusing on 365 Masks for the remainder of the year! So check back in next week and there'll be new masks for you to see.