Kabuki Inspired Venetian Mask

There has always been a fascination with fantasy and mythology for me, especially when it revolves around Japanese myths. After the first project I already had the idea in my head to create a mask inspired by kabuki (Japanese theatre known for its unique style of drama and elaborate make-up) and Noh plays (another form of theatre that incorporates comedy and storytelling with the use of masks to convey certain characters and emotions). But instead of just recreating a mask I wanted to make a more “modern” version, meaning I wanted it to sparkle and look more like a Venetian mask. And I already had it in my head that I wanted to base my mask off of Japanese fox gods and demons, or kitsune.

So, after a bit of researching I came up with my plan. The three main colors I found on kabuki and noh masks were red, black, and white. I didn’t look into detail onto why those were the colors most often seen on the masks but I assume it might have something to do with being colors you can see from any distance as an audience member during a performance.

The first thing I did was go out to buy a plain half-mask and foam paper from the craft store. I wanted to exaggerate the size of the fox ears and I figured I’d need something stronger than poster board paper to hold the weight of paint. I also didn't want the ears to warp out of shape.

After getting the mask and other random materials, I began sketching out the ears on news print. Along with the ears I drew random triangle shapes to use for the cheeks and nose. Then I cute those out to use as templates. Here I tapped my shapes to the mask to give myself an idea of where I wanted everything to be placed.

Then I traced the newsprint templates onto poster board, cut those out, and glued them in place. Unfortunately, I used gorilla glue without knowing exactly how to use it and I ruined the first mask completely. The paper and foam kept falling off the mask even after it had dried completely. After hours and hours of waiting for the gorilla glue to dry it just didn't hold to the materials very well and I’m not sure why. I ended up having to scrap everything and begin again. But hey, trial and error!

Basically, don’t use any other glue except hot glue.

So I hot glued everything into place and painted gesso onto the mask. After letting the gesso dry, I took the templates I made for the area around the eyes and traced that onto the mask. From there I free handed everything else.

Because I have shaky hands I outlined my pencil marks with sharpies so that my messy painting wouldn't go outside the lines. I let each color I painted on dry completely before moving onto the next color. The paper on the sides curled in on itself because of the paint which I thought gave the mask a more dimensional feel.

To give the mask that “modern” look I was going for I layered the red stripes with red glitter glue and the black markings with iridescent glitter glue. I had black glitter glue but when it dried it looked like I hadn't even used glitter.

(Honestly, I just really wanted to use glitter…)

Once the front of the mask was dry I painted the inside of the mask white and after that side had dried I put a layer of glossy modge poge over the front and back.

Made a second one because why not. I like to think they are a reflection of each other.

The second mask has actual glitter paint on it instead of glitter glue.

·Who are you: name, major? Alisanna House, Fine Arts major.

·Why did you choose this project? I wanted to stay with the mask theme I have going on and I wanted to give my own spin on cultural masks.

·How much time did it take? Over 2 days and having to redo the first mask because of glue discrepancies I reached the minimum of 15 hours. This includes researching and sketches.

·How much did it cost? I already had most of the supplies I needed from the first project, so I think I spent about $20 in total this time.

·What was the biggest challenge? Getting the paper and foam to stay adhered to the mask was a challenge, and it really sucked to have to start over because of it.

·If you had it to do over, what would you do differently? If I had to do this over I would want to make the mask bigger, maybe sculpt out the facial features instead of using paper.