Step-by-Step: Effigy of Agony

Today I have a special treat - a step by step progression of the making of the plague doctor mask that I will be using in my next photo shoot (of which I posted concept art for earlier). I used this guide as a basis for a lot of this, so go ahead and give it a look through, though mine is a bit different.

Firstly, I took a Jason-style toy hockey mask and some Styrofoam. I had cut and angled the cone to create a suitable bend, as well as hollowing out a bit of the larger end to make room for the nose of the mask, putting it all together using hot glue.

These are pieces of some welding goggles that I ordered. I removed all the strapping and attachments and disassembled the cups. I took apart the cups and used silver spray paint and black acrylic paint to give the rims the look of worn metal. I got them because I wanted those highly reflective black lenses, and figured the goggles were a great twist on the traditional mask, and similar to what I had in my drawing series. The lenses came with some printing on them, so I simply turned them around when I reassembled them.

Have to make sure to leave room for the goggles! I later cut, shaved, and formed the Styrofoam to make a smooth organic shape.

This part differs largely from the tutorial I was using. I knew I wanted a much more pushed forward "face", leading more naturally into the beak, something which would not be easy to do with just paper-mache or spackle. I used an air dry clay, Das clay, which I had never used before so did not know what to expect. It was sort of papery, like a really classy soggy newspaper. It dried white and fairly light. I was able to sand it down nicely to get a nice smooth transition and shape.

Oops! Skipped some steps. I was getting really into it I guess. Well, this is after I added my first round of spackle. Now, don't get me wrong, spackle is NOT a sculpting material. It was tricky to work with and stuck to my fingers more than it did the mask until I learned the best ways to apply it (let it slide under your fingers, don't push it along). However, in the end it made for a simply wonderful finish that was very easy to sand down. I used some 150 grade sandpaper, but even a hard enough pressure with my fingers sometimes did the trick.

The spackling compound I used. I am really glad I got the lightweight, in the long run.

A second round of spackle to cover up some of the trouble spots. Keep in mind that each of these layers had to dry before I could continue. I am not really a patient person.

The sanded form after the second application.

The shape was really good, but there was some various discolorations from Styrofoam poking through and other issues, so I applied a layer of white paint and then some Dulcote matte finish. Ok, a lot of Dulcote. I had some issue with the paint for a bit (only because of my own stupidity, the application is actually a dream) so be warned, the paint will soften the spackle, so it will take it right off if you do something wrong.

All that was left was to glue on the eyepieces. All done! Well... other than making some new straps for it. I had intended to anyway, for the look of it, but the mask simply became too heavy for the flimsy straps to hold up.

Look forward to seeing more of this mask in the coming days!