Creating the Birds
The next assignment for my independent study was to be a main hand in the mask making for our production of Conference of the Birds by Peter Brook, directed by Karen Lordi-Kirkham. Karen cast the play with sixteen actors, each playing a different bird and various other characters. So our task was to build sixteen bird masks and two human masks for miscellaneous characters. Sherry Harper-McCombs, the costume designer for the show began to sketch out masks and I set to work building them out of clay.
Hoopoe Mask Sketch by Sherry Harper-McCombs
Double-Bird Mask Sketch by Sherry Harper-McCombs
|
Duck Mask Sketch by Sherry Harper-McCombs
Walking Bird Mask Sketch by Sherry Harper-McCombs
|
Owl Mask Sketch by Sherry Harper-McCombs
Hermit Mask Sketch by Sherry Harper-McCombs
|
These are some of the sketches I worked off of. Every one of these sketches I sculpted out of clay. Other birds were sculpted by Sherry or other students.
»» ««
The process all happened at once and on top of each other. Because of the nature of our shop, many people had their hands on the masks, supervised by the instructions of myself or Sherry. I would often come in and pick up work where someone had left off.
»» ««
The process all happened at once and on top of each other. Because of the nature of our shop, many people had their hands on the masks, supervised by the instructions of myself or Sherry. I would often come in and pick up work where someone had left off.
At one point we had almost ever step going at once: sketch, clay, plaster cast, plaster form, wet leather, and dry leather. It was important to get the first couple steps done as quickly as possible so that others could get involved in the process. While I helped with the transition of sketch to plaster form on almost every mask, I did not have my hands on every pulled leather. This was the stage that was easily passed on to people unfamiliar with the casting process.
◊ ◊ ◊
Working the process over and over again was a great way to over-come difficulties and try out new techniques and methods.
◊ ◊ ◊
Working the process over and over again was a great way to over-come difficulties and try out new techniques and methods.
Getting the clay smooth without spraying it down with water became easier and faster as we went from mask to mask. I would get the basics of the form ready without smoothing it over and then smooth it out all at once, so that by the time it was close to being finished, I knew the proportions and shapes had been worked out.
The plaster casting step took a little while to get used to, because the clay wasn't pulling out of the form properly and we were left with a cast like the picture above.
After some patience, precision, a wooden clay tool, and much more time that we wanted to spend on it, our figures were clear, like the picture above. The figure doesn't have to be completely absent of clay, but should be clear and have clean, sharp edges. Some clay can be used to patch any holes or breaks in the plaster casting, like the clay above the owl's right eyebrow. The clay won't stick to the poured plaster, so it is a good patch tool.
»» ««
Even though we were able to clean out the figures, it was taking too much time, so we decided to try something else.
»» ««
Even though we were able to clean out the figures, it was taking too much time, so we decided to try something else.
Instead of just coating the foam forms we were sculpting our masks on, we coated the entire figure in Vaseline, making sure to just do a thin layer. This worked really well and helped out tremendously.
◊ ◊ ◊
One of the things that we also changed around a bit was the type of poured plaster we used. After the Greek masks, which were poured with Plaster of Paris, we had to re-order our supply. There was some confusion with the order, and difficulty finding places that had what we were looking for in stock, so we ended up with Hydrocal Plaster.
◊ ◊ ◊
One of the things that we also changed around a bit was the type of poured plaster we used. After the Greek masks, which were poured with Plaster of Paris, we had to re-order our supply. There was some confusion with the order, and difficulty finding places that had what we were looking for in stock, so we ended up with Hydrocal Plaster.
Hydrocal is much stronger than regular plaster and feels much more like stone or cement. Our forms were coming out very sharp and sturdy, which was good because they were being passed from hand to hand. The Hydrocal also hardened and dried faster and didn't keep as much moisture, which is good because the masks can dry and take their shape faster this way.
»» ««
The only bad thing about the Hydrocal plaster was that it was really hard to drive the nails into. Once you got past that step it was great.
◊ ◊ ◊
Instead of using sand paper to clean the Hydrocal forms, I used a flat edged chisel to shave off the very top layers of the forms to get a smooth surface.
»» ««
The only bad thing about the Hydrocal plaster was that it was really hard to drive the nails into. Once you got past that step it was great.
◊ ◊ ◊
Instead of using sand paper to clean the Hydrocal forms, I used a flat edged chisel to shave off the very top layers of the forms to get a smooth surface.
Our Hydrocal ran out after we had finished most of the birds, and we ordered Gold Bond Moulding Plaster, seen in the form of the Bloody Man Mask above. This plaster is much finer and we didn't get the results that we had liked about the Hydrocal.
»» ««
The best batches we had were between orders, when we mixed Hydrocal with finer plasters. These forms were strong, but were a bit softer and easier to put nails in to.
»» ««
The best batches we had were between orders, when we mixed Hydrocal with finer plasters. These forms were strong, but were a bit softer and easier to put nails in to.
Pulling the Birds became much more natural with practice. It became easier to tell which masks needed extra cuts in the leather, mostly up by the 'eyebrows' like the Owl Mask above.
This mask needed three cuts, one below the nose, one above the left brow and one above the right brow. No cuts were needed in the eyes.
This mask did not require any cuts around the edges, but it did need slits in the eyes.
|
This mask required only one cut beneath the nose. The brows did not protrude enough to require cuts. It also did not need any slits in the eyes.
This mask needed one cut beneath the nose and two slits in the eyes.
|
Once the masks were ready to have their eyes cut out we called the actors in for a mask fitting and measured the distance between their eyes. Having this information we were able to cut out all of the eyes, and punch holes for leather. We got all the masks to this point as fast as we could so they could go into rehearsal by the third week of an eleven week period.
◊ ◊ ◊
Once in rehearsal, we helped the actors fit the masks to their faces. We provided them with stick-on foam and stick-on moleskin for any rough places. At this time actors were advised of mask care and safety such as: placing the mask face up when not on the face; wrapping the mask in it's bag when not in use; not touching the mask actively with fingers; and treating the mask with care and respect.
»» ««
The coloring came later so that the masks could remain in rehearsal.
◊ ◊ ◊
Once in rehearsal, we helped the actors fit the masks to their faces. We provided them with stick-on foam and stick-on moleskin for any rough places. At this time actors were advised of mask care and safety such as: placing the mask face up when not on the face; wrapping the mask in it's bag when not in use; not touching the mask actively with fingers; and treating the mask with care and respect.
»» ««
The coloring came later so that the masks could remain in rehearsal.
