The Lion Sleeps Tonight, But Not The Tiger

This project started out as a test to make a form fitting Paper Mache mask.  I first molded a piece of aluminum foil to my face. I made sure it wrapped around the nose, the lips, and had proper indentations for the eyes, and over the top of the head.

I then filled that aluminum foil with Great Stuff Foam as shown on the Longhorn Skull project. The foam dried. The mannequin head was sturdy. It exactly matched my own facial contours. I applied paper mache to the casting. This produced a face mask. The inside of the mask precisely fit my face and head. What kind of mask should we make? The kids wanted a tiger. We looked up images for tigers online.

I cut a nose hole and eye holes.  I added ears and a nose as per the picture they found on the internet.

 

I found some orange paint in the shop. Why not?  I coated it.

Then we used artists acrylics to paint the design.

I black-washed the mask and then wiped it off.  Adding some  “fuzzy fur” kinds of brush strokes gave it depth

I think I will fit these eyes in for now.  They will be removable for when the mask is worn.

More Paper mache soon!