Making Masks.

 MAKING MASKS.

• To make the beaks I began to mould the shapes of the beaks out of clay. I used pictures taken from my first research  into birds to use as a guide to make the beaks. I found this really creative.   

Once I had created all of the beaks in clay I let threm dry compleatly for a week. For the next step I decided to use latex rather than any other materials, because of its flexiblity, and lightweight nature. 
Latex has to be painted on in layers, so I painted it on to the clay beaks until they had a thick layer coated on top. On the last few layers I added some acrylic paint to the latex mixture and painted the last few layers on.

 After the latex had dried I pealed the latex off the clay and I trimmed away the scabby bits of  latex away. Originally I was going to attach the latex beaks straight on to the the lycra face 'sock' balaclava, however I realised that the if the 'sock' is ill fitting etc the beak will sag and look awful. So I decided to use a premade make to add stability.
I found these masks at 'The Market Gallery' in Poole for £1.50, I used a glue gun to attatched the beaks to the masks. because of the smooth plastic I made sure that the plastic melted with the heat of the glue gun so that when more latex was added to the masks it would stick and not just peel off. I coated all of the masks with the latex so they had a smooth consistant surface rather than having the look of being stick on.      

  I also found this hat, which would be a good base for the owl's headress, obioviously I will remove the skull and cross bones, but the shape will be good and sturdy to add padding onto.