African Mask making

Throughout this module I have enjoyed researching different cultures and it’s fair to say that the African Culture has defiantly took a hold of me. From my research I became incredibly interested in their masks, I just love the way they add emphasis to their facial features and their unique use of patterns. This inspired me to then go onto producing my own African masks, I decided that cardboard would be the best material for me to use as it would not be to hard to cut through but yet still would have a strong posture to keep it’s hold.

First of all I would start with the stencil of the masks so this is the part where I would decide on the scale and proportions. Due to the African culture using off-scale features I choose to also go with this kind of look, for the lips I created a more of a plumper and wider look and also a more wider look for the eyes.

For my first mask that I produced I went more for a South African style so this includes a lot of pattern and colour especially when researching upon tribes such as the Zulu’s which is a very bright and vibrant tribe. I exaggerated the facial shape by stretching it out and giving it a slim build, for this mask I knew it would be absolutely essential to fill it with pattern so this was my next step. I added in a lot of shape to fulfil the space of the facial area, I choose to paint the background of the face in a plain brown so that the designs would stand out a lot more.

My designs were done in bold colours such as: red, blue, green and yellow. Over the top of the colours I went on to paint white dot’s upon them to add more decoration. I was inspired to use these such colours after doing research on the Zulu masks and their Jewellery. For this experiment I did not only produce a painted mask but also a plain unpainted one, the reason for this is because I felt like even though they were both still the same design I got two different vibes from them , one being: a calm vibe and the other being more lively and outgoing.

I enjoyed creating this mask more than I thought I would have so this makes me eager to go on and make more. For future planning I would like to look and different Cultures and create a mask based upon their style, in the end I would like to have a collection of cardboard masks inspired from all over the World. Although I am happy with my outcomes I do believe their is many other ways to play around with these masks for example: a larger scale or even make some out of Clay so I will be baring these ideas in mind for my future preferences.