Once I finished shaping the plasticine clay for the Uncle Charlie mask I coated it with urethane resin so that the masking tape could adhere.
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| Clay Sculpt with Markings |
I used a grease pencil to mark where the seams and straps would go.
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| Covered in Masking Tape |
Next I covered it all with painter's masking tape, taking care to copy the seam lines in a felt marker.
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| Cutting Off the Tape |
Here I have just finished cutting off the masking tape patterns.
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| The Masking Tape Patterns |
And these are the three pattern pieces laid out flat. The small one is the forehead.
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| First Leather Piece Cut |
After scanning the patterns into Corel Draw, and adjusting them as needed, and adding in stitching marks, I laser cut the vegetable tanned leather.
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| Stitching the Leather Pieces |
I used black waxed thread to stitch the mask together.
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| Face Pieces All Stitched Together |
Here it is with the front parts stitched together and fitted over the clay and hardware. It's looking like a grasshopper at this point!
Pretty awesome. It just looks less sinister with the dog muzzle's "caged" look as opposed to the original skull's slits for breathing.
ReplyDeleteIf you get a chance could you post some info about how you make your patterns? I am trying to accomplish something similar and I am having the devils own time working it out. I have a hard plastic skull decoration that is a little over sized and begging to be used as a mask form. While I could form wet leather over it, I want to try for an effect similar to yours with the stitched pieces. I get the form all taped up and tend to stall out when I start to mark the pattern pieces on there trying to figure out the best way to preserve the curves and ridges of the form with the leather.
ReplyDeleteI"d run seams along ridges. Otherwise you just have to mark it in a way so that each pattern piece will lay more or less flat. If you get it wrong in the tape just retape and try it another way.
ReplyDelete