DIY masquerade mask - how we made the Baroness Talon mask for a Labyrinth inspired fantasy photoshoot
For this fantasy photoshoot, I was looking to capture the menacing yet seductively entrancing aesthetic of the ballroom scene from the movie Labyrinth. Together with eleven wonderful and creative models, we set out to make the masks and costumes to recreate the near-nightmare dreamy, gorgeous dancers attending the masquerade ball. It was definitely an adventure to make our own masks, and I thought I would share here some of what we did for anyone considering doing the same.
The masked ball scene from the movie Labyrinth
I love creating fantasy stuff - if it’s not perfect it doesn’t matter, and it can still be beautiful. I make things myself in part because I love to create, in part because I love to make things that fit my vision instead of a purchased one, and in part to save money. For this project, I already had most of the materials on hand. Admittedly, I do a lot of creating so the cupboards are pretty full of resources. However, if you are thinking about a DIY project like this, I absolutely encourage you to try. It does not have to take a lot of stuff or experience; and if something doesn’t work, see what else you can do do instead.
I should mention that these masks were made for fashion - not function. Seriously, we were just looking to take photos. There are some stunning, professionally made masks out there. There are no doubt better ways to make masks that are more comfortable, durable, etc. We were just looking to make something with the (at times unconventional) resources we had. So I do beg some indulgence, dear reader, if you find there may be better ways to have done things. Or share ideas in the comments - I would love to do more work like this project and would be happy to explore thoughts you may have to do something differently.
One other mention - I have given a couple of links to products. I personally don’t love big box stores, or massive sites that specialize in shipping things to people. I buy local whenever I can. The links provided are more to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, and you can feel free to make purchases (or not) that fit you. No judgement here - and no, I don’t make any money or anything from products mentioned. So…on to adventures in mask making!
Originally, I intended to just get some plain masks that you can modify yourself, like these:
This would have saved a bunch of front end work, but in the end I have to wonder how they would have fit. At any rate, there was some reason that I can no longer remember that I couldn’t get anything like this at the time, so we had to do everything from scratch.
I picked up a couple of styrofoam heads from Michaels - one male, one female - however, they were not the actual size or shape of a real human head. So while any DIY instructable I looked up prior to doing our own project showed forming the mask on a mannequin, the only way we could make a mask that fit was by using a real person.
The first mask up was what would eventually become named the Baroness Talon. We started by covering our victim…ahem…model’s face with plastic wrap, of course making sure to leave room for her to breathe. Following some other instructables, we first tried layering strips of kitchen paper towel dipped in white glue (sometimes known as Elmer’s glue). We were hoping it would be a bit more gentle to fashion the mask, and comfortable to wear. That was not a success. It took forever to dry, and just didn’t hold it’s shape. We gave up on that pretty quickly and tried something else.
Our future Baroness fortunately had great patience to wait fruitlessly for the paper towel to dry. There was also a little humour to the experiment - see the face that was added on while she waited?
Our second try worked much better. I had sheets of plaster of Paris left from another project (I still have so much!). They are pretty easy to use. You just cut them down to the size you want, dip them in water, wring the excess water out a bit, put them in place and then use your fingers to smooth out the material to where you want it. You just have to be careful to keep the sheet spread out as a sheet, and not let it get all bunched up. However, the dry powder spreads around, and the whole thing is really messy once wet. It cleans up easily enough, but I’m serious, this is messy. Put down some protection on your work surfaces. I use a combination of re-purposed plastic tablecloths and the large drop cloths that I use when house-painting. I was the primary plaster-er, forming the mask on the models faces, so unfortunately, being covered in plaster myself meant no photos taken during this phase.
We experienced a few lessons-learned from using plaster of Paris. Included in the first grouping of masks were a couple with long horns or ears, so we figured we would need to layer the plaster to build strength. We later learned this wasn’t always necessary, or at least not as much as we used. It added undesirable weight and bulk, and we had to leave the masks at least overnight to dry. For subsequent efforts, we used just enough of the plaster of Paris strips to get the mask shaped to the face, but kept it as close to a single layer as we could. This dried on the model’s face in less than 10 minutes, and then we gave it another 15-30 minutes to dry on a styrofoam mannequin head (being careful not to lose the shape). The model could then start working with paper mache right away, instead of having to wait for another day. This was so much faster and easier.
Second mask attempt, this time using plaster of Paris
In our first efforts, we completely covered the eyes with plaster and cut them out later. We drew the eyes on, and then used a Dremel tool to cut the shape out. It was really difficult, unbelievably messy, and took forever. I’m talking dust masks and gloves, done outside, and the cleanup was still significant. It also left a fibrous edge from the strings of the plaster. That covered pretty easily with paper mache, but those fibres were what was hard to cut through with the Dremel. In the end, we found that even though we thought the mask was dry, it needed a few days of drying to be able to cut effectively.
As we progressed in experience, we made the plaster of Paris layers much thinner, which helped a lot. Also, instead of covering the face completely with the plaster we fashioned the eye opening right from the start, and used scissors to shape things while the plaster was dry enough to hold the shape without risk, but still relatively damp. This was SO much easier and faster. The only issue was making sure that the right sizes and shapes were achieved early on - they could be hard to fix later when shaping with paper mache. This was particularly critical with the eyes and mouth - really take the time to get them the right shape. Try the mask on, make sure you can see through the eyes and check it out in the mirror to ensure that you have the right look. When you think you are close, trim in small increments instead of making bold cuts. You can always take more off, and that’s preferable to having to add and re-shape later if you cut too much.
The strength and shape of the mask was built using layers of paper mache, which are lighter than the plaster. In former days, I would simply mix water into flour until I had a pea soup like texture, and dip strips of newspaper into the mixture. Run the newspaper strips between the flats of two fingers to wring out the extra water, and layer on in thin layers. Super cheap and easy. However, one of our models has celiac disease, so flour was not an option because of the gluten in it. Instead we used Modge Podge, which can be found in art stores. Modge Podge is expensive, and I often mixed in some white glue (much cheaper) and water to extend it. We found that this gave a different texture though - the Modge Podge gave a smoother, more glossy finish - so we changed things up as needed. If something really needed extra strength, we used wood glue thinned a little bit with water instead. Whatever we did worked - there were no issues with things holding together, even on those few occasions that horns or long ears were accidentally bumped. The whole mask was covered - front and back. This was generally enough for relative comfort to wear, but in some cases we added a bit of a padding material to the back of the mask to make it more comfortable, and to sit better.
I would suggest figuring out how the mask is going to be held onto the model’s head very early in the process. These masks were tied on to the face with ribbons tied to a D-ring that was attached to the mask. We knew we would be adding more long strings of ribbons to hang down - a la Labyrinth aesthetic - so the D-ring wouldn’t be so ugly. For this mask, D-rings were taped on to the side of the mask and secured in place with layers of paper mache. You want this to be really secure - it is a critical stress point for wearing the mask. For other masks with really heavy top appendages (like horns), the ties had to be done with more anchoring points so that the mask wouldn’t fall forward. We eventually ran out of D-rings, so for some masks we ended up using links of some lightweight chain I had left over from hanging planters. You could also use a stoutly tied circle of ribbon or string plastered or paper mached right into the mask as a substitute for a D ring - there are plenty of options without having to go shopping.
You can see in this photo of the Baroness’ mask the fibres from cutting out the eyes with the Dremel. Later, when we used scissors instead, this wasn’t a problem. The model shaped the beak from pieces of construction paper cut out and taped together to form the desired “bump.” We wanted to use masking tape (instead of regular tape) but I was out, so we used painters tape instead. It did the trick. She then layered paper mache to build up the shapes. We ripped some very small pieces of newspaper and let them soak in the slurry of Modge Podge until it was almost the texture of a modelling clay. She could then use small amounts of this where she was looking for built up shapes - like the brow of the eyes. Whenever she did this, the mask had to be given several days in between layering to dry. We generally did a mask & costume making session once a month for about 6 months. This gave plenty of drying time, and some flexibility for people’s schedules, so not everyone came every session. It also gave people time to take specific portions of their projects home, like cutting out all of the feathers for this mask. I can’t remember for sure, but it took about 3 sessions to finish this phase.
After the mask was the right shape, it was painted a bone colour (front & back) to get rid of the miscellaneous newspaper visuals. This helped the model to develop her vision as she designed the feathers. She fashioned crown lines of feathers, and then filled in the spaces with individual ones. These were individually cut out from card stock. Many, many small lines were cut into the sides to create a “feathered” edge, and each “feather” was bent and shaped. Then each was custom painted using water based acrylic paints, and in this case, it was really watered down to blend to the colours. The base was a graduated brown deepened towards the base of the feather, but a mixture of peacock blues and greens were blended in to give a bit of depth and variation.
The mask was painted a deep brown, and the beak was highlighted in a bronze. Finally, the feathers were glued on. Our Baronness tried using the glue gun, but the strings just made a mess. In the end, she used just simple white glue, held in place by very patient fingers until each layer dried . Those styrofoam mannequin heads came in really handy - the feathers made it a bit delicate to put the mask directly on a surface.
This was the first mask started, and it was amongst the last finished - our Baroness put so much work into it. But how cool did the end product turn out?!?
I hope this gives some ideas for anyone looking to make their own masquerade mask. Or fantasy mask. Or…
Feel free to share your own creations; they would be great to see! As for me, I would love to take some fantasy masks like these into the woods for a different photoshoot. Maybe a bit more of a fairy/fae aesthetic…or…oh, this could be fun :)
conspiringly yours,
jennifer
