sun and moon masks: yule 2011

this yule i made some masks for a winter solstice ritual celebrating the return of the sun.  i'm still a novice at mask making, but i felt much more confident with the process this time.  i'm definitely pleased with the results and impressed that these seemed to fit well even though i made them without measuring or molding the faces of the people that wore them.  that is the benefit of using model magic i think.  it remains slightly flexible even after it's cured. 

here's the sun god mask ready to dry.  i sculpted these both out of crayola model magic, just like the henry killinger mask.  again, it's hard to get a smooth surface (as is obvious here. it looks like the sun god has some severe acne scars ;) i didn't care too much this time because i knew i was going to  add glitter and several coats of varnish.

 
 the masks were built on top of some styrofoam wig stands i picked up at a thrift store for cheap.  i covered them with aluminum foil to prevent the clay from sticking to the foam.

 here's both of them drying in my studio.  i used the leftover black model magic from the killinger mask on the moon goddess.  that's why she looks weird here. yes, model magic comes in a bunch of colors. 

 here they are after priming and the base color was added.  you can see the surfaces are still rough, but it will get better.

unfortunately i didn't take any in-process shots of building the rest of the god mask, but here he is.  the mask is coated in a couple different types of glitter.  i used mod podge to glue it on.  there's finer gold around his eyes and mouth, coarser for the rest of the face.  to create the rays i cut apart a bunch of super glittery "christmas floral" stems in varying colors i found at the craft store.  he's almost a sun green man in that way.  the rays are all hot glued on.  (i love my high temp hot glue gun!)

here's the moon goddess after her glitter treatment.

 she is a half mask because she needed to vocalize during the ritual.  the asymmetry was supposed to be indicative of a crescent moon.  i'm not sure how successful that was, but i think she's still pretty.

 and here she is with her flora attached (yep.  these are supposed to be "christmas floral" pieces as well)  i loved these pieces because they reminded me of ice as well as silvery moon things.

 after the look was completed i proceeded to cover the masks in several layers of mod podge and spray varnish.  these puppies DO NOT spread glitter everywhere, thank you very much! 

here are two pics of me wearing the completed masks.  i wanted to show off how the eyes look through them since the photos of the people in the ritual don't show that.  i was going to cover the eye holes with black see through fabric, but decided against it.  i really like seeing the eyes.

 and here are the photos of the goddess and god in full costume.  she's covered in silver body paint.  it's subtle, but it worked really nicely.

 he put this costume together himself.  just fantastic!  and holy safety pins batman!

thanks so much for looking!

building Dr. Killinger part 4: the finale... putting him all together

greetings!  i'm sorry i didn't get to posting this last week.... i wanted to show the final costume all put together and we just didn't get pics taken until saturday.  the bonus is that you will get two posts this week!
let's see, we have a mask, a murder bag, gloves and shoes....  just how many props does one costume need?  a lot apparently ;)  dr. killinger *is* a doctor after all so he needs a stethoscope.


i picked this up at a local surplus store. it's an actual working stethoscope!  but it was black.  i painted the tubing with silver fabric paint.  fabric paint so it will remain flexible and not chip off.... works like a dream!

next came the handcuffs (he keeps his magic murder bag handcuffed to his wrist.... one can't let those wondrous secrets get out ;)


these were just cheap metal costume cuffs i found.  even though they were already silver colored i felt i needed to help them fit in with the other painted items so i added a touch of the fabric paint






next up, the umbrella....  because no evil mary poppins figure is complete without one!



i started with this.  it was the closest i could find.... black fabric with a crooked handle, but it still needed some painting.

i added red fabric paint to the outlines of the umbrella....  following the contours like the illustration lines in the cartoon.




i also painted the handle and shaft.... and coated this in hard coat mod podge to protect it. (have i mentioned lately how much i love that stuff??)




the red edges make for a really cool effect when the umbrella is closed

next up, the coat!
he's really wearing a black 3/4 sleeve chef's coat.  you can find them made for women, but i wanted to save some $$ and make it myself, but i couldn't find a chef's coat pattern in a women's cut and since i already was spending a lot of time and work on this i didn't want to have to drape a coat so i decided to modify a pattern...  this is the closest thing i could find:

it worked really well.  there were several options built into the pattern.  once i figured out which version i would make i still needed to mod it a bit.  my modifications were to add 3 inches to the with of the front panels (so the buttons were farther apart), use only the collar base to make the mandarin collar, lost the belt and belt loops, and take a smaller seam allowance for the with of the coat so it was a little more roomy without being too shapeless (the sleeves and shoulder seams stayed the same)




again, to up the cartooniness i followed the contour lines of the coat with some silvery grey bias tape (i couldn't find piping in the right shade ;)

the buttons were the cover your own kind that i just glued together and painted with the metallic fabric paint for that slightly unreal look.  you can also see how i got out of making buttonholes for this.....  i despise sewing buttonholes, but love buttons!


here you can see the effect of the buttons, 'piping' and stethoscope together.....



i cut the killinger logo out of some red faux leather i had and sewed it on the coat (the same stuff i painted and used on the murder bag)



and the coat is lined in red satin ;)

and one might wonder what i wore under the coat?

just a black t-shirt with the same logo process as the jacket because i knew i'd get warm if i was inside with a lot of people.  this worked out quite nicely.



 also, on my legs were just a pair of black leggings i gave the same treatment as the gloves (red fabric paint contour lines)
and here he is in all his glory: 

 one note.  i wore this for two parties...  the first one i just powdered my hair.  it looked really great except it was really messy...  i had powder everywhere!  not the greatest choice when you're costume is black :/  we took these photos on the next day before the second party... i found some spray color, but it really didn't work well at all......  i may just invest in a grey wig :(

 thanks so much for looking!   i'll be back later this week with Dr. Rusty Venture!
have a safe and happy halloween!
-sarah