Thread: Xaq's Masks

That is some amazing work, Xaqaria. Awesome detail there.

Good stuff, man!

Name him Prot

Pictures didn't come out as clear as I'd hoped, and I started plastering before I looked at them.

Wow... This new one is amazing.

You are definately skilled at this. Keep up the good work and I will be following your progress as well.

Will there be an explanation for this one, as well?

extraterrestrial bird-people?
Or, a headpiece for a shaman..

Originally Posted by Invader

Will there be an explanation for this one, as well?

extraterrestrial bird-people?
Or, a headpiece for a shaman..

Headpiece for a shaman is a good one. A friend of mine asked me to make a mask that he could wear on stage when his band plays shows. They play sort of psychedelic experimental instrumental acid jazz. One of the band members has been creating a cartoon world to represent the band and the one eyed triangular thing in the middle of the forehead is known as the Toga and is the creature that represents the member that the mask is for. All he asked for was that it have a big nose and horns and the rest was my attempt to distill his personality into a visual representation. I was going for some sort of mix of the Italian Commedia Dell'arte, and jim henson's, The Dark Crystal, and I also wanted it to blow the minds of anyone looking at it while under the influence of psychadelic drugs.

Edit: also, before I knew I was going to be making this mask for him, I had asked him what kind of mask he would want if he could have anything and he said griffin. When I started making this one, I noticed that the front sort of looked like a bird (and apparently you did too) so I embedded a Lion face into the detail of the back to make it sort of a two faced griffin, similar to the roman god Janus.

If you are a myspace user, you can check them out at http://www.myspace.com/thattogaband

Hm, I had no idea the back was supposed to have a face at all. Is it easier to see from the side (the second picture has the horn in the way)? Since it does look very bird-like, I can see how that fits in to the whole Dark Crystal theme, especially considering the sorcery oriented feel of the piece and sinister grin it has. The grin could just be my interpretation, not sure if it was also intended or not. And after you complete molding the clay, do you make a separate outer-mold and then a casting of it for your friend? I'd like to know more about that process.

The music is good, too. Not something I'd normally listen to, but it's mellow. It sets a good atmosphere to read or work to, at least for me. I think I prefer "still got a belly" over the others. It falls more in line with the drum n' bass side of me. "Andy's Quirk and Whirl" is pretty awesome too. Would fit well for a beach party or some such.

I'll put together a sort of pictorial explanation of the process some time over the next few days.

I haven't posted any progress in awhile, but I've actually completed the last mask and started painting the one before that. I don't have any good pictures of the latest mask, since I forgot to take any before I gave to the person it was for. I do have one though, and I plan to get more.

Here it is, and the owner is wearing it, and since I designed it specifically for him, maybe you can see some of my motivations while he wears it.



And here is the work I've done so far painting the previous mask

Spoiler for .:

p.s. he's drunk and tripping on halloween in that picture. shh

Brilliant stuff, you should do something in a slab or marble

My only concern is that I personally think they look way better when they aren't painted for some reason... more so for the first picture, the one you're working on looks good so far just the colour choices in the first pic there it doesn't look so good to me.

Nevertheless keep it up-- you've got an amazing talent for this stuff

These are fantastic! So much detail in them...how long does it take to complete one, on average?

I hope there will more to see at some point.

And does the big grinning one have a name yet? If not, he could easily be an Erlend or an Ira...possibly even an Enan.

Originally Posted by Spenner

Brilliant stuff, you should do something in a slab or marble

My only concern is that I personally think they look way better when they aren't painted for some reason... more so for the first picture, the one you're working on looks good so far just the colour choices in the first pic there it doesn't look so good to me.

Nevertheless keep it up-- you've got an amazing talent for this stuff

Which is the 'first one'? If you mean the first one in that last post, it is a really bad picture taken in a dark bar, although the paint jobs aren't as good as I'd like either. it really should be done with an airbrush but I can't afford one at the moment, so I have to make do with a brush and this type of latex paint just does not work well with a brush. Regardless, the only mask that is really representative of a decent paint job is the first one I made, which is in a different thread linked to in the first post. I don't have a good picture of the horned one yet, and I haven't finished the paint job on smiley.

This is the first one;



P.S. Smiley's official name is "the interloper"

That one's good, I meant this one



But again, bad picture, I can't completely judge.

Originally Posted by acatalephobic

These are fantastic! So much detail in them...how long does it take to complete one, on average?

I hope there will more to see at some point.

And does the big grinning one have a name yet? If not, he could easily be an Erlend or an Ira...possibly even an Enan.

Each one has been different so far, but it takes a couple weeks/months (depending on how regularly I work on it) to finish the clay sculpture, a day or so to cast in plaster, and about a day to dry the latex. Painting can take anywhere from a couple hours to a couple days depending on how many colors used and whether or not I want them to mix.

That's some awesome shit! Please post more!

Originally Posted by ReachingForTheDream

That's some awesome shit! Please post more!

I'm going to be starting on a new sculpture very soon. My next one is either going to be a basic face that can be painted in many different ways (boring right?) or a demon samurai that someone has asked for which would be a much more interesting looking sculpture.

The interloper is awesome. I'd really like to see what you could do with an airbrush. There is sooo much amazing detail in the masks but some of it almost seems to get lost after they are painted? It could just be the photos. They still look amazing though. I'd really want to see the demon samurai! Nice work, and what an interesting and unique hobby to have.

it is partly the photos but I definitely need to get an airbrush. There is just so much more I could do in terms of blending and shading and it is extremely hard to just get an even coat with a brush since latex dries so quickly. Quick enough that I have to use a new brush every time I sit down because it dries in the brush as I'm doing it and ends up as a mangled blob of rubber. The good thing is that once I have the mold I can remake them as many times as I want so I can still do all of these with an airbrush once I get one.

I've haven't posted in awhile, but I've been working like mad on new stuff. Here are a few from a series all pulled from the same mold.

Picasa Web Albums - Frank Allen - Masks

Update on the painting situation; I haven't gotten an airbrush gun yet, but I bought some airbrush paint that is way higher quality than the other crap I was using. Even with a brush it comes out just about a thousand times better.

Sweet. I love the 1st and 3rd pics.

Wow, that's amazing! A little terrifying, but very cool!

As for a name.... I like Lysander