My Own Mask's Projects

We were challenged...

Finally, after all the lessons on masks, inspiration and cultures we got the precise task! That will be creating our own mask, inspired by any culture, or an aspect of culture if we are particularly stubborn. I probably will be, but I'll come to that later. During the last lesson, we were to draw some sketches, projects or any ideas that came to our minds, then choose one, mix them all and generally decide what the mask is going to look like.

What inspired me?

Before we were told exactly what to do, I had a brief idea about what my mask is going to represent. And nothing in the world can change my mind- I want to make a scarecrow's mask. A quite creepy and psychedelic one. Talking about inspiration, well, there are a few things that combined together made me sure this idea makes sense. The first one, was my visit to the countryside, where a big part of my family lives. The second, was the time of year. Autumn there looks really amazing, and probably the most beautiful view was an empty field with just one scarecrow standing in the middle of it. This reminded me of an early-Pink Floyd recording from their first psychedelic album. The song is peaceful and not really controversial, but I'm into such music this season... I guess it gives a perfect impression of what I saw in the countryside. The combination of those factors, plus the upcoming halloween made it clear: a creepy scarecrow's mask is exactly what I want to do! Once again, to make sure aspects of culture were my inspiration I'll write them down:
-the country's culture, so sort of folklore
-simple psychedelic music, so late 1960s culture
-autumn's mood, especially the traditions present in polish culture since the slavic customs connected with recalling ghosts (so the dark, scary aspect of november culture)

My scarecrows!

Here are the lads I managed to draw during the lesson... To be honest, they all have different features and one of them will win my inner competition. None of them will avoid judgement! So here we go... The thing they all need to have in common are definitely round eyes and a nose made out of a stick.I guess the straw is also crucial for a real scarecrow, but not suitable for each type of masks down below.

The gardener

Here we have our first candidate- a very classical one. Hair made of straw, mouth out of buttons and a typical victorian upper-class holiday hat. Very handsome, but I'm not convinced when it comes to the mouth. I came up with a bit more creepy idea....

The potter

An alternative to the guy above is this one. Is it noticeably different? Well,

first of all the vintage, oldschool pot on the top of his head gives him a more DIY look which I honestly prefer. The second thing I like about him is the mouth- way more psychedelic smile (now I realised it's Tim Burton-inspired- remember the mouths in 'The Nightmare Before Christmas'?). Still, the straw looks attractive on him. The hair along with the nose are the features I'm undoubtedly going to leave.

The pumpkin head

Is a regular scarecrow's face too mainstream? I'm not sure yet, but just in case it was, I've drawn a pumpkin (wasn't there a horror film about a scarecrow with such a vegetarian  head?). I've even done a dressed-up-as-a-scarecrow version of

this guy. Still, I found out the pumpkin has a lot of disadvantages when it comes to the creation of the mask: it will be really inconvenient to stick layers, while other people will be easily making smooth masks at the same time.It also looks too chaotic for me, even on the picture, so I'm scared to think how it would come out in practice... So yes, the pumpkin head is an original idea, but I might be either too lazy or too little talented to make it stunning.

The verdict

I guess I will stay with the regularly-faced scarecrow, but the one with a drawn "sewed" mouth and a pot at the top of his head. He really appeals to me, has this creepy vibe, is much easier to make and requires using only materials that are possible to come by. I made a decision, maybe quickly but when it comes to arts I rather listen to my heart than consider advantages and disadvantages for hours...
Look out crows! Here we come!