Finished Face Mask!

Here is the finished face mask.  In case you haven't noticed, I did change the pink color of the mouth - it was just waaaaaayy to pink so I toned it down a bit.  If you like the dotted design (try googling "Aboriginal designs"), I HIGHLY recommend you getting a round brush to do it with.  I used a small brush with a flat end, and I had to paint, rather than just dab each dot... too time consuming.  I went out and got myself a couple of round brushes this weekend.  I finished painting it last Saturday and then gave it a clear coat of Mod Podge during the week.  I gave it to my friend Gabby on Thursday and she LOVED it.  She said it was the best gift she ever got, and she hung it on the wall in her office.  She asked me, "How can you give this away?"  I really meant it when I said that the fun of it for me, was in the creation, and in her appreciation of it.  

Now, what next?

Painting the mask, otherwise known as - Uh Oh...

So, it's now time in the project where I take something that I think looks pretty good, and either make it better, or screw it up totally.  This is the painting step.

I googled some pictures of aboriginal art, mostly because I liked the dotted designs, and then I found a couple of pictures of African face masks.  I figured I'd try to incorporate the two designs together a bit.

I decided the other day that I am going to give this mask to someone I work with - I think she'll get a kick out of it, and maybe she can hang it on the wall in her office and get a laugh now and then.  If she hates it, maybe I'll hang it in my office - I can tell everyone it's my creative muse. 

I cut out a few basic shapes from a piece of scrap paper just so I could trace them and flip them over to get mirror images on each side of the face.  I cut an eye, two stripes for the side of Mr. Mask's face, and a teardrop shape for his forehead.

Next, I chose some colors from my stash...

I probably should have gone with more traditional earth tones (or is it Earth tones?), but I was trying to keep it peppy and match some of the colors in her office. Maybe that was a mistake?

I started painting and somewhere around the mouth I thought,

'uh oh...  looks like the Joker in Batman...'

...but then I thought it made a slight recovery when I added the green.  Much of the white space that's remaining is going to be black, and then I'm going to cover almost the whole thing with coordinating dots, which I think will tone down the bright colors quite a bit. 

Oh, and if my darling husband sees this, he'll know why there are still dishes in the sink.