My Crude First Attempt

Well, here we go, my first stab at it.

Fits a standard human head. Or a stuffed Biting Pear, interestingly enough.

I suspect that every person who plays around with leather masks probably makes some variation on this design first. I learned a number of things, like “Punch the holes for the strap BEFORE you mold it to a form, dumbass!”

Acrylic ink—I used the FW Daler brand, which I use for everything—sinks into the leather very well and doesn’t become quite as opaque as standard acrylic–looks a bit more like a dye. I used that as a base coat, then picked up the highlights along the nose, brows, and cheekbones with fluid acrylic, and did the copper bits with Lumiere fabric paint.I may try to see it with the Krylon clear glaze, but that will require daylight and the porch, as there is nothing quite as sad as having a stray moth adhere itself to your art.

For my next trick, we’ll see if I can master the arcane art of the rivet! And perhaps whether it is possible to glue two pieces of leather together effectively. I have stuff that claims to me leather glue, but We Shall See.

4 thoughts on “My Crude First Attempt

  1. Al the K says:

    Well, it is leather and I’d like to see that texture show through like it does now. You don’t want people to go “Hey! Howja do that? With papier mache?” Maybe you want to seal the metallic color, though, unless you plan on going antique-y.

    In one of the progress shots, I’d like to to see the biting pear model the mask. Just because.

  2. Lon says:

    Contact cement. Plain white glue will also work, but isn’t as strong and a bit less flexible. Rubber cement for a temporary bond. I haven’t found that the “leather” glues have been any different than their generic equivalents.

    Gluing gets more tricky with oily/waxy leathers, but since you’re working with veg-tan that’s not a concern.

    I have not tried hide glue, asin the kind made from rawhide, that is usually heated to use.

    (I’m trying really hard not to core-dump on you responding to the leather posts…). 🙂

Leave a Reply