Aren't You Tired Of Having A Face?

Aren't you tired of having a face?

This mask came about because I'd previously done a featureless screen/mesh mask, but wasn't super happy with that design. So I set about to shift the concept a bit. I think I personally like this one better. It reduces the shape of the face even more.

5-6 oz vegetable-tanned leather, laser-cut, hand-dyed and -stitched, then wet-formed with a minimally curved profile. Finished with a glossy acrylic coat. 

And it's up on my Etsy shop!

These demon masks are always fun to make. I like playing with different color combinations between the face and the horns. This one’s got red and yellow.

4 oz vegetable-tanned leather, laser-cut, hand-dyed and formed, stitched together with waxed nylon thread.

Etsy link

This sinister but highly capable healer is ready to bring your adventuring party back to fighting shape--for a price. 

It’s my contribution to this year’s @magicmeatmarch, a sexy plague doctor! Inspired by the global viral pandemic, because that’s a perfectly reasonable sentence to write in the year 2020.

I designed the mask in the last couple weeks, and modified one of my codpiece designs to work with the red cross yesterday. The chaps and jacket I’d made over the last couple years for different outfits, but I thought they fit with this idea nicely. 

Also, haha CORVID-19.

This aquatic dragon’s streamlined profile helps it cut through the waters smoothly, and its shimmery blue coloration lets it blend in and evade detection as it stalks its prey.

The mask is made of relatively thick 6 oz vegetable-tanned leather. That thickness is a bit much for a lot of the more delicate stuff I do, but it gave this a really nice solidity and heft.

The eye pieces are an iridescent acrylic plastic that reflects greens and yellows depending on angle, and is rose-tinted when looking through it.

I'm feeling really happy with the riveted style I've been working out with these masks. It still always makes me think of like metal panels assembled into a submarine, or something like that. Always gives a bit of a steampunk slant to the aesthetic.

As for overall concept/form/vibe, I feel like I’m doing a good job of hitting my target of the uncanny valley between fursuits and pup hoods. Which means I’m never really sure if there are enough people who want this sort of thing for it to be viable. But I like them, and I think it’s good to push a greater variety of ideas out into the world.

Previously seen here, and assembly photos here.

And it’s up for sale on my Etsy shop!

Made a respirator-type face mask for daily pandemic wear.

The tan one is the final updated design. It’s got brass mesh sewn behind the openings, so it breathes quite well. It’s not intended to be PPE on its own, but rather to be worn over a fabric or disposable mask.

The black and green one was my first prototype, where I tried adding fabric to the inside. I really liked the aesthetic of the bright green showing through behind the black, but I had to kill the concept for two reasons. One, permanently attaching a fabric filter inside a mask that you can’t really wash, is a bad idea from a medical perspective. Two, I wasn’t able to attach it in a way that I was super happy with. The center panel is sewn in at the sides, which is nice and permanent, but the curvature of the mask there caused it to bunch up and look awkward; the side panels are glued in place, which honestly is probably fine, I trust this glue, but I’m not happy with it mostly on principle.

The final face mask design is available for sale on my Etsy. It’d be cool to do more color combinations, feel free to ask for a custom one!

Whoops I forgot to post this plague doctor hood. I finished it up around the end of May, then it sold off of my Etsy while I was in media blackout.

This one has room for glasses to be worn underneath, clear acrylic lenses, ventilation through holes and grommets in the beak, and ear cups for comfort (no more squishing your ears when you lace up the hood!) with a bunch of holes for uninterrupted hearing.

I really like showing off the un-dyed color of the leather when using this sort of aesthetic. It’s got just a light application of oil to darken it slightly (this hide was very light tan to start), then it’s finished with a matte acrylic clear coat.

I’d made a similar plague doctor mask years ago (here) as one of my first big whole-head hood style masks, and this design built on a bunch of stuff I’ve learned since then. I went for a more visually coherent eye design; used rivets for the long seams to reduce the assembly time; and I tried out the ear cup idea, building on the deer head mask previously.