In the summer, I wanted a project to keep me occupied, and with a trip to my first Fantasy Fair coming up, I had the perfect excuse to make a new piece of costume to show off at the event. So me and the friend I was going with decided to make masks inspired by characters from one of our favourite game series: The Legend Of Zelda‘s Korok.
The whole process was quite rushed as we were pressed for time, and we managed to finish both masks in just two days of continuous work. However this meant that some areas were sloppy, and since we were going into this blind, essentially winging it with only a picture from the game as reference: there were many areas I’d improve on in hindsight. However despite this, I am extraordinarily proud of how it turned out, and it remains one of my favourite experiences.
As shown above, my initial coat of paint was much duller and more autumnal, but I found that I didn’t like the final effect that it gave and so ended up repainting the entire thing to be more vibrant, and align more with my friend’s.
Things I’d Do Differently:
- Make the cardboard thicker and more sturdy, or use a different material all together
- Use more layers of paint and give it a protective coating
- Use foam and or some sort of sweat band on the forehead rest to make wearing it more comfortable and easy – as it turns out mind was fine, but some of the paint rubbed off where it touched my head
- Give it more depth and texture
- Use a better, more comfortable method of securing it to my head
Things I’m Pleased With:
- The final colour turned out really well
- The shape and size measurements were all how I wanted them to be
- The elastic stayed on and didn’t slip making wearing it for long periods easy and relatively comfortable
- My pre-corrugating the cardboard meant it had give and shape to it, and the paint didn’t peel too much