Building Upwards Mask Technique

This is a scary Halloween mask that builds up like actual human anatomy. You start with a skeleton for structure, add some muscle for shape, then some skin to make it look smooth, and finally paint on some makeup.

Cardboard
Masking tape
Water and flour
Newspaper
Hot glue gun
Paint
Paint brushes

Create a skeleton of the mask. Cut out the shape you want from a sheet of cardboard. Make sure it fits around your head and has some eye/nose/mouth holes etc. Since I was creating a mask that I wanted to look like a skull I drew my best attempt at a skull shape and made sure it looped around the back of my head and that I could see out of it.

Once you have a basic shape to work with you need to add fluff to the mask. Use newspaper and some masking tape/painters tape (whatever tape you can find that’s really flexible- I do not suggest scotch tape or duck tape). Scrunch up the newspaper and tape it down to areas of the mask that would stick out or have some type of curve (This usually is the entire mask- it looks better if there’s texture all over). Make sure everything is taped down well (it’s going to take a lot of tape). For my mask I created a nose/eyebrows/teeth/
cheek bones/etc. I also created a bottom jaw for fun using the same steps of skeleton then muscles.

Once the muscles are finished paper mache over the entire mask. You can create paper mache paste at home using a mic of water and flour. Take strips of news paper and dip it into the paste. Squeegee extra paste off of the paper before applying to the mask. We want it thick so it’s hard once it drys, but not too thick. Apply paper mache evenly over the entire mask before letting dry. My mask looked like that after being completely covered with paper mache, but don’t worry, once it drys the clumpy white spots disappear (tip- when they disappear that when you know it’s dry)

Once the paper mache is completely dry you can paint it to what ever color you want! I added scars and cut marks on mine for fun.

For my mask specifically I tied the jaw onto the main mask using string and a hot glue gun. I also added some horns just for fun. This was less about my mask specifically and more about the building upwards technique I used. I hope the technique can be helpful to someone else as well!