With Costume Con 2010 slated for Milwaukee, I've made no secret of my intention, nay,
need to go. I've also mentioned to a number of people my plans for a costume to compete with in the historical costumes masquerade.
My grand project; a Renaissance Venetian Carnivale Griffin costume. I have lots and lots of plans for it, ranging from embroidery to beadwork and many other aspects. I intend this dress to be as impressive as I can possibly make it within my means, hence why I am beginning work on it now. Near the top of my list is getting some linen in a proper color to make the bell sleeves that will become the wings. It's so near the top of my list because those are going to involve most of the embroidery and it's going to take a while.
The mask is the part of the costume that is the most uncharted piece of territory for me. As this is going to be a griffin, I need to have a beak on the mask. And since I don't want to use a cheap-a** plastic mask bought off the shelf that happens to have a large schnoz and call that a beak, I'm going to have to make it myself. Chats with a couple of costuming friends on Tuesday evening turned me on to paper clay, so I'm giving that a try. While out with The Boy yesterday, we stopped in at a craft store and I picked up a package of it and a plastic full-face mask to use as a base. A couple hours' worth of pushing around the clay and I have this.
It sort of looks like a very strange cake with white frosting on it, right now. I understand you can sand paper clay smooth, though, so I'm banking on that. Otherwise, I'm going to have to find another method of mask sculpting; one that will probably turn out quite a bit heavier.
What I don't know about paper clay is the next step in the process after the sanding. The stupid packaging came with zero instructions or warnings other than "don't get this near fire." I'm not sure what kind of prep work is needed in order to work with it after it dries, or even how long it's going to need to dry. I'm figuring if I give it a week, it might be long enough. It's just going to sit around on an out-of-the-way shelf until then, freaking out my parents. I'm also going to have to put it somewhere that I won't be able to easily poke at it, because I know I'll want to...