Covid-Safe Masks
From defence mask …
… to defence mask
Since Covid-19, understandably everyone has been nervous about putting something on their face that could potentially carry infection. Performance masks everywhere are sat on the shelf gathering dust, but these masks are game changers.
Thanks to the superb new commedia dell’arte designs by my friends @Wintercroft we have access to a set of performance masks that carry no infection risk, no huge cost implication and can be made by you at home. And to top it all, their eco-friendly - you can recycle your old cereal boxes into a fabulous set of performance masks. Made of cardboard.
Lockdown might just be fun!
Once you have ordered your commedia mask templates from Wintercroft, all you have to do is print out the templates on A4 paper, mount them on thin card, cut them out, match the numbers and join the tabs with glue stick or double-sided sticky tape. In theory each mask takes about 30-45 minutes to put together…. my first time making them it took more like 1-2 hours for each, so give yourself a bit of extra time. And then you’ll want to paint them and maybe add some facial hair for those finishing touches. Designing commedia dell’arte characters out of cardboard is no mean feat and I have been bowled over by with the level of detail in these designs - it is because of this precision that the masks are remarkably robust and accurate representations of the characters. Every fold and tab is tightly designed - in places the cardboard curves with a series of connection tabs to create the subtle expressions of the masks.
Hand-crafted leather .v. Paper-crafted cardboard
Commedia dell’Arte masks are traditionally made of leather. The Italian Renaissance troupes had beautiful, hand crafted masks made specifically for one actor to use. The advantages of leather: it moulds to your face, it’s pliable, comfortable and it soaks up the sweat that otherwise runs in your eyes! The disadvantages: making leather masks is massively time consuming and there’s a real art to it. Leather masks are therefore expensive! Very few educational institutes can afford sets of leather masks.
Admittedly, cardboard is not the ideal material to make lasting masks from, but these are ideal for schools: They are cheap, Covid-19 safe, quick to make and they can provide a whole scheme of work - mask making into mask using that could easily stretch 5-6 lessons.
What are you waiting for? Book your Online Making & Using Commedia Mask Workshop with me now and let’s get crafting this lockdown!
