Kitsune (Fox) Mask

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  Step 1

  First to make the base for the mask. Cut your cereal box into strips of ~1.5cm (does not need to be precise)

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  Step 2

  Use the strips to make a frame of your face. Start with the diameter, then a strip going down vertically with enough space for your nose, and a horizontal strip that goes over your nose to meet the vertical line. Stick it together with sticky tape. You may wish to use a mirror.

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  Step 3

  You should get something that looks like this.

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  Step 4

  Add horizontal strips of your cereal box to shape the face up to the nose line.

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  Step 5

  Curve vertical pieces of cardboard to make the bottom of the face.

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  Step 6

  Stick the empty yoghurt pot in the middle of the lower part of the face. The shape isn't quite right, but that can be adjusted with the papier-mâché. If you don't have a yoghurt pot, scrunch up a big ball of newspaper and stick that on instead.

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  Step 7

  To make the ears, cut out two equal sized triangles from the remaining cereal box

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  Step 8

  Cut a slit halfway up the ear, and fold it over itself to give it a curved shape.

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  Step 9

  Attach the ears with sticky tape to the top of the head.

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  Step 10

  Pad the nose out using scrunched up newspaper and cover the entire mask (and the inside) with masking tape. This is necessary as the papier-mâché does not adhere well to sticky tape.

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  Step 11

  Now that the base is complete, it's time to papier-mâché. It can get very messy, so it may be a good idea to lay some newspaper down to protect the surface you are working on. There are two ways to make the papier-mâché mixture, the flour method (combine 1 part white flour with 1 part water) or glue method (2 parts white glue and one part water). I am using the glue method.

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  Step 12

  Tear the newspaper into strips. Use some to smooth out lumps and scrunch others up into balls to pad out areas, for example, the side and back of the ears. Make sure you leave enough time for each layer to completely dry before adding another. You can speed up drying time by using a hair dryer.

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  Step 13

  If you are not planning to wear the mask, skip the next two steps.

  Once you are happy with the shape and the mâché is dry, it's time to cut out the eyes. To ensure both are equal, make a template on a different piece of cardboard and draw around it. Make sure the eyes align up with your own.

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  Step 14

  You can cut the whole eye out, or just holes to see out of as I have done.

  You may also wish to cut holes into either side to attach string.

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  Step 15

  Cover the mask with white toilet roll/kitchen towel. This prevent the printed text of the newspaper being visible under your paint.

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  Step 16

  Faintly draw a template of where to paint on your mask in pencil. It's helpful to have your design already drawn out elsewhere. The masks are traditionally white, with red, black and blue patterns and sometimes yellow for the eyes, however you can be as creative as you like!

  If you're making a cosplay mask, make sure you have some good reference photos. Search the internet for inspiration.

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  Step 17

  For my design, I lay down the white first, then red and finally black. It's hard to cover over a mistake painting darker colours over white so take it slowly.

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  Step 18

  When everything's dry, seal it with a layer of varnish or clear-drying glue to prevent to paint from chipping away.

Comments

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Jasmine A. 8th August 2015

I really love this project but I have one question how do you get the toilet roll or kitchen towel to stick to the mask?

Xion · Manchester, England, GB · 3 projects 8th August 2015

First you dip the strips into your glue/flour mixture until they're wet (but not so much so that they starts to crumble in your hands) and then you just lay the strips out flat across the mask. The wet paper will to stick to itself. To bulk up the ears I scrunched some strips into balls and then covered it over with flat strips to keep it secure. It can get quite wet and the paper might start to slip or break if you mess too much but once it's completely dry it'll be pretty solid! You can add more layers of paper to strengthen the mask or change they shape but make sure the mask is completely dry before you add another layer or you'll have trouble getting it to dry later!!

Jasmine A. 12th August 2015

Oh my gosh thank you this helped so much

Xion · Manchester, England, GB · 3 projects 17th August 2015

Happy to help! I'd love to see what you make :3

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