Hell's Play: The Making of the Tragedy Mask

Created by Leo and Jael Kiesling through ZipperFace Productions at KVBStudios316.com. I would highly recommend them as they do special effects makeup artist, prop maker, cosplay, costume design, artist in Residence Paint Parties, private and in-home paint-along parties tailored to your age and activity preferences.

KVB Studios also offers private artist consultations, individual art lessons, photography and videography production services, clothing and housewares designs, animal habitat and enclosure custom builds, and any art services that customers wish to have.

It was created in six steps: Concept, sculpt, mold, cast, paint, and detailing. The concept of the mask comes from the idea that the people in "Hell's Play" are not who they appear to be. Their familiar faces are essentially masks worn with the purpose of leading the protagonist down a dark and scary road later taking their soul. That is where the tragedy come in. I felt a tragedy mask best suited the idea of my book.

Next, was the Silicone and plaster mold which takes about 20 minutes. The plaster keeps the silicone in place to help keep its shape. Then, a foam is added which is what the mask is constructed of. The foam is made of polyurethane which is the same as gorilla glue. The foam is self-curing and becomes exothermic when warming during the curing process which takes around 30 minutes.

Once the mask is hardened, then the color is airbrushed on with the brass and gold details hand painted. The process takes about an hour to and hour and a half to complete. Even though it may look heavy, it's actually a very light weight mask that's worthy of being on the cover of my book.