Making of the Elephant mask

I've shown you the masks I built for Round the Outside music video. I also want to show you how I actually made the elephant mask. It was an interesting piece to work with and a challenge. I knew it was going to be guite big and heavy. It had to be durable and sit tightly on the actors head so that they would be able to dance. Also the trunk had to be made so that it could be hooked to a smoke machine. Jeremias also wanted it to curve upwards so he could easily shoot the smoke coming out. So there was quite a few things that I had to consider when building this. Luckily it turned out great with a bit of testing. 

This is the first sketch I made and which Tuomas and Jeremias approved.

I drew this again in the right scale and cut it out to test the proportions. It's always a bit hard to evaluate how the thing will look like as it gets more three-dimensional. You'll easily make the mask too big when testing with a flat paper model. I had to modify the proportions of the sketch quite a bit. The faceplate is widened and ears were made smaller.

I cut the base of the mask out of very thick and hard cardboard. This is the kind of stuff that's very hard to cut with scissors or a knife. I had to switch to a small saw at one point. The good thing about cardboard is that its cheap and easier to handle than most materials. It wont be durable though unless you glue it in layers and coat it with something waterproof.

I also made a frame from metal which keeps everything together. My main concern was the trunk because it was going to take on some serious beating in the dance scenes. It had to be attached so that it wouldn't come off even if you swing it around or bumped into something with it.

The base of the trunk is actually rubber tubing from an old waching machine. The eye holes and tusks are made of the same tubing. Tusks are covered with layers of gauze and nylon for a soft edged look.

At this point I nicknamed him Frankenstein's Elephant for all the metal and screws sticking out of his face.  Here's the base leather getting glued and the shapes of his face fabricated.

And the trunk curved to it's final position. It could be adjusted later on by bending the metal.

Test assembly with the trunk fabric and ears. Nothing is fixed to their place yet so I could change the positioning of things if needed. It's very important to see all the pieces together before doing anything irreversible.

The trunk and ears were filled with finnfoam, gauze and different types of foam rubber. The trunk fabric was glued to the base. The same thing was done to the ears and shapes on the face.

We're almost done here! Except for the painting and rigging. Designing and painting the markings was the most stressfull stage of making this mask. It's a thing you have to get right at the first try. The worst case scenario was that I'd ruin everything with one bad stroke of a brush. Thats why I did a huge amount of testing with separate pieces of fabric before actually starting to paint. 

Tuomas had a specific vision about the markings and I send him different suggestions and examples of what it could look like. We ended up doing these rough brush strokes that form geometric patterns rather than symbols or lettering.

When the style was decided on all I had to do was to paint and attach a couple of starps at back. And here it is ready for wearing.

Masks on Round the Outside

It's finally published!

This is a music video for Karriem Riggins directed by Tuomas Vauhkonen and Jeremias Nieminen. I was asked to help with the masks. I built two masks and modified a headdress I made earlier. I really enjoyed this project dispite the tight schedule we had. The result is pretty crazy. I especially love how the elephant mask turned out. It actually works with the smoke and all!

Be sure to watch this full screen!

Creature color versions

I'm starting to like him quite a bit.

Creature evolution part 2

Creature sketches

First sketches for a comission. I've only drawn couple of versions of this character and now I'm trying to take it further. It's interesting to see how these ideas evolve when one keeps drawing. I've still got lot of things to try out. We'll just have to wait and see how many versions it takes to get it right. 

smoke

Suvilahti part 2

Here's an example of different kind of sketching styles I use. I actually prefer more rough and expressive sketching for some reason. These things have some life and character to them.

Suvilahti

Ultraviolet

It seems that some ideas just don't work the way one hopes. This was suppose to be the first picture of a three picture series but I'm thinking of leaving this project unfinished. It's always exciting to try something new. Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't. Either way it's a learning experience. So let's think of this picture as a test piece for further experimenting with black light.

Material testing

Recognize these materials?

Furniture

I seriously thought summer was the best time to concentrate on my own projects and get something finally done. Instead I find myself wondering how the time has gone so quickly. What have I been doing all this time? Well, first of all a couple of unexpected commissions and a movie project have been taking a lot of my time lately. It seems I've been doing a lot but barely making any progress. Things haven't exactly gone as I had hoped. I still have numerous unfinished projects waiting in my closet. But there are also some things I want to show you.

Lately I've been doing some furniture make-overs. 

This dresser is still missing handles.

Sneek peak

It's been over a month since my last update. I'm very excited about my new photo project. I'm shooting test pictures and everything is looking good so far. I'm dying to get this done as fast as I can, but it seems it's still going to take a while. I have a three-part photoshoot to do and lots of prop making still ahead of me. In the waiting I can offer you only this one snapshot.

Pillow covers

Throw pillow covers with leather patterns. These were made by me and Eveliina. I'll be selling them here. I also have new pieces of tie jewellery and fabricated pearls on my table. Eveliina sells a set of rings with lace and buttons. Everything is hand made. Be sure to stop by!

The chase

Robot developing

Aztec

 

 

        

Headdress and necklace by me, photos by Eveliina Lakso.

Turban

This is an older piece, from 2008 if I remember correctly. Photographs (c) Maija Karppinen.

 

Hand made goods