Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Civetta Musica

Happy Mardi Gras!  Or Pancake Tuesday, however you want to look at it.  Today I had pancakes while wearing a mask so there's no reason you can't celebrate both.  Today is the actual day of Mardi Gras but of course I'll be celebrating with you guys on the 15th

To ease back into working after my absence (which I do owe you an explanation for and will probably write something up later) while not having a huge project with potential to run away with me, I browsed through my inspiration folder and found a simple and elegant mask in the musica tradition of Venetian mask making.

There's a tradition in Venice of making some masks with old sheet music.  Very often it's Italian opera, perhaps because it's romantic.  Personally, I think it's because if you're making masks out of paper anyway you might as well make it pretty paper.  But in any case, it was high time that I made my own "musica" mask.

  I love the baroque look of so many detailed curls and swirls, here I used some PS brushes turned alpha by the talented Coy Dreamer, whose work I also used in my Volto Altezza and Altezzoso masks.  But, I also love the three-dimensional look of my usual curlicues and sculpted filigree that I think I've become known for.  With this mask, I tried to marry the two so they could blend together to compliment and enhance each other.  Plus, it lets me add stones! 

Twelve different stone colors

Six different mask colors

Happy Mardi Gras!  Maybe I'll see you wearing it at my masquerade.