

So let's look at what's out there:

Turkey tails, wings, and dyed feathers. Pheasant plumage from the back.


These look like rock (chicken) feathers that have been dyed.


All of these mask images are from Google searches across the web, no particular vendor or source.

My own version of the towering headdress will start with my biggest Wig Of Great Enormity. Into that I shall stick at least three tall ostrich plumes. The face mask will extend upwards from the eyes - this is a half mask, so I can breath and hopefully keep the thing on all night.
Thus far the concept is only half-materialized in my head. I know I want big, I know I want tall, and I know I want feathers by the bushel. The face of the owl will be as realistic as possible, which will likely involve sculpting the mask, perhaps on top of an existing plastic form, or perhaps from scratch. Some of the robe feathers (strung rooster schlappen) will almost certainly be used, as well as long Turkey wingfeathers, possibly pheasant tails, and if I can manage it, I'd like to attach some fanned wings. Somewhere in my mind I have the knowledge that feathers can be bleached and dyed. If this is indeed true, and does not require some horrid chemical that will kill my braincells, then I will attempt to bleach whatever wings I can scrounge from my "source," and then fleck on some black dye or paint spots to mimic the coloration of barn owl wings. The wings I may have access to will be dove, quail, chukar, grouse, or pheasant - game birds only.

Oooh! I'm excited to see everything come together. I love the concept of the mask. So cool!
ReplyDeleteExciting! I took a course on mask-making, but I suck at it.
ReplyDeleteIf you need more feathers or want real owl-feathers I have a box of owl feathers stored at my parents house in Hawaii that I could have them ship to you. I'm sure they would love to get rid of any of my junk that I am storing there. I'm not sure what kind of owl they are - whatever the non-native owl in Hawaii is. I got them from an owl that was killed in a storm. I cut off the biggest feathers and then buried it.
Oh My god. Your design of your mask is wonderful. Good job, Biatch.
ReplyDeleteyou should make a mask of the drawing that is there, that would be really nice
ReplyDeletei agree, pretty cool :)
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