MAKING A GOURD MASK

I chip-carved the zig zags with a U-shaped hand gouge, then used a variety of dyes for coloration, and finally, used a Dremel to carve some final flair.

I painted on brown shoe-polish on the uncut areas with a wide flat brush, making sure not to get polish in the cut areas.

 

I used red shoe polish around the lips then dyed the cut areas with a red and plum dyes with a small brush.

 

I decided to dye the cut areas around the right eye using printer ink; the squeeze-bottle has a convenient needle-tip which allows accurate application of dye to small areas like this.

 

I added red printer dye around the left eye in the same way, and then dyed the dots I carved down the middle of the mask with a dremel.

 

Not satisfied with it yet, I decided to use a dremel and carve a pattern on the background.

 

1/6/09 -The finished mask ready for several coats of polyeurethane to seal it and give it a shine.