Since we’re going to have a Longest Night masked ball at Norwescon this year, I picked up a basic mask this past Halloween season. However, it was all black plastic, so I knew I’d want to decorate it somehow so it didn’t look like wearing blackface. I just wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.
This Saturday, the Mercury is doing a masked ball, so this gave me the impetus I needed to find an idea. What eventually came to mind as inspiration was Vinnie, Pizza the Hut’s henchman in Spaceballs. He’s a robot, but it was all done with makeup, no prosthetics.
My painting skills aren’t great—I have no idea how to do actual shading, it’s all solid colors and lines—so I doubt people would really connect the final result with the inspiration. Even so, I’m pretty happy with the end result.
Day zero: The base mask.
Day one: Sketching the design in pencil, and the first coat of white.
Day two: Second coat of white, and adding the metallic silver.
Day three: Detailing in black, and the finished product. Likely won’t be easily identified as the inspiration, but I think it still comes across as decently robotic. I’m happy with it, at least.
