Project Owl Man Lord of Tears

This homemade Lord of Tears Owl man costume was great fun to create, but little did I know all the work that had to be done. Lord of Tears is a horror film directed and produced by Scottish director and producer Lawrie Brewster, known for his 2013 film Lord of Tears

I first laid eyes on this character in a YouTube video. Soon after watching the movie there was no doubt in my mind that I would try and create my own version to wear at New York’s Village Halloween Parade.

I began by purchasing several packages of mixed pheasant, guinea, fringe and chalappen iridescent plumage from Ebay, as well as, Michaels Arts & Crafts. I hadn’t a clue as to how, what, or where I was going to apply the feathers onto; soon after, I burst into a laughter realizing that what I should’ve bought last I bought first. At this point, there was no turning back for me. I was hooked on a very intensive project that lasted well over 30 days to complete, my determination ended with satisfactory results.

Brainstorming

The owl’s head came to be by trial and error. After several attempts at situating an aluminum or plastic colander atop of my head as the foundation, I had to immediately cease. This was not going to work, those items work best at draining the al dente cooked pasta in the sink. With my imagination and thoughts racing I continued my search throughout the house for something else to use.

See the Owl man in action in step 5.

The Creation

You will need

Hot Glue gun

Mongoose bicycle helmet

Mattress overlay foam

Masking tape

Straight pins the one with the small ball at the tip

IDE cooling fan

Nine Volt battery

Black sheer fabric

Faux Leather

Adhesive Foam Sheets

Galvanized wire

At this point, everything seemed to be falling into place. After purchasing a Mongoose bicycle helmet at the local thrift shop, I decided to modify the inner liner. This process started with my wrapping a large piece of mattress overlay foam that I had in the closet; in essence this helped form the shape of an owl’s head. I used a hot glue gun, thread, and straight pins to hold the foam in place.

I thought to myself “Ok so I’m going to be a hot owl!” No not like sexy hot, but as in summer hot. I then cut a hole on top of the helmet and screwed an IDE cooling fan from an old computer into place; connected a nine volt battery and Voilà! A cool owl it was! From there I sewed black sheer fabric onto the head from a skirt donated by a friend leaving the bottom parts to hang loosely around the front, back, and the sides. The beak is constructed from an old black faux leather curtain and single sided adhesive foam sheets. For the frontal part of the face I used sheets of foam and wire to establish its contour. I then started to glue the feathers one at a time to the head with Beacon Fabri-Tac permanent Glue.

The eyes

You will need:

Fabri-Tac Glue by Beacon

Multi-Grip Glue by Beacon

Black acrylic paint

One 70mm Clear Acrylic Fillable Ball Ornament

Polyester blend curtain

Faux Leather

Galvanized wire

Nine volt battery

Pointed Screwdriver

Those round mysterious eyeballs that these enigmatic birds have.

Using a round transparent Christmas ornament, I poured black acrylic paint into each half swirling it around until the ornament was entirely coated and let to dry. Then I cut four square pieces measuring five inches wide and two inches long from the curtain and rolled them in the shape of a tube, then glued them to the ornament as eyelids with Multi-Grip Glue then to the owl head again using the Multi-Grip Glue. I then sewed part of a polyester blend curtain onto the inside of the head as a liner and a small pocket to hold the nine volt battery using Fabri-Tac Glue. And thus the Owl Man’s head was born.

The Talons

You will need

Fabri-Tac Glue by Beacon

Multi-Grip by Beacon

Paper Mache Glue

Liquid Latex

Plywood Planks

Adhesive Sheets

Galvanized wire

Hammer and nails

Tacks

Newspaper

Paper Mache Glue

Upholstery foam

A pair of gloves

Masking tape

X-acto knife

Black Foam Pumpkin

I formed the talons with plywood, adhesive sheets, wire, nails, tacks, newspaper, and upholstery foam. Thereafter, I bent the claws into position removed the wood planks by first cutting away at the wire ; I inserted a glove into each one and covered entirely with masking tape. Then using an x-acto knife I divided a plastic pumpkin along the ribs to be used as claws and glued to the tips of the talons with Multi-Grip glue.

Finally as a crafting technique I combined paper Mache; acrylic paint; pancake and waffle mix; cinnamon; liquid latex; flour; glue, and feathers to form color and texture.

Clothing

For the jacket,
shirt, and pants I used liquid latex, brown shoe polish, and cinnamon. The shoes needed a more slurry mud effect, so I mixed packets of hot cocoa, flour, and Oreo cookies brushing it on just before leaving the house on my adventure to New York City. Along my path several autumn leaves of October stuck to the concoction on the shoes as to accompany me in my travels. With each step I couldn’t help but think “Thank you Mother Nature, for your added touch, it completed my work of art!

Reviews

In closing, I’d like to add comments about my work of art by director, producer and creator of the Owlman – Lord of Tears, Lawrie Brewster.

“Great stuff bud, I'll post your videos tomorrow on the Lord of Tears page”

“Really impressed and very cool!”

“Btw we also have a youtube channel, could be cool to post them on there as well with your permission, especially the making of”

“Awesome man! Cheers bud! You did great, just have to share what you achieved!”

“Haha brilliant work bud, can we share some of your pictures on the Lord of Tears page?”

“Thanks man and we’re the ones that are honored, that’s a cool effort you put into making an excellent costume”

I was truly humbled by Mr. Brewster’s acknowledgement of the hard work I put into creating an epic costume.

Thank you for viewing my creation

Happy Gluing to all.