Traditional Japanese Wolf Mask

Making a Traditional Japanese Animal Mask out of Paper Mash.

Paper Mash

Clay Working Tools

Newspaper

White Primer

Paint

Styrofoam

Crumple the newspaper into a hemisphere to the size of the mask you want to make.

This hemisphere will serve as the surface over which you place the sheet of paper mash for it to get curved to fit on a face.

If you wish, you could tape the paper hemisphere to the workspace.

Flatten the paper mash into a circle / oval of a centimeter thickness.

Place a cloth net over it so that it will be easier to separate the mask from paper once the paper mash has dried

Then place the sheet on the paper hemisphere as shown, with the net as a layer between them.

Shape a bit of paper mash like a snout.

Attach the snout to the face of the mask with the following steps:

1. Scratch the part of the snout and face where they are to be joined.
2. Dab a bit of water on these scratched surfaces and attach them together.
3. Apply a bit of pressure to the edges of the snout with your finger to ensure they stick.

Take some additional paper mash and shape two ears out of it .

Then attach the ear to the face of the mask with the following steps:

1. Scratch the part of the ear and face where they are to be joined.
2. Dab a bit of water on these scratched surfaces and attach them together.
3. Apply a bit of pressure to the joined area with your finger to ensure they stick.

If you want to make the ears stand up straight on the face, add a support behind the ears.

Using a clay tool carve the eyes out.

As I am making a Traditional Japanese Wolf Mask, I have carved slits for eyes with a thin clay tool.

In order the paint on the paper mash, we must first apply a layer of white primer.

Since my mask is going to be mostly white, I applied an additional layer of the white primer.

After the white primer has dried, feel free to paint the features of the wolf however you like.

Make a stand for the mask out of Styrofoam, and then place your mask on it.