Fall Foliage Wood Nymph Leather Mask

September's Art Elements Theme Challenge is Foliage, chosen by AE team member Caroline. In spite of wrapping up loose ends before going home for a few weeks😁💗, I decided to take part in this month's Challenge. So many possibilities & I knew exactly what I wanted to do .. or did I?

So, after an eventful month of daughter💖visiting; finishing a Bee Penannular Brooch for The Southern Sassenachs online auction (psst, #4 top row); listing most of my Bee themed collections and a couple of made to orders, I finally started on the project Thursday afternoon! Yes my dears, 2.5 days before the Reveal ... but that's okay my inside voice said, I know what I'm making & will get it done in plenty of time.
The Go-To Slide Barrette, ready to transfer & carve .. UNTIL?! 
Then I changed my mind. At about 2pm Friday 😬😲. And then realized that I had cut the previous project out of the leather piece I wanted to use for this new brainstorm. YIKES, I needed the whole 8.5 x 11 piece & the weight was perfect! But, being a tad stubborn & persevering no less, I figured out my Plan B....

Several months ago I needed a large piece of veg tan leather that was on Super Sale by Tandy and boy, did it come in handy. Only thing is that it's several thicknesses (4-6mm) & sizes throughout the piece. I wanted 3mm so found the thinnest parts that fit my pattern, and cut. No going back now ...
This piece is about 7 feet long. Found the sweet spot that fit my pattern almost smack in the middle!
I basically followed a tutorial by a refreshing, talented young artist who's on You Tube, Yvonne Williams. I even used her template, which ended up being a lot different by the time I mangled my too-thick leather with: 1/a Utility Knife; 2/ Kitchen Shears; & finally what worked the best 3/ metal shears! Hint: Case (wet) the leather thoroughly, let dry a few minutes and it cuts like butter with metal shears, no need for fancy schmancy leather shears. Sorry folks, had some trouble with phone sd card so no photos got saved of THAT scenario.

Then I played MacSkiver, using a ... skiver, which is a contraption with a slightly bent razor blade. One presses and drags it across the suede to reduce (hopefully) the thickness. And not so patiently took off small, really small, layers of the back side. I gave up and called it good enough after about 40 minutes & the calipers still said +-4mm. Then I had to take over MomCare & left it until Saturday morning. It was either that or abandoning said project ... I did say I was stubborn, n'est-ce pas?
I somewhat brushed ALL the little 'skivees' (that's 'I' like eye 😉) into a somewhat neat pile

Saturday 7 AM: after a few Espressos I attacked the transfer, carving & tooling of my mask. Not too bad, I told myself :) . Hey, I think I finally learned how to use the beveling tools correctly.


Top: Halfway through Texturing & Beveling.
I added an Oak Leaf and a Butterfly. And decided to paint in Autumn Colors.

I went out and gathered a few maple leaves to study the color changes and just went with the flow. I used acrylic paints, splattered some black on there & then used Antique Gel in a light brown on front & back.
Before slathering on the Antique Gel, which settles in & defines the low cuts and bevels. I used a light tan color (below) which I thought would lightly darken the green but I had a surprise.


Not a Bad Surprise but I thought she was still too green for a Fall Leaf, so splattered a little black paint then formed on my face (with plastic wrap so no color transfer and no, didn't cover my nose!).
I let her dry a little before handling so as not to deform before sealing.

After drying some more she was still not the colors I desired so I put a coat of Mahogany Antique Gel plus some red acrylic and dabbed it on, then waited some more before sealing. Now she was too brown!! I liked the green touches so forged on, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I rubbed some of the Bag Kote off to reveal a little more green then did the artsy thing, adding color, subtracting color ...
and the result is below. 
Sat. 11p.m. .. So Jazzed about these fab colors! And she's not fully dry yet. I definitely see more masks in my future.
I formed to my face again and marked where I will put the holes for the leather ties.

All in all, I'm very happy with my Fall Foliage Wood Nymph Mask. Ok, if I'm going to nitpick, I'd like a little more red in there. All she needs is an adjustable leather cord. I think this is the first time I've added so many images to a post and I see you've made it through to the end! Congrats, hope you enjoyed the journey :). I like comments, please do interact.
This is a Blog Hop so grab a cuppa whatever and sit awhile. Let's discover what interpretations the artists below have dreamed up for the Foliage Monthly Challenge.
Alysen

AE Team  Lesley  Susan   Marsha  Claire  Cathy  Jenny  Niky  Caroline.

Guests   Dawn  Hope  Alison  Beth & Evie  Laurie  Kathy  Linda  Sarajo  Michelle  Tammy  Divya  Karen  Alysen (you're here)  Mary  Cat  Jill  Sarah  Anita

Comments

  1. That is absolutely gorgeous!!
    Kudos to you for pulling it through in time. I think so far that is my absolute favorite.

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    1. Thanks so much Cat! With the correct leather weight/size it would have gone so much quicker. Now I'm ready to continue my explorations in 'masques' ...

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  2. This is beautiful, I love what you have done , the colours look very natural

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    1. Thank you Jill, I'm happy with those colors too. Maybe a little more red ....

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  3. Wow... I love how it turned out, I would love to see you do more, it's stunning! Thanks so much for joining us for the challenge!

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    1. Thank YOU Caroline, for supplying such a great theme! Definitely will do more, have to wait until November now, after vacay ... no time to get more leather supplies before leaving.

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  4. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the mask! I think it is perfect; but I know every artist is never happy with their pieces :)
    The process of how you created the mask was so cool! Thanks for sharing - I love seeing how every creates their masterpieces!

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    1. Thx Beth (?), me too, I like to see the creative process, and that's exactly what we get when the artists do the AE Theme Challenges. And in so many different mediums! Going to hop around this p.m.

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  5. To have gotten this beauty made in such a time crunch - you have some kind of superpowers!! Your mask is GORGEOUS!!

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    1. Thx Hope, not sure about superpowers, I was super-focused! I've wanted to do masks since going to Venice the first time 20-something years ago, so I finally did and now I'm going to keep going!

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  6. Wow Alysen, that is truly gorgeous! I have no idea of your leather vocabulary, but was happy to see your process! For starting this so late, you really made something amazing!

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    1. Thx Sue for your kind words! I decided to use some leatherworking terms so as not to seem like a TOTAL novice!

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  7. The mask you made is a beauty. I love the colors. They are rich and woodsy. The shape and the textures on the mask are my favorites.

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    1. Thank you Mary. I love the textures and coloring too. I want to continue with the mask theme and diversify. Can't wait til November when I can begin!

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  8. The mask is amazing! And I really love how organic the colors are!

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    1. Thank you Rozantia. I'm very pleased. This morning I'm going to add another coat of sealer tinted with some red. I just want a little more red/orange in there :). Hope I don't goof everything up!!

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  9. Your mask is wonderful. The design and colors are perfect. Well done!

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  10. Woah! I am blown away by the awesomeness of your project. And it seems like you learned a lot during the process and have come out accomplished with a beautiful product. I hope you keep on going with these - you really have a knack for this! Beautiful work!!!

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    1. Thank you Marsha. I will continue with masks .. going home on vacay in a couple of days and won't take all supplies with, so any making will wait until November.

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  11. Not only is your mask amazing, it's even more impressive that you did it all last minute. The colors and details are perfectly wood nymph. :)

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    1. Thx Tammy. Yep, I'm surprised at the last minute thing too! I guess sometimes when we have longer to do something the more we procrastinate?! Wood nymph is a perfect name for this, I may borrow it!

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  12. OH MY! I already told you on IG that you knocked it out of the park this month. Just wow-I want this mask! Your handy dandy tip for using the metal shears on the heavier weight veg leather worked well for you. And your carving/tooling skills are superb. I really loved the fisrt colors of the mask until you keep adding to it. I am glad you continued with layering colors. The richness of this mask is so lovely. Well done my friend.

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    1. Cathy, thank you for your kind comments! I'm taking my leatherworking tools home to hopefully work on more masks. If I have the time between family, friends, dr. appointments, Cannelle on my lap dozing :)... p.s. if you really do want this one, dm me on IG or fb.. xoxo Alysen

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  13. That is stunning! In my mind's eye I can picture a lovely woodland nymph flitting through the forest while wearing this gorgeous mask. It's almost like it has taken on a life of it's own and has a story to tell.

    I'm not at all familiar with all that goes into leather work so I found your description and photos of the process most interesting. Thank you for sharing that with all of us.

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    1. Thx Dawn. I actually renamed her Wood Nymph! I think that these AEchallenges are the perfect opportunity to share processes with others. I'm always interested to read about the different mediums & learn something new every time.

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  14. so wonderful! I loved it in the green stage. I am amazed you managed that in such little time! I hope there are more masks in the future!

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    1. Jenny, I am going to make more, I wanted to experiment with green, yellows, etc. But since it's Autumn I wanted to do those colors for this first one.

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  15. Well that's just stunning! You've managed to get such a realistic finish on your mask it wood hard to spot amongst the real thing! Well done.

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  16. Your Fall Foliage Wood Nymph Mask looks fantastic. I love how you manipulated VTL to get the kind of look that you want.

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  17. You are AMAZING! I couldn't read your post fast enough, and you really managed to pull off a fantastic mask in under two days! It deserves a standing ovation, oh it does.

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    1. Anita, your kind words are Amazing! :) .. I was surprised at how fast it went & that is why I'm determined to do some more. I hope they go as quickly!!

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  18. What a great project!! So glad you followed your brainstorming to fruition! I love seeing the colors come to life! And the shape is perfect and the tooling is amazing! Great Job!

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    1. Thank you Alison. I think we (as artists) usually go with the flow & follow our intuition & brainstorming. I love the challenge & coloring possibilities with veg tan leather.

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