What We Have Been Doing in the Past Few Lessons...

For the past few lessons, we have started to create our masks. I never knew it had so many different steps and stages to go through!
First, each person had to stuff a plastic bag full of newspaper. This was going to be the basic shape of the head of the mask. Okay, since my head just wouldn't fit in to the plastic bag after I had stuffed in one whole booklet of newspaper, I had to use a lot more. I felt sort of sad... My head felt really big!!!
Then we stuck masking shapes around the plastic bag to make the shape of the head; mine had to be a penguin's head so it had to be round, but it turned out looking like a pumpkin. When we were done, it looked like a garbage dump full of newspaper. Secondly, we started to have the basic shape of the mask. As the lessons progressed, these basic shapes made of newspaper, a lot of masking tape and plastic bag, as well as cardboard, took more shapes and became detailed. I realised though, that my talent was not in making shapes out of newspaper. I was extra slow; I took two lessons doing ears and the fin of a dolphin and one lesson doing the beak. I still have to do the tail and the face!
I did my ears as cardboard, and I am planning to make the tail out of cardboard as well, except it would be stuffed with newspaper inside.
The next step, the third step, which I haven't gone into yet, was the start of paper- macheing. This was done with liquid glue (very gooey!) and strips of newspaper; the mask had to be covered with pieces of newspaper and really start to take shapes.
I can't wait till I start painting the mask though; I think I will be much better at that then making pumpkin- heads and stick- like beaks out of newspaper! =-)