Rusty Iron Mask Tutorial by DT Vidhi

Hello Crafty Friends,

How are you all, enjoying the spring or have you already started sweltering under the Sun?

Let me fetch you some breeze with my first ‘Picture Tutorial’ at Rainbow Craftykari Blog as a DT member.

Last Sunday I went with my kids to a nearby garden. As we were walking out of the garden after play time, we spotted a street side vendor selling some toys. Kids had their gala time choosing the toys for themselves. There lay a mask and it captivated me.

The crafter in me awakened and urged me to grab it. I had a thought of giving it a make over… Metal finish with Mix Media Art! Even before reaching home, my mind was searching my treasure trove for trivia and embellishments.

So here is how I made this Rusty Iron Mask...

Enjoy a video flip through and the step by step instructions below

Step1: Priming the base. It is always good to prime the base with gesso, so it holds any further mediums and colours.

I gave it a coat of Black Gesso although it was already Black. I applied it as a primer so that it holds the colours perfectly as the material is plastic.

Step2: Adding textures. Using a stencil, apply modelling paste on the mask randomly.

At some places, I applied Grainy Sand Paste and Fibre Paste to add more depth. Around the nose area, I gave an effect of little scar with the knife.

Once all the textures dry give the entire mask of another coat of black gesso.

Step3: Adding elements to the mask.

I had some leftover chipboards pieces. So I decided to put them to use, I drew some different uneven shapes on it and cut it down with scissor. At some places, I punched the holes with the help of eyelet punch. And at some places I added the eyelet rings. I gave all these pieces a coat of black gesso and once they were dry, I gave them a coat of White Crackle Paste.

Step4: Picking out embellishments.

I used different things from my treasure on the mask as a base, e.g. thread, buttons, wires, screws, broken jewellery pieces, stones, buttons, mdf steampunk gears, bottle caps, pebble stones, broken watch pieces, and broken half of spectacles! I used chipboard shapes as a last step.

If you have noticed, I made a conscious effort to select all the things that could imply masculinity on this project.

I glued all the things one by one on the base with tacky glue. I layered themon top of one another to give more depth. Since the chipboard pieces are stiff, I sprinkled a mix of water+ glycerin solution on them, to shape them as I stuck them.

Step5: Gluing and priming the embellishments.

Here are some close ups of the arrangements for your perusal. After the glue dried, I applied a think layer of black gesso on the embellishments, leaving out the gears.

Step6: Time to add colour!

Once my layers were dry, I gave a coat of Rustic Brown Acrylic Metallic Paint on the layers.

At this stage, a useful tip would be to take a little bit of the colour and to do dry brushing with it.

Second layer was a coat of Red Wine Metallic Paint and it was followed by Gold Amber for highlighting.

Step7: Enhancing the mettalic look.

I wanted my mask to have a metallic finish. For this, I rubbed waxes - Aged Brass and Brushed Iron randomly.

And with that the Rusty Iron Mask is ready!!!

Supplies Used:

• Plastic Mask

• Black Gesso

• Modelling Paste

• Grainy Sand Texture Paste and Fiber Texture Paste

• Chipboards

• White Crackle Paste

• Finnabair Metalic Acrylic Paints 

• Finnabair Waxes

• Tacky Glue

Most of the above-listed materials are available on the Rainbow Craftykari Store and can also be pre-ordered by sending an e-mail at rainbowcraftykari@gmail.com.

Do visit the Rainbow Craftykari store HERE

Visit our BLOG for more inspiration, tutorials and check out our ongoing challenge.

Hope you guys liked it. Look forward to hear from you about your variations of this one!

Happy Crafting,

Vidhi Jadeja