Woodland Beast Mask - Pantomime

I was given the interesting task of creating a mask of the Beast character from beauty and the beast for a pantomime. The client wanted a look completely different from the typical depictions of the character, saying to avoid lion and bear motifs. The pantomime was a production of Camelot so the director also wanted to lean into a visual language synomnous with old English folk tales and Arthurian legends.

I created the sculpt using Monster Clay, my main influence was the Green Man spirit of found throughout the British Ilse. As the pantomime was for children I had to balance a beastly and monstrous appearance with more friendly features as not to be too scary.

The mask then had a plaster mould created and was cast in latex.

The director wanted their beast to have a majestic head of hair, one that I created by combining a variety of hair extension pieces I had left in my studio. The hair was then airbrushed to unify the colours and braided.

The final result was a comfortable and high visibility Latex mask perfect for the show.