Creating A Chinese Opera Mask Birdhouse.

Traditional Chinese Opera Mask

As a crafter I am always looking for new subject matter, new ideas if you will. After finishing my last birdhouse with a mola inspired design my partner suggested I try a Chinese Opera mask on a gourd. I was struck by the idea and said to myself "why not?"

Raw gourd birdhouse

For those who have never seen Chinese Opera, the artistry is quite stunning. and very similar to Japanese Kabuki. It is an ancient Traditional, highly stylized performing art that combines music, vocal acting, mime, dance and acrobatics. The Peking Opera, with over 100 regional branches, is the prominent "national theatre," featuring elaborate, symbolic makeup and costumes to portray historical, romantic, and supernatural tales. Disney's MULAN would be a Chinese Opera tale. The masks can be used in acting or mimic actual painted faces of actors. As in Shakespeare's day, all roles, male or female, were acted by men.

Google's search engine gave me a trove of options

Because I already had gourds that were scraped clean with bird holes and hanging cords the challenge was finding the right "mask" to paint.

After a Google search for Chinese Opera masks I soon had quite a collection to choose from. Because I wanted a black background I thought a mostly white face would "pop" from the background.

Then after I had my gourd ready for the image I wanted to use, I froze for several weeks. It seemed an impossible task that I wouldn't be able to do. It became worse after I tried to sketch the face on the gourd. It seemed like it might work but looking at my sketch and the beautiful masks hanging on the wall in front of me, I set it aside. What followed were days  of struggling how to actually paint it.

Finally one night when I couldn't sleep I realized that I should paint around where the the white face would be then paint the face covering any mistakes I made. The next day the housekeeper came and I hide in my studio, my very messy second bedroom, and got to work.

Amazingly it went quite fast. I could stick a finger in the opening and paint the black outlining all around where the face should be.

Once I had the face defined I painted it white around the black background and black parts of the mask. I had to be careful but acrylic paints dry quickly though for  large areas I hung the gourd to dry and washed my brushes so the black wouldn't remain in the bristles.

Once dry, I added vermillion to the lips that now surrounded the opening for birds (hoping, of course, the face wouldn't scare them). The face is taking shape but oddly a 2D photo doesn't capture the 3D gourd. Now to add nose, ears and eyes.

The good thing for me was the minimal use of colors: black, white, a Chinese vermillion for the lips and simple decoration, brown for the eyes and of course a rubbing of white for the lips and eyes that make the mask look almost real. 

The real surprise was that once started, even allowing for drying periods, was that it only took about four hours to create. 

However, the top neck and back looked rather bare so I decided to add Chinese styled clouds to the top of the front and larger stylized clouds to the empty back in white. That was all it really needed. 

I had done my panicked delay for no reason. Friends who have seen it either in person or photos have been supportive and now that I have completed it realize the steps I should follow for the next, more ambitious birdhouse. A lot of future projects depend on the shape of gourds. For a wide selection of natural gourds in all shapes and sizes I use Welburn Gourd Farm products. Visit their web site, welburngourdfarm.com for a wide variety of ready to paint or sculpt birdhouses available in a variety of shapes and sizes!  Take a peek.

I always let everything dry thoroughly a few days which happens here (quickly in Palm Springs if left in the sun a few hours) before varnishing with an outdoor acrylic varnish. I usually apply several coats a day apart. Oil based varnishes are better but since cleanup is messy I don't use as much, throwing the brush away after. In fact I save several projects so I can do them together. So brushes don't dry up I place them in an air tight baggies and the bristles usually are still flexible for a day or two.        

This latest project shows there is no limit to what you can try!      

Thank you for reading my blog! Please be sure to visit on a regular basis or contact me at KrugsStudio@gmail.com. New blogs are added all the time. In conjunction  with my store I feel that “design” is an important part of our lives. Everything we use or live by was designed by someone. Please tell your friends, artists or anyone who appreciates design about my blog.

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