African Mask Lesson Step 5 - Designing the Face
This step illustrates how to simplify and stylize the shape of the face for your African mask design.
Draw a simple shape for the outline of the face on the light sheet of paper.
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This shape could be oval, circular, rectangular, elongated, heart-shaped, animal-shaped or human, or any combination of these.
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Different outline shapes will give you different expressive effects.
Cut around the outline of the face but leave the face shape in place.
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Now take the leftover background shape, flip it over to the other side and align it with the vertical centre line.
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This will create the background for the negative side of the face. The remaining space will become the background for the positive side of the face.
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This example is designed to form the shape of a heart - a symbol often used in mask design.
