Made by Amanda Carr
Our middle school decided to do the Lion King Jr. for our spring musical. I used a number of your amazing mask patterns to create the animals for this production. I got so many compliments on how professional they all looked! I gave you all the credit for your amazing patterns. Thank you so much Jonni!
How I made the 4 leopard headpieces:
I printed the “Young Simba Nala Mask” pattern from the “Lion Headdress Masks for the Lion King Jr. Play” pattern set out on cardstock to keep them as light and flexible as possible. I put some masking tape along the seams on the inside for extra support. I used brown packing paper and a mixture of 2/3 white school glue to 1/3 water for the paper mache. I applied the glue solution to the ripped squares of brown packing paper using a paint brush. I did not build out the eyes as much to keep them looking younger. Masking tape and aluminum foil helped to define the ear contours.
Once dry, I looked at online images of real leopards for inspiration. I put a base coat of a creamy, slightly orange color paint over the whole mask with a sponge brush. I then accented the other features with different shades of browns and whites to make each one unique. I smudged them a bit to make them look a little more ‘dirty’. I drew the details (cat eyes, nose, mouth lines) on with pencil lines before painting them with the smallest brushes. I finished by adding all of the black spots.
Here are some images of the completed leopards.
Amanda, all of your Lion King Jr masks are beautiful – and you made so many! How long did it take you to make them all?
Hello Jonni. Thank you! It took about 8 hours start to finish to make each mask. I believe I made 25 total for this production.
Amanda, I’m sure your Middle School administrators consider you a real treasure. All of your masks turned out really nice, but I think your leopards are my current favorite. 🙂