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 10 lioness headpieces:
I printed the “Lioness – Sarabi or Grown-Up Nala” 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 did scale a couple of them up a bit (105-110%) to give some size variation for different sized actor heads. They were easily customizable by cutting along the back seam or rounding the edges.
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 used the eye techniques you used to create more raised or sunken eye sockets. Masking tape and aluminum foil helped to define the brows and ear contours.
Once dry, I looked at the lioness images on this site (so helpful!) and pictures of real lionesses for inspiration. I put a base coat of tan paint over the whole mask with a sponge brush. I then accented the other features with different shades of light browns, browns and whites to make each one unique.
I drew the details (cat eyes, nose, mouth lines) on with pencil lines before painting them with the smallest brushes. I wanted to give them a human-like quality, so their eyes had whites. This also helped them stand out more on stage. The eye color of each lioness was different to give them their own personality. I highly recommend using clear nail polish over the eyes to add a wet, lifelike shine.
Here are some images of the completed lionesses. They made a beautiful pride and the masks accentuated the choreography when the lionesses all turned their heads or bowed gracefully. Truly stunning!
What a talented bunch of paper mache artists. All due to your tutelage of course.
I love your masks Jonni and still get great enjoyment from watching the videos.
Keep up the good work.
Kind regards, Evelyn
Thanks, Evelyn. Amanda came up with some creative ideas when she was building her tribe of lionesses, and they look great. 🙂