6th Grade African Masks

6th grade artists have been working on creating African-inspired masks. This multi-step project is going to be a lot of fun. First, students drew a rough draft in their sketchbooks of what they wanted their final mask to look like. Most students chose an African animal as inspiration for their design, but they could also create a human-like figure. Next, students had to use mathematics to measure the distance of their facial features, including the length of their forehead, the width of their eyes, and the distance of their eyes apart from one another. These measurements are very important to ensure that they will be able to see out of their masks.

The next step was for students to build an armature out of cardboard and newspaper. An armature is the framework in which a sculpture is built on top of; it is what students are using to transform their masks from flat drawings into three-dimensional forms. Below are a few pictures of armatures in the works:

We had a few students begin adding papier-mâché to their armatures. For our papier-mâché, we are dipping strips of newspaper into a mixture of water and glue and laying it over top of the armature in a few layers. Once the mixture dries, it will become hard and creates the form of the mask. 

This project is about to get very messy with all the glue, but papier-mâché is always a fan favorite!