The Phoenix Begins

Phoenix Mask

Surprise, surprise, as busy as I am at the hangar this season I've still got a few side projects going on. For one, I'm already working on next year's Halloween costume (shock!), oh and, it has wings too. (of course)

I'll be living in an area with some pretty major costume contests this Halloween. Not only would it be a great publicity opportunity but, it may also help fund my graduate education *fingers crossed*

My first idea was to create a harpy costume but, I changed my mind and decided to work with a more familiar subject: a phoenix. For many reasons the phoenix is a better choice for me including...
- imagery, color palette & materials with which I'm very familiar
- more "flashy" and attention grabbing than a black harpy
- as much as I'm fascinated by dark imagery, I do not want to glorify it. The Angel of Death costume is quite dark and scary...As It Should Be! It was a portrayal of a terrifying yet beautiful character (which according to my own interpretation is in actuality a servant of God, not evil.) On the other hand, a harpy would simply be, um, dark and scary for darkness sake. It would be cool but not necessarily good - for me at least.

So, the first part I started to work on was the mask. I began with an oil-based clay model.