New mask; Fire Wolf

[merimask]

Ohhh, I think this new mask design is going to be popular.  I've had so many requests for a new wolf, so here it is:

I'm calling it a Fire Wolf.  Real original name, there.   It's already in my Etsy shop.


I'm really happy with it...so happy that I'm anticipating success & making two.  The coppery-red is especially neat; I bought some new metallic acrylics for those steampunk masks, & I found out that a little of the bronze mixed with red makes a much more interesting red.   Of course this means I'll never quite be doing the same color twice (I only mix enough for one mask at a time), but that's part of the beauty of it.  My masks are consistent enough...a little variety won't hurt anyone. 

I had to make a new wolf variation.  It's my best-selling mask & that's great, but I am SO sick of doing the gray version.  Seriously.  If I don't challenge myself with something new every now & then, I get really REALLY tired of a design.  I can't even remember the last time I made a greenman mask.

Speaking of new, I'm working right now on a new Kohaku dragon (Kohaku  is the beautiful river dragon from the animated movie "Spirited Away"), and new dragons, and after that I'm planning to do a really cool dragon mask.   I sketched a wonderful dragon at a shrine fountain in Ueno Park (in fact I photographed it ...See?).  It seemed like such a special dragon...aged bronze, perching on a real rock like an actual clinging dragon, spewing purification water from his mouth.  It charmed the heck out of me.  It was such a small fountain (compared to the ones at Meiji shrine and Narita) but it was my favorite.

Anyway, ever since I saw that dragon I've had plans...  The very next day after I sketched that dragon, I met Nagano-san.  I thought he was a tough fisherman guy (and he is) but I also found out that he has a soft side.  Like, he listens to Enya.  And he loved the tiny dragon I made him SO much that he hung it on the wall of his fishing boat.  Now, I would have made him a big cool mask back then, but I assumed (wrongly, it turns out) that he was a practical working-class type who would have no use for an art piece that hangs on the wall, & so that's why he got a keychain dragon.   Which he hung on his wall.   Heh!  

So, the first Ueno Dragon Mask will be for Nagano-san.  In March I thanked him with a letter and a tiny keychain dragon when I thought all I had to thank him for was a kick in the butt to get strong & healthy.  In September I thanked him in person in Japan, for the same thing & also for indirectly being the catalyst that got me to finally see Japan in person.  Now, I have to thank him for the amazing way I fell into the Muscle Musical project, which has changed my life and taken my career (and my art) to new heights.  
 
Special gifts excite me!  This one feels extra special.  I feel like that dragon was put in my path for a reason.   These days, I pay extra attention to my inspirations that come like a bolt of lightning...they usually lead to something important.