Red Oni Mask

This is one of the masks I designed for the "Magicarade" Muscle Musical stage production, in Japan. A red oni mask.

When the producer decided that he wanted masks with a Japanese look to them, I was really frightened. At first I thought "Why do they want my masks then? When they can get really awesome traditional Japanese masks at any shrine market?"

But then, once I started sketching in earnest, I realized I could still create masks in my own style, while showing the influence of the traditional Japanese theater. For instance, no Japanese oni mask would have wildly sculpted hair like I did on this mask...it would be real hair or else no hair at all. My use of textures (the scales) and motifs (that swirly gold design) are all my own too.

Most importantly, the fact that this mask is made of leather really makes it different from most Japanese masks. Leather is not as common in Japan as it is here in America, so traditionaly theater masks are made of wood or paper mache.

Anyway, this was one of my favorite designs that I did for the show.

You can see more of my work at my online Etsy shop: [link]