Reflection

Which personality/ humour/ season/ element did you choose to portray?  How does this relate to who you are? Explain in detail.

From the short quiz that I did in class, I found out that my humour type was phlegmatic, which is described as self-content, kind, shy, lazy, resistance to change, consistent, relaxed, rational, curious, and observant, reliable, compassionate and dependable. I think to an extent these adjectives describe me well. Along with that, my element is water and my season is winter. I think I’m an introvert, and winter is probably the season where I’m most produced and motivated for the goals I want to achieve in life. The color blue is associated with stability and depth, which is why I made my entire mask all shades of blue and sea green, because I want to express the feeling of solidity into my mask.I chose to portray the element of water and the colors of winter in my mask. Since water is the most essential element of life, I decided to portray its existence in a henna design on right side of my mask. I also drew a blended peacock on the other side of my mask closer to the eye because peacocks are a part of something I admire from childhood. I have always loved how their feathers are structured and they represent grace and beauty according to my family values which I why I chose to include them in my mask. This is because your face is your primary identity and it needs to represent you fully. To complete my look, I added the halves of peacock features on the top and bottom edge of my mask. This not only gave a beautiful aesthetic look but also fulfilled my love of peacock into the mask. Overall, this recreation of my identity will show you the inner side my personality. It’s exactly what it looks like.

How did you communicate the humour/ season/ element using the Elements and Principles of Design? (Think about colour symbolism, paint application, use of specific material like plastic wrap to give the illusion of ice or coldness)

Since my humour is so closely bonded with cold, and moistness, I used a fresh blue colour for the base of my mask and blended it according to accurate light and shadow. Blue represents water and white represents ice so I used white to highlight the tips of the nose, the base of forehead and the chin, so it gave my mask a frosted look. On the second layer, I started to use the element of design, which is line, to outline all the details that I wanted to incorporate in my mask. Since my mask was already a bit jagged and uneven, it automatically represented the texture of natural ice. The line work on the mask was inspired by flowing water in form of a henna design. This is how I tried to combine the characteristics of my humour and some of my culture into this mask. I painted the lips like lavender mixed with blue so they show a feeling of frozen atmosphere. I was considering covering the lips with some white sparkly flocking powder to give it the texture of snow. Materials play a great role in determining how you want to create your personality into a mask.

• What type of mask were you inspired by? Venetian? Other? Why did you choose the shape?

I would say that I have this special fad in sparkly and decorated things. So I thought venetian would be the best type of inspiration for my mask. My mask belongs to the Volto kind because it covers the entire face, and has many cultural details on it. Since Venetian masks have so much detail and sparkle to them, I decided to do the same on my mask. It gives a royal identity and that’s what I really liked about the Venetian masks.

Do you feel that you effectively communicated the personality/ humour/ season/ element you chose as it relates to who you are?  What would you do differently?

I think the humour that I got exactly described me in the sense that I am very shy and patient about things. The colour blue also represented me very well, since I love the feeling the existence of the colour blue gives me. I am, indeed into sparkles and fresh looking elements, which I successfully incorporated in my mask. If I had to do this differently, I would make my mask a bit bolder by using darker and deeper shades of blue. I would include more expressive line work, which would cover the entire mask, and I would extremely love to paint the lips of my mask a navy blue with dark glitter. That would describe what I think I am as a person a bit better. However, I still adore the way my mask turned out to be.

Briefly explain your experience in the initial mask making process.  Did you like/ dislike it and why?     

I will say the mask making process will stay as one of the best memories from this year. Who bring a pillow and blanket to school for nap? It felt like a mini facial at school. I found this concept so interesting since the mask carved out my exact facial features and thus brought it closer to my personality type. After the mask was done, I was very much fascinated by how its shape turned out because I personally never noticed my facial features to that extent. Having a mask that only fits your face is such an overwhelming experience since you know that it is only made for you and nobody else. There is one kind of freedom where you get to recreate the replica of your face thought painting a mask. I love it.