Thread: Death masks & Lenticular portraits

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A friend of mine just moved into a one-hundred year old home. It was once an antique story, all wood floors, even crown molding and base boards. I've spent years trying to make my garage just look like this place! So, our theme this year is to make a Victorian era mortuary. Some ideas I have are:

Death portraits: Old black and white print outs with some cheap and then crackle-painted frames. But for the effect I would like to try building some Lenticular optical illusion pictures. Am I getting in over my head? I've looked online and at stores and the cheaper $10 versions are seemingly sold out, and anything else goes into the $20 range that's out of my budget.

Secondly, Death masks: To display along the moldings and in cupboards I'd like to have some cast death masks with dreadful faces. I was thinking of making molds of faces with latex, and then fill the latex mold with a substance to give a stone look. Paper mache with mixed in chalk dust??

Any help and advice would be greatly appreciated.

If your going to mold on the cheap use plaster of paris and gauze cloth. Mix it thick so it cures quicker, and of course large straws up the nose so your model can breath. They will feel a little heat as it sets. Then make your positive molds with the latex, and more plaster/gauze behind that to give the latex something to rest on with your display.

There are a zillion mateials and techniques for molding but that is what I would do.

I love your theme!!! I wanted death masks this year, but wimped out on making them (time) and just bought life casts from haunted studios. I can't wait to see what you come up with. I love that your doing your own, and with creepy faces.

DollarTrees are carrying 5 x 7 lenticular portraits this year - 4 different versions.