THE MAKING OF FRANK

Most of Frank was made from surprisingly ordinary materials.

Cardboard became his forehead. Wire became his skeleton. Aluminum foil became the bones beneath his face.

And press-on nails became his teeth.

Before I started shaping the mask itself, I began with one of Frank's most recognizable features: his teeth.

I used press-on nails as the base and painted them white, then added subtle hints of yellow and brown to create a more aged and worn appearance.

To make them feel less like perfect, clean teeth and more like something that belonged to Frank, I used wire cutters to carefully chip away at the edges and add an uneven, weathered texture.

These small details were the first pieces of Frank to come to life.

The first step was transforming a simple plastic mask into the elongated, unsettling shape of Frank.

To create a taller forehead, I cut a piece of cardboard to the size and shape I wanted, then attached it directly to the inside of the mask using hot glue.

This gave the mask the extra height and structure needed to begin building Frank's distinctive rabbit-like silhouette.

With the wire framework in place, it was time to start adding shape and dimension to Frank's ears.

I began by wrapping the wire ears completely with masking tape, starting at the base and working my way up to the tips.

After the tape was secured, I layered aluminum foil over the ears and carefully molded it into the shape I wanted.

Using the foil allowed me to adjust the curves and angles of the ears while creating the uneven, organic shape that gives Frank his unsettling appearance.

the rabbit begins to emerge

With the basic structure of the ears in place, it was time to start creating the shape of Frank's face.

To build up his cheekbones, nose and forehead, I used aluminum foil as a lightweight base.

I rolled pieces of foil into balls for the cheekbones and shaped additional pieces into forms for his nose and forehead.

Using foil as a base allowed me to create raised features without using a huge amount of clay.

This step was a little different from the original inspiration video I followed. I decided to experiment with aluminum foil, which helped a lot during the sculpting process.

With the structure of the mask complete, it was finally time to bring Frank's face to life using foam clay.

I found the easiest way to work with the clay was by tearing off smaller pieces, rolling them into balls, and flattening them out before applying them to the mask.

For the areas that needed more definition, I rolled the foam clay into longer pieces and shaped them into forms I needed for Frank's facial features, such as his sunken-in eyes.

When I reached the eyes, I inserted the plastic spoon pieces before the clay was fully built up around them.

I chose to use plastic spoons because I wanted this mask to be functional and wearable as a costume.

After sculpting the mouth and creating a shape I was happy with, I added Frank's teeth that I prepared earlier.

I also made sure to add openings for the nose before moving on to texture details.

To create texture and dimension, I used different tools I had around my home, including a mascara applicator, an eyebrow brush, and some of my oil painting tools.

The goal wasn't perfect symmetry. I wanted the surface to feel handmade, slightly uneven and a little unsettling.

After finishing the sculpting process, I allowed Frank to fully dry before moving on to painting. 48 hours later, to be precise.

I started by covering Frank's entire face in black paint, making sure to work the paint into all the small details, crevices and textures I had created.

Once the black base coat had completely dried, I began adding dimension with silver paint.

Instead of covering the entire mask in silver, I used a sponge and lightly applied the paint over the raised areas.

Using my reference photos as a guide, I focused on highlighting the texture and details of the mask rather than creating a completely silver surface.

This helped bring out the sculpted features and gave Frank the worn, eerie appearance I was looking for.

Frank, sitting quietly in the shadows.

✦ view the full Frank gallery ✦

I personally felt like I extended out Frank's forehead slightly too much. Now this is a personal preference! If I could go back I would make it just slightly smaller.

I would have used even less clay on the ears in order to make them slightly lighter.

Also, the clay I used dried a lot quicker than I expected!

I fully intended on sculpting Frank as a relaxing activity, watching Donnie Darko as I created him, but it was a bit more frantic than I had expected.

If the clay didn't dry so quickly I would have added more texture on Frank.

My Frank mask was heavily inspired by @________ on Instagram. Their step-by-step process taught me techniques I used throughout this project.

This blog post documents my personal experience making the mask, along with what I learned and the changes I made along the way.

I highly recommend watching their original video.

✦ visit the original inspiration ✦