A clay turtle face with a beak-like mouth and coil wrinkles down the neckSlab base with a long neck tab. Press thin coils across the neck. Exaggerate the downturned beak.
A porcupine mask with a crest of paper strips curled over a pencilPaper plate base. Glue two rows of curled strips along the top rim. Exaggerate the crest, not the face.
A ram mask with spiral horns of coiled card strips slotted in at the templesCard base. Wind each strip round a jar to curl it. Exaggerate the horns to twice the face's width.
A butterfly mask whose upper wings hold the eye holesCard base folded in half so both wings match. An adult cuts the eye holes. Exaggerate the wing tips.
A crescent-moon profile mask that covers half the faceCard base cut as a crescent. One eye hole, a pointed nose and chin. Exaggerate the hook of the chin.
A frog mask with two bulging card-dome eyes above the plate rimPaper plate base. Each eye is a card circle slit to the middle and overlapped into a dome. Exaggerate the eyes.
A grumpy bear mask with slanted eyebrows of black cardPaper plate base, two half-circle ears. The eyebrows are the whole mood: exaggerate their slant.
A hare mask from a paper plate with tall folded card ears, one bent over at the tipPaper plate base. Fold each ear down the middle so it stands, then crease one tip. Exaggerate the ears.
A mask of pure joy with a grin that runs off both sides of the platePaper plate base. Glue a card smile wider than the plate itself. Exaggerate the mouth and keep the eyes tiny.
A porcupine mask with a crest of paper strips curled over a pencilPaper plate base. Glue two rows of curled strips along the top rim. Exaggerate the crest, not the face.
A sleepy cat mask with drooping card eyelids and long paper-strip whiskersPaper plate base. Glue the eyelids over painted eyes so they hang half shut. Exaggerate the whiskers.
A startled owl mask with eye rings of stacked paper circlesPaper plate base. Three circles per eye, largest at the back. Exaggerate the eyes until they nearly touch.
A sun face mask ringed with twelve card rays, long and short by turnsPaper plate base. Tape the rays behind the rim and paint the face asleep. Exaggerate the longest rays.
A three-eyed creature mask with a zigzag mouth of folded card teethCard base in any odd outline. Fold a strip into points for the teeth. Exaggerate the middle eye.
An anteater mask with a rolled-paper snout that droops past the chinPaper plate base. Roll a long paper tube, flatten its end and tape it under the eyes. Exaggerate the snout.
Cardboard layers and slots 12
A badger mask whose stripe is peeled down to the corrugations and painted whiteCorrugated card base. Peel the stripe down to the ridges, paint it white and the rest black. Exaggerate the stripe.
A beetle mask with a slotted pair of jaws hanging below the chinCorrugated card base. The jaws are two curved pieces on one cross slot. Exaggerate the jaws.
A calm face made only of curves, with card ovals layered like ripplesCard base. Stack ovals round each closed eye and the mouth. Exaggerate the smoothness: no corners anywhere.
A dragon mask with a row of slotted cardboard spines from brow to crownCorrugated card base. Spines push into a long slotted ridge. Exaggerate the tallest spine.
A fish seen head-on with layered cardboard lips and slot-in fins for earsCard base. Three ovals stacked for the lips. Exaggerate the lips and set the eyes far apart.
A hawk mask with a hooked beak that slots onto the bridge of the noseCorrugated card base. The beak is two profiles on a cross piece. Exaggerate the hook.
A mask of worry whose forehead lines are narrow stacked cardboard stripsCard base. Glue wavy strips in rows above the eyebrows. Exaggerate the forehead: make it half the mask.
A ram mask with spiral horns of coiled card strips slotted in at the templesCard base. Wind each strip round a jar to curl it. Exaggerate the horns to twice the face's width.
A split mask with sun rays on one half and moon craters on the otherCard base in two layers. Rays stand off one side; holes show the lower layer on the other. Exaggerate the split.
A stag mask whose cardboard antlers push into slots in the browCorrugated card base, no glue. An adult cuts the slots. Exaggerate the antlers until they are wider than the face.
A wolf mask in five stacked cardboard layers with the snout standing highestCorrugated card base. Each layer is smaller than the one below. Exaggerate the length of the snout.
An angry face built from sharp-cornered cardboard planes like a cut gemCard base. Score and fold triangles, then tape them from behind. Exaggerate the brow ridge.
Papier-mache over a balloon or a foil form 12
A beast with two twisted foil horns bedded under its papier-mache browBalloon base. Twist foil into horns and tape them at the brow. Exaggerate the horns and shrink the eyes.
A crying face whose tears are string glued on and papered overBalloon base. Lay string from each eye to the chin before the final layer. Exaggerate the tear tracks.
A laughing papier-mache face with a folded card tongue sticking outBalloon base. Leave the mouth open and glue the tongue in after drying. Exaggerate the tongue.
A leaf face with paper leaves layered like scales from chin to browFoil form base. Cut leaf shapes from thick paper and overlap them upward. Exaggerate the leaves round the eyes.
A long-nosed invented creature with a card cone under its papier-macheBalloon base. Tape the cone on before the first layer of strips. Exaggerate the nose to the length of a hand.
A pig mask with a bottle-cap snout hidden under the paperBalloon base. Tape the cap on as the snout and paper over it. Exaggerate the snout with two deep nostrils.
A round moon face over a balloon with craters pressed in while the paper is wetBalloon base, paper strips in layers. Press craters with a bottle cap. Exaggerate one huge crater as an eye.
A sleeping sun with paper-sausage eyelids and thick ray stubs round the rimBalloon base. Roll damp strips into sausages for the lids. Exaggerate the rays' thickness, not their length.
A toucan mask whose beak is papered over a curved foil formScrunched foil base shaped like a banana. Four layers of strips. Exaggerate the beak, then paint it in bands.
A two-faced mask: glad on the balloon's front and cross on its backBalloon base, papered all the way round. An adult cuts it in two when dry. Exaggerate both mouths.
A warty toad mask with bumps of scrunched tissue under the last layerBalloon base. Dot tissue balls over the brow and cheeks, then one more layer. Exaggerate the wide mouth.
A wind face blowing hard, cheeks built up over two balls of paperBalloon base. Tape the paper balls on first and paper over them. Exaggerate the cheeks and purse the mouth.
Clay slab, coil and pinch 12
A clay bat face with two huge pinched earsSlab base. Each ear is a pinch pot opened wide and scored on. Exaggerate the ears until they dwarf the face.
A clay lion mask with a mane of flattened coil loopsSlab base over a hump. Loop short coils round the edge, each pressed at both ends. Exaggerate the mane's depth.
A clay mask of surprise with pinched-out eyebrows and a punched round mouthSlab base. Pinch the brows up from the slab itself. Punch the mouth with a bottle cap. Exaggerate the brows.
A clay sun face with twelve rolled-coil rays round the rimSlab base draped over crumpled newspaper. Score each coil where it joins. Exaggerate the rays' curl.
A clay turtle face with a beak-like mouth and coil wrinkles down the neckSlab base with a long neck tab. Press thin coils across the neck. Exaggerate the downturned beak.
A frowning clay face with a brow of three stacked coilsSlab base. Stack the coils above the eyes and blend only their ends. Exaggerate the brow's weight.
A leaf face: a real leaf pressed into the clay slab for veins, with eyes cut afterSlab base. Roll the leaf in, peel it off and trim round its print. Exaggerate the stalk as a nose.
A moon face in clay with a coil spiral on each cheekSlab base cut as a circle. Lay the coils as flat spirals and press lightly. Exaggerate the cheeks' size.
A scaly creature in clay with rows of thumbprint scalesSlab base over a hump. Press overlapping thumbprints from the chin upward. Exaggerate the scales on the brow.
A slab face with a pinch-pot nose pulled far out from the middleSlab base. Join a small pinch pot upside down as the nose. Exaggerate the nose and keep everything else flat.
A slab owl mask with feather marks pressed in with a spoon tipSlab base over a newspaper hump. Rows of spoon-tip prints from the beak outward. Exaggerate the eye discs.
A twin-face clay mask where two noses share three eyesSlab base, wider than it is tall. The middle eye belongs to both faces. Exaggerate the shared eye.
Found and recycled 12
A bird mask feathered with torn magazine strips sorted from warm to coolCard base. Sort the strips by color first and overlap them from the beak outward. Exaggerate the color shift.
A face made only of circles: lids, caps and rings on a round cake boardCake board base. Largest lids for eyes, a cap nose, a ring mouth. Exaggerate by using no straight line.
A fish mask with two old discs for mirror eyesCard base. Glue the discs shiny side out and paint a dot on each. Exaggerate the eyes; the rest stays small.
A hedgehog mask bristling with cut drinking strawsCard base. Glue short straw lengths from the brow back, all leaning one way. Exaggerate the bristles' length.
A honeybee mask with net-bag eyes and pipe-cleaner feelersCard base. Stretch fruit netting over two circles for the eyes. Exaggerate the feelers with bead tips.
A mask on half a milk jug where the handle becomes the nosePlastic jug base; an adult cuts it in two. Paint round the handle and add lid eyes. Exaggerate the nose.
A paper grocery-bag creature mask with ears twisted from the bag's cornersPaper bag base, worn over the head. An adult cuts the eye holes. Exaggerate the twisted ears.
A patchwork cat mask of fabric scraps, each patch a different printCard base. Glue the scraps edge to edge and draw stitches in pen. Exaggerate the mismatch of the two ears.
A robot face on a cereal-box panel with bottle-top dialsCereal box base. Arrange tops and foil squares in rows like a control panel. Exaggerate the mouth grille.
A shouting mask from a tissue box whose opening is the mouthTissue box base. The oval slot is already there: add card teeth round it. Exaggerate the open mouth.
A tree-spirit mask with twig antlers and a skin of bark rubbingsCard base. Rub crayon over paper on real bark and glue the rubbings on. Exaggerate the twigs' reach.
An insect mask with egg-carton cups for bulging eyesCard base. Glue two cups side by side and poke a peephole in each. Exaggerate the eyes with painted rings.
How it works
These 60 mask ideas for art are faces of your own invention: animals, feelings, sun and moon faces, invented creatures. Each gives the base, the build and the one feature to exaggerate.
Read the full guide
Mask ideas for art class, by material
Paper plate and card and Found and recycled mostly need scissors, glue and paint. Cardboard layers and slots adds height with stacked or slotted corrugated card. Papier-mache goes over a balloon or a foil form in layers of glued paper strips. Easy: one sitting marks the masks that need no drying between steps.
Clay mask art ideas
Clay slab, coil and pinch holds masks built from a slab: a sun face with twelve rolled-coil rays, a bat with two huge pinched ears, a leaf face printed from a real leaf.
Questions and answers
What is the easiest mask to make for an art project?
A paper plate mask. Easy: one sitting holds 21 that need no drying between steps, such as a grumpy bear with slanted black card eyebrows and a shouting mask from a tissue box whose opening is the mouth.
How do you make a papier-mache mask?
Paper strips are glued in layers over a form and left to dry hard. The 12 here use a balloon or a form of scrunched foil, and add cheeks, horns or a beak under the paper before the last layer goes on.
What can I make a mask out of for art?
Five things here: a paper plate or card, layered cardboard, papier-mache over a balloon, a clay slab, or found things such as a tissue box, a cereal-box panel and egg-carton cups.