Creating a monster...

Since early 2019 I had an idea to create an 8ft plus tall goat demon monster for my final year at university; however, after the design section of the third year project the concept for my Krampus character wasn't chosen, instead Hades and Medusa came to life through costume and design concepts. I am overall very proud of their outcomes and the characters that came to life along the way but i still had that itch that wasn't scratched. I needed to make Krampus! After making a few masks for Hades, Medusa and even Batman and the Joker for presents I decided it was Krampus' turn to come alive and so begins the journey of creating the Central European creature formed through the folklore and imagination of the stories told, influenced by the research I had previously done for my Uni course and my discovery of other creators on Youtube. So won't you come with me on a journey to discover the creation of Krampus?...

Krampus face on

First stages started off with a decoupage mask, these are great! I get mine from Hobby craft or Amazon, usually they are the same price regardless. Up next I use 'Das' modelling clay for bone structure, here it s also used for ears, teeth and a chin extension. However, the nose is made from air dry clay, it is by far more lightweight. As I've learnt previously the noses can be very fragile and 'Das' clay has a tendency to break easily in finer areas whereas I find the air dry clay has some leniency. The ears were made separately and left to dry thoroughly before attaching with super glue - I prefer to use 'Loctite' gel as I am super clumsy when it comes to superglue and the added benefit of gel means less mess!

Krampus side face

The horns are made separately out of kitchen towel tubes cut into around 1.5 inch pieces and re assembled into a curved structure.; secured with masking tape which then gets covered in paper mache. They then get attached to the decoupage mask with superglue and more masking tape. The exposed areas of the mask that were not covered with clay then get the same paper mache treatment, going over the attached horns at the base to ensure strength.

The next stage is to then spray any areas that are not already white from the clay, I used a matte white spray paint for this. After evaluation the horns didn't look right to me left just as paper mache, so I chose to strategically use masking tape to create lines and a smoother surface, the beauty of this meant that natural creases formed int he masking tape creating a beautifully textured surface that created imperfections, making the horns appear natural. When painted the paint will pick up on these creating depth and tonal variation.

There's the basic steps so far of how Krampus came to life in mask form! Check back in for updates!