The Bubonic Mask

My Pointillism piece, it is sadly unfinished, but I intend to update this post when I am able to finish it. This was done with Artist's Loft brand ink pens on cardstock paper, and is based around a photo that I took of my own plague doctor mask with my iPad, edited the contrast and made it black and white with Photoshop Express before I began working with it on the cardstock. You can see the dotted outline to get an idea of the general shape that it will take when it is completed. Pointillism is a very interesting media to work with, and incredibly tedious. The outcome looks so amazing once it's finished, but the process can be very intimidating and unforgiving. Still I did enjoy this project, and hope to finish this piece soon.

This is another piece appreciating the history and aesthetic of the Plague Doctor mask, work by specialized doctors during bad outbreaks of the plague. The mask was fashioned so that these doctors could keep herbs in the beak, to keep the 'bad air' from reaching them, as they believed this was how it was transmitted. This was called the 'Miasma effect'. Plague doctors also sometimes placed red lenses into the eyes of the mask, believe it would keep out the 'evil' of the plague. It's interesting to note that a lot of plague doctors weren't even real doctors, because most doctors fled the plague, knowing that there wasn't much they could do against it.

The True Gentleman

"Sir, may I be permitted to peck out your eyeballs? Most gracious of you!"

This is my Organic Line Drawing, a character concept that I put together of a very dapper Pied Crow that wears a plague doctor mask. Crows and ravens have always been some of my favorite types of birds, and I always love the way Pied Crows appear to have a 'bib' of white, it makes them look like they're dressing up all fancy! This fellow probably wants to peck your eyes out, but he'll be a complete gentleman about it!

The mask comes from my love for the plague doctor theme, I love the history and aesthetic of the masks and the costume as a whole. And since Plague Doctors often worked around sick or dying people, it seems fitting that they would be associated with crows and ravens, which are often carrion birds! The top is the lines, which were done in Paint Tool Sai, and the colored image was put together in Photoshop 7.

The photos I took of my Plague Doctor mask, for my scratch board and pointillism pieces. I used a  Nikon camera, and fiddled with them in PS Express to make them black and white.