·       LMC: How did you get into creating masks/effects?

CH:  I’ve had an on and off interest with effects in particular since high school (grad ’91).. After seeing a TV special on makeup effects, sometime in my senior year, I searched all over for books on how it was done. To my amazement, it was something that could be done in a basic shop with available materials. I went on to other things for a few years, but eventually came back to it.

LMC: What was the first thing you created?

CH: I did a couple of foam rubber prosthetics in the early ‘90s; a zombie and old lady. But what restarted my interest was a goofy, wearable zombie puppet that I made in ’96. Kind of a torso contraption that you can strap on, which combined your legs and arm with the fake head, and torso. Though it was not some great piece of art, it’s still pretty fun to see it in action. Just something for Halloween, so it served its purpose. I’ll have to create a new version with a nice sculpted head and facial movements. Next year’s big project.
 

CH: I’m currently working at a video/DVD distributor here in town. I’m basically the web copy guy. So when they need new offers, or want to change the homepage, I’m the one they go to. It’s allowed me the opportunity to learn some of the basics of web design, Photoshop, etc. But it takes so much of my time away that my effects interest suffers. But you’ve got to pay the rent.

LMC: Any pros you admire and why?

CH: I’m lucky enough to have gotten to know Crist Ballas and Nate Courtea, who are lesser-known pros who live in St. Paul. They’ve taught me a lot over the last year, and helped encourage me to continue to improve my work. Otherwise, there are so many wonderful artists out there who produce breathtaking work that I wouldn’t know who to start with. Jordu Schell, Miles Teves, Steve Wang create such greatly original work. I love the masks that Don Lanning’s done. Such detail. Of course Baker is amazing. But I think that its placement in such dull, awful films diminishes most film work. These effects guys have so much to offer, but the movies are so lousy that it’s a real waste of talent.

LMC:

CH: They’ve worked on some big films. For “Batman & Robin” Crist did some amazing doubles make ups. He’s got pictures of the stunt double and Arnold, and there’s just no way of telling which is which. He and Nate made a wonderful silicone old lady corpse for Double Jeopardy. It’s the body that Ashley Judd finds herself sharing a coffin with. Oh, for Drop Dead Gorgeous, they made that beer can and did the melted hand makeup for Ellen Barkin. Lots of other stuff. A Simple Plan, Sugar & Spice. Nate’s worked for Crist’s shop Metamorphosis for a while. I’m never sure exactly who did what, but they’re both amazing artists who should be better known than they are. It’s been a real privilege for me to get as much help and advise as I have from them.

LMC: Any amateur artists you admire?                 

CH: I think that Jon Fuller is an impressive artist. That guy’s going somewhere. Whenever I write to him, I keep saying that he has to keep me in mind when he’s a big shot. I just became aware of Joe Lester’s work, and it’s just fabulous. Erich Lubatti is continually putting out cool stuff. I’m not sure if they should be classified as “amateurs” as they’re all at a professional level.

LMC: What type of masks do you enjoy creating the most?      

CH: I’m really a beginner at mask making, so I don’t have much to compare to. I got a lot of laughs out of the George W. mask that I made, and so I think that I’ll be doing more political caricatures in the future. But otherwise, I enjoy the design process that mask making allows.                                                

LMC: Do you do commissioned pieces?  

CH: No one’s approached me for one yet. I would have to be interested in the project to take it on, as my time is so limited. But I would eventually like to get to the point where people are paying me to sculpt.

CH: Well… that’s hard to say. Anything with some vision, originality. The kind of thing where my work will compliment that of others, but not be the solely notable aspect.

LMC: Talk about some of the work you’ve done for indie films and friends?

CH: That’s really where I’d like to be going. I was able to do a minor effect for an indie film early Spring, and though it didn’t pay, it was a great experience. Nate Courteau was generous enough to offer me the chance to sculpt the hands for a creature puppet that he is building for another indie film project. I’d really like to do more projects like these, but have had to turn down several offers because of time constraints. As in, “we need an elaborate puppet built, but have no money and will start shooting in a week.” I’d like to get more involved in other aspects of indie filmmaking as well. FX laden projects, of course.

LMC: Talk about that effect you did in the film?
   

CH: I met with the director about a week before they wanted to shoot the scene, which was very little time for my schedule. (did I mention my full-time desk job?) The scene called for a guy to have a piece of his scalp on the back of his head slide off, revealing a grievous wound. I thought, “how the hell am I going to do this in a week? So, I went for a simple solution. I sculpted the wound piece and cast it in latex. Then I just attached a couple of berrets to the back to hold it onto the back of the actors head. The skull and flesh chunk that fit over it was just made of Sculpey, latex, and fake hair.   Amazingly, it worked really well. I can’t wait to see the final film. It was a huge charge to contribute to a project like that. I figure, even if I never become a big shot Hollywood FX artist, there’s always smaller films that I can work on. I may never make a professional career of it, but I can say that I’ve been a credited special makeup effects artist. And doing it is what’s really important, right?           

LMC: What’s your favorite piece you’ve done and why?

CH: I don’t have much to choose from, but my favorite would have to be my W mask. Comic characters are something that I need to do more of. Though, it’s not my best work. That would probably have to be the old age prosthetic that I sculpted a couple of years ago. It’s the best thing I’ve done, and I still haven’t done a decent finished piece. Any day now…

CH: I’m continually amazed by John Smith’s “Tor Johnson” mask from Death Studios. Just stunning. One of the best likeness sculptures I’ve seen. Miles Teves’s “Demon Vampire” mask that Death Studios made was one of my favorites for years.

LMC: Yup, the demon vampire has an interesting history portrayed on Miles’ site.  I think those big old ears fell off at one point.  Wouldn’t mind owning one myself.

LMC: What’s your favorite sculpture done by someone else and why?  Doesn’t have to be a mask.                                                 

CH: Too hard to single out one. I love to see lots of character, detail, and realism. There’s so much great stuff out there, I just couldn’t say.

LMC: Do you collect masks?

CH:I’m not a mask collector, but I do love seeing them in person.

LMC: Talk about the Executioner you did for Death Studios

CH: I’ve been a Death Studios fan for years, and noticed that they carried masks that were sculpted by other artists. I sent Jeff Death pictures of some of my stuff last year and asked him about doing a mask for DS. He was really receptive, so I went to work with various designs.

 I went through several before I landed on the one that ended up becoming the Executioner. I wanted to try something different than the executioners that I’d seen. A friend of mine gave me the idea of doing a big, molded leather look, and I thought that that was different from what I’d seen before, so I went with it. Jeff had wanted a “mask wearing a mask” look, so I tried to design the outer mask so that it would shadow the character’s exposed features. This way, the leather mask expression remains dominant. But if you look more closely, there’s some cool detail in the mouth area.  

Though I spent several months occasionally working on the sculpture, I ended up with a lot less detail than I had wanted. But I think that the basic design is fairly mean looking, and worked out well. The front piece has a stamped in drawing of lady justice holding a large ax and scales with the phrase “None Are Innocent” beneath. That was the kind of decorative detail that was my attempt at emulating Don Lanning’s stuff. Mostly, that I even finished the thing is enough of an accomplishment.

LMC:

CH: I suppose that it is. It’s great to have something that I made produced by the best place out there. Quite a compliment. And I love the fact that one of my pieces is going out there to the public. Financially, I’ll probably receive just enough to cover the material costs in making it. But that’s not what interested me in doing it. They’re not a big operation, so the numbers are much smaller. But I’d rather have something made by a talented crew like at DS rather than some Indonesian sweatshop anyway.