|
 LMC:
Any
tips for the mask maker on producing masks?
DL:
No.
It’s sad, but mask makers never get tips. Tips are for bellhops,
cab drivers, waiters and such. Say, that would be nice, if we all
got a gratuity with every sale! But the only tips I get are the
replacement ones I buy for my airbrushes.
LMC:
What about people wanting to get into mask making?
DL:
Yeah,
what about those people? Crazy lot, aren’t they? It’s easier to
get into mask making now than it was 20 years ago. It’s easier to
get hold of the materials, plus I think there are more artists
around now who’ll share their techniques.
LMC:
Any
words of wisdom on running your own small studio?
DL:
Don’t
believe people who say it can’t be done! It’s probably more complex
than it looks, but it can be done if you’re willing to do what it
takes. But you have to be ready to take the responsibility of
making your customers happy VERY seriously. If you’re a hopeless
procrastinator, if you’re habitually late with everything, you
probably won’t last long running your own business, mask or
otherwise. Remember that it’s a very great compliment for someone
to like your work enough to give you their money for it. They
deserve your best work, and they DO NOT want to be given a slew of
excuses as to why their orders are always late. I don’t have much
sympathy for artists who whine around that they were upset or
depressed or something and that’s why they couldn’t work. Get over
yourself, be an adult, and return the favor of your clients’ paying
you by giving them honest, personal, reliable service. I’m not
saying that nothing will ever happen to cause a delay, but if you
have established a solid reputation with your clientele, then nobody
will worry much if you tell them that, just this once, you’ll be
late with their order. If you take forever to get their stuff done
time after time and always have a list of excuses, they’re going to
tire of the frustration and quit ordering masks from you. Even if
you have ones they’d like to buy, people will give up on you if
you’re always late. I guess what I’m saying is, if you’re your own
boss you have to be a real slave driver! But when you get wonderful
compliments from people you’ll know it was worth it.
 LMC:
Henry
Alvarez was kind enough to re-create you and Laura in mask form.
First talk about Henry and then the notion of having your own head
staring back at you.
DL:
Henry
Alvarez is simply amazing. He’s one of the all-time nicest, most
likeable, talented people in this business. His ability to capture
subtle characteristics of personality in a sculpture is second to
none. Henry’s masks tend to have a kind of life to them. Even when
you see them unpainted, you not only recognize the character but you
can feel the emotion or the attitude of the character! If talent
was any guarantee of success, he’d be a millionaire by now. He also
handles the business end in a professional manner, so you know you
can rely on him and his shop to get the job done. I think Henry
kind of raised the bar, as far as accuracy and expression in the
mask world. Look at his Jack Nicholson, Hannibal Lecter, Henry Hull
Werewolf…it’s impossible to NOT like those pieces, they’re so good!
It’s an honor to be an
official Henry Alvarez mask! Henry used lifecasts of both me and
Laura when he did those. Henry chose the specific facial
expressions. That evil smirk on me was inspired by a scene he saw
of me on a Haunt World video segment. Laura’s open-mouthed
expression was just a way to make an extra dramatic piece with a lot
of impact.
That Laura Vampire head
has been a very popular mask, a really good seller, which is cool
when you consider that it isn’t even an image from a movie! More
than once now, somebody who didn’t know Laura has assumed that head
is from a Spanish movie from the 1970s, “Night Of The Sorcerers”.
There is a female vampire with similar hair in that film.
 The
“David” head hasn’t been nearly as popular as the “Laura” one. I
guess that just means she’s a lot scarier than me, right? But it’s
fun being a mask. As far as I know, we’re the only mask artists who
can make things for people’s mask collections and also be in
their collections.
When
you have a mask of yourself, it’s fun to experiment with different
paint and hair to make different characters out of it. I make a
great red devil, and Laura makes a really neat female werewolf. I
like myself as a drowned corpse, too. Now there’s a sentence that
probably hasn’t cropped up too often in the course of human
conversation: “I like myself as a drowned corpse.”
LMC:
What’s
your opinion today of some of the mask studios out there?
DL:
To be frank (enstein), I’m kind of burnt out on exaggerated,
goofy-looking masks. At first only Mario Chiodo was doing all that
stuff, with ridiculously over-sized noses, stretched-out mouths and
such. And when he first started doing it, it was cool and
different. But now it seems like all the major mask companies are
doing that kind of thing, big oversized heads with cartoony
features. I could get by just fine if nobody ever sculpted another
evil clown mask with a big exaggerated mouth. I thought “Killer
Klowns From Outer Space” was a great movie, but shortly after it
developed a following, all these silly looking clown characters
started turning up in haunted houses and in mask catalogs. I got
sick of that trend right away. Those masks just aren’t scary or
interesting to me. So I’d like to see a return to a little more
believable, serious style of masks. Look at Steve Wang’s
Bio-Morphs…WOW!, those things are gorgeous! They’re imaginative but
still realistic.
For a long time the two
biggest, best mask companies were Don Post and Distortions, but
lately they’ve both faded into the background. Post became part of
the Paper Magic empire and their stuff has been more geared toward
thin, hasty-pudding production masks instead of collectibles since
then. Distortions has turned to making huge pneumatic haunted house
props and has almost ceased to make new masks. They both still have
their function in the business, but seeing their new catalogs come
out isn’t something collectors look forward to the way it used to
be.
The last gasp for Post
had to be the magnificent re-release of their classic Universal
Monster “Calendar” line. I thought those were fantastic. I only
wish all masks were of that caliber! And at the price they went
for, they were a steal. I would’ve paid three times the price for
masks that good. Nothing would be better than to see them re-issue
some of their older lines in that same kind of quality, like the old
“Planet Of The Apes” or “American Werewolf In London” masks, aimed
at discriminating collectors like the Universal series was. But now
that Paper Magic has taken over, it’s almost like Post isn’t really
Post anymore, so I don’t’ think that’s likely to happen.
LMC:
What
about some of the smaller guys that have a much smaller staff?
DL:
If you
want really great masks now, you almost have to go to private
artists. That’s where the creativity and enthusiasm are now. Some
of the stuff put out by Chuck Jarman, Jeremy Bohr, Harry Inman,
Justin Mabry and others like them is outstanding. Those will be the
big collectibles of the future, not the typical store-bought stuff.
And then there’s that DR LADY fellow…Everyone should buy some masks
from him.
 LMC:
What
do you think of the Michael Myers trend? Any chance for a perfect
Myers mask (this is about as loaded a question as they come)?
DL:
I like Mike. He’s still the quintessential mad slasher and I think
every mask collection needs a good Myers mask. If you feel a need
to own 147 different Michael Myers masks, then I think you’re being
obsessive and you need to broaden your interests. It’s an extremely
difficult character to capture in a sculpture. And it’s one case
where the sculpture really has to be perfect because you can’t help
it much with the paint job the way you can on a lot of more colorful
characters. Are we the only maskmakers left who haven’t done a
Myers mask? I know there have been a lot more versions of that mask
than there ever needed to be! For the record, my favorite ones are
the most recent Ken Hertlein one, the one by Justin Mabry called
“Nightmare Man” and the old Sam McCain Horror Sanctum one. I also
like the one that Dennis Beckstrom did. My least favorite is the
one Illusive Concepts did a few years ago. I can’t understand
anybody paying for the rights to a movie character and then
producing a piece that doesn’t look any more accurate than that
thing did!
Did
you know I tried to order one of the Ken Hertlein ones through Dick
Warlock and I missed out? I got a letter back saying it had just
been discontinued. I was SO disappointed. I thought that one was
awesome. But I guess I ordered it just barely too late. A day late
and a monster short.
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