LMC: Do you get a table at any shows or conventions?  Does it help?

EL:  I had a table at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, in August. It was quite successful! A horror-oriented show like that is a perfect place to let the public know what you have to offer. It was nice to have Tom Savini be my first and last customer of the weekend! He purchased a Ramses The Great prop and an Eyegore mask. I’ll definitely be doing that again this year. I do plan on having some sort of showing at the big Chicago tradeshow, at some point. It’s just not within my budget, right now. Right now, I’m satisfied with letting one of my distributors display my work for me. I’ve been speaking to others, who say the San Diego Comic Book Convention has a nice market for collectors of masks and props. I may try that this year, as well.

LMC: So in your opinion, the investment of the show pays off with the sales and new customers?

EL:  Definitely.

LMC: Talk about your work in prosthetics.

EL: Gee, what would you like to know? Makeup effects, mask making…they go hand in hand, in my opinion. Though I’ve not worked on any major film productions, I’ve done plenty of small, low budget and student films. My work at Knott’s was also 95% prosthetic work. I didn’t get to make the appliances, but I did apply and paint them. The creative freedom there was a pleasure. I did one day of lab work for Everett Burrell (forgive me if I’ve misspelled your name!), of Optic Nerve, back in the early 90’s. Talk about a learning experience! He’s super talented. He had the stunt head of Uncle Reege (from Savini’s N.O.T.L.D. remake) sitting above his washing machine, and, during a break, I remember just staring in awe for the longest time at that gruesome thing.

These days, I’ve been making a lot of static props and articulated props for the films I take on. My long time friend, David Brock, is sending most of those jobs my way. Luckily, they’ve all fallen in the off-season of the mask business. When I do make prosthetics these days, I’m using strictly gelatine for appliances. I prefer it over anything else. The life-like quality, ease of use, and the cost-effectiveness are all the major factors in my decision.

LMC: What’s your favorite style of character to sculpt?

EL: Well, if you judge by the masks I have at Death Studios, you might say zombies are my favorite! I do enjoy them. But, what I enjoy most about sculpting anything is all of the normal human element that go into it to make it believable: bone structures, forehead wrinkles, eyebags, naso-labial folds, lips, etc. I enjoy the hell out of old-age sculptures! I did a practice head (face, actually) of an old black guy a few years ago, that I’m still pretty proud of. I also sculpted an Asian lady’s face a while back that I still need to cast and paint. Those displays are good ways for me to practice sculpting techniques and hone my abilities. I don’t offer them for sale. They’re personal projects.

LMC: What type of mask does the typical mask buyer like to buy?                                  

EL: Well, for me, I’ve noticed sales of the standards (zombies, jack-o-lanterns and demented clown-like characters) are the highest. Movie characters also do fairly well. Really obscure stuff may be neat to look at, but many won’t buy it for the sole reason of it being obscure.

LMC: What was your opinion of the mask world when you started?  What about today, especially with the internet boom.

EL: My opinion ten years ago was that mask collecting was a very small world. And, that selling masks to collectors would be very limited, and occasional. Now, with the internet bringing so many people together with tons more access to both those who make, and those who buy, latex masks and props, I feel it’s huge! The creativity level has also exploded. There’s just so much good stuff out there now! And, getting in touch with both makers and buyers is easier than ever.

LMC: How do you think the mask world can grow and interest more of the mainstream public who might see them as cheap throwaways?

EL: Gee! If I knew the answer to that, I’d own the entire market! I think the Internet is attracting more and more people all the time. I really don’t know if it’s possible for the “mainstream” to see masks as anything other than disposable. I guess it’s our responsibility to teach them that latex masks are not to be used once and thrown away…that’s reserved for another product we use latex for! If we could rid the shopping malls and department stores of low-quality, imported items, that would be a definite start. The original Don Post Studios did a lot to heighten the collective awareness of what a latex mask should be in the 60’s and 70’s. But, they dropped the ball. Don Post used to mean “Quality”. Sadly, now, they’re not even Don Post anymore.

I think we just need to keep supplying the highest quality product we can and keep making people aware of everything that’s available to them. Preaching to the converted isn’t what we need to do. We need to get a hold of those that just don’t realize high quality and little Jimmy’s Halloween costume can be one and the same!

LMC: Do you collect masks from others?  Any particular style that you like?         

EL:  I try to. I’m very limited in the space to display them, right now. I do trade from time to time with other artists. When I do decide on something I just can’t live without, it’s usually an original design. Followed closely by a movie character. I prefer display pieces, too. I have one piece in my small collection, in particular, that I’m most proud to own…and, I can’t reveal whom the artist is who created it. He’d rather remain anonymous. I can say that I obtained this wonderful piece at the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors just this past August. It’s priceless, to me.

LMC: What do you think about the Myers trend?

EL: Well, that’s a loaded question! Personally, I don’t mind the Myers phenomena at all. I enjoy the first Halloween film each time I put it on! I think M.M. is the best of any of those characters; he was always the most believable, for me. There’s a lot of psychological b.s. one gets into about that blank, white mask. It’s effective. I’ve even toyed with the idea of making that my Halloween costume. Everyone in this business should be so fortunate to have a character that incredibly popular!

LMC: How’s your life during September and October?

EL: Pure, unadulterated HELL!!! I don’t even want to think about it! Well, maybe not that bad, but it got crazy busy for me, this year. I needed a much-deserved rest after Halloween. I try to have as much product in stock as I can, but this year was a last-minute rush and a half. Just shows me that I need to be all the more prepared for 2003!

LMC: Explain to the fans from your side, what goes into making a mask?  How long does a typical mask take to make from start to finish (assume it’s been molded).

EL: Casting is normally done within 8 hours. By that I mean, the latex mask is pulled from the mold in that amount of time. I like to let the latex cure, at least, overnight. I don’t, yet, have dryers or ovens to rapidly cure the latex. Painting is normally done in an hour. If it’s one of my standard masks: 15-45 minutes. Commissioned masks have taken me up to two days to paint, but that’s unusual. All total, it normally takes me about 2-3 hours of actual hands-on working time to complete a standard full-head mask (even with hair).

LMC: Talk us through a typical paintjob of any one of your masks?

EL: I’ll use Briney Deep as an example. The first thing I do is airbrush the entire mask solid black (even if I’ve tinted the latex to pour the mask black). Once that sets, I stipple on a gray/beige color over the whole mask to pick up the highlights. I always do two coats of this color. With the second coat, I concentrate on the bone structure of the mask; cheeks, jaw, nose, forehead, etc., as well as any musculature I want highlighted. Over this, I airbrush a slightly thinned down dark green. It isn’t an even coat. Shadow areas get more green than the highlights, of course. Now, I paint the eyes and teeth with a small round brush. I use a yellow color, darkened a bit with brown and green. The bit of skull that’s exposed around the mouth was already painted in the stippling. I, then, use black and brown to further deepen the shadow areas. The brown also adds a bit of a mossy look to the mask. With this mask, I airbrush it entirely with Acryl 60 for an ultra shiny look. I use Acrly 60 on all of my masks, to some degree. I finish up this mask with a bit of 5-minute epoxy on the eyes and teeth. I didn’t include the hat, because the steps are very much the same.

LMC: Hmmm… Acryl 60, that’s interesting.  Could you achieve the same results with Crystal Clear?

EL: Absolutely. It’s just more cost-effective for me to use Acryl 60. It’s something I always have in stock.

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