Peruvian Mask Figures

I've posted one of these Peruvian Mask figures before, but I don't think I ever posted these three. The two on top were the first figures that I drew for a drawing class, and the second is a snippet from a huge, HUGE picture that I did with ink and never actually started to color. If you participated in my print project or if you saw the print I had made, the two characters that were trying to catch the vampire squid originated from this illustration.

I'm not exactly certain what my fascination for these masks is. I draw a lot of strange, deformed figures sometimes in my sketchbooks and at first the masks were a way to hide some of the scars and scary features of these women. The added cartoon-y aspect of some of the ancient Peruvian markings and masks was also kind of a way to detract from the gory mysteriousness that's being hidden (see, art school has taught me to elucidate my art so well!). I've got some other drawings that I'm started to recolor that have been using the masks to block other things than just their faces, and I've been trying to think about secrets and multiple identities and just the concept of putting on different facades for different situations and people. Which is what lots of people tend to do anyway.

This is one that I'm working on right now... which is falling prey to me trying out new painting and shading techniques with Photoshop, also based on the notion of anonymity and death and whatnot. Kind of dark stuff. Hmm. I really should get back to drawing cartoons after this.