Body Painting Experimentation

As I had never done bodypainting before our lesson on it, I wanted to try some of my own at home to quickly get the feel of it. I tried an ivy branch which I found more difficult then expected. 

The middle leaf was the first one I did and is the one I'm least happy with. The blending round the edge isn't smooth and I found it very difficult to do the small detail in the leaf as the colors blended very easily. I was using aqua colour for this which may be why the white couldn't really be painted on top of the green. However as I went on I think my painting got a lot better and I was much more pleased with my leaves lower down, the detailing and shading transition being a lot better. Overall the branch doesn't look real but I like the effect of the look and I improved a lot whilst doing it so it was a useful experiment. Next time I would paint all the lighter colours first and use much smaller brushes for the detail.

I also very quickly tried a body paint in biro pen as this was something I'd seen in a few books and read could be used quite a lot.

This was a very quick experiment so wasn't very detailed or neat but it allowed me to see the effect of biro on the skin. It means I could do a lot finer detail than with paints which I think would be useful for a lot of pieces and it would be interesting to see how paint and pen mix in one piece. I liked being able to create a feathered, thinner line by adjusting the pressure of the pen and I think this could make interesting textures. Overall although my experiments weren't the greatest standard of makeup they helped me understand bodypainting a lot more.

Drag Queen Makeup

1) Coat mascara wand in pros-aide

2) Comb pros-aide through the brows and use finger to push the product in.

3) Dry glue with a hairdryer

4) Pros-aide remains sticky so use a translucent powder to set the eyebrows in place.

5) Use a neutral base (such a a paint pot) over the eyelid and eyebrow to cancel out colour - warm tones for dark brows.

6) Leave all the products creamy until the very end so you layer lots on and correct any mistakes.

7) Sketch in a new crease line using a gel liner - use the bottom of the eyebrow as a reference for a very high crease.

8) Stipple a powder product onto the socket line to blend - stipple don't wipe so don't smudge colours.

9) Re-layer the products to build definition and intensity

10) Use a white eyeliner underneath the eye to widen

11) Underline eye further down with a black eyeliner and carry this on into the flick.

12) Add false lashes on the top and bottom lash line

13) Place a very light pigment in the inner corner, lighter colour to contrast darker crease.

14) Add any other colours to center and glitters or shimmers on top with glue or latex.

15) Exaggerate the liner in the inner corner.

16) Put a thick (greasepaint) base all over the face, on ears and down onto neck.

17) Use a very dark colour to contour the cheekbones, temples, forehead, jawline and nose. Keep the lines very straight and angular

18) Use the base, middle colour to blend lines out using a stippling motion.

19) Use a very light colour under the eyes in triangles and down the center of the nose. Again blend out with mid tone.

20) Keep layering products until happy with intensity.

21) Powder with different coloured powders - light medium and dark and blend all together.

22) Add bronzer to warm face up any where and add any more contouring.

23) Add a blush on the cheeks - can have a shimmer in.

24) Draw on eyebrows, using the top of the original brow for guidance. Best to use a brow gel and keep them quite thin and very arched.

Due to an uneven class number I worked on the other half of the model used for the examples face, meaning I was using the original makeup as a guide. Overall I was very happy with how my makeup turned out and it was very useful being able to do the process on a boy. I was not completely satisfied with my brow covering as unfortunately a grey colour transferred from my brush into the pros-aide making the brows look a lot darker, next time I will use a cotton bud or disposable mascara wand. I was very happy with the eye makeup as I think the blending was good and the contrast of colours was very striking. Overall I liked the skin makeup, though the cheek contour could have been even heavier, next time I would use a darker product. I also didn't have powders of different colours so I couldn't get the powder blend of the other side. I liked my eyebrow but because I only had a pencil not a gel it did not match the other side. However on it's own I liked the brow shape a lot and thought it suited the makeup and was a good even shape. I was also happy with the lips but would try a slightly darker or bolder colour next time to intensify them more as the eyes are quite neutral.

Bollywood Makeup

1) neutralize the eye area with a base (paint pot etc.)

2) Use a hydrating foundation and use a reasonable amount to get a full coverage look. neutralize the lip line so can overdraw later.

3) Conceal underneath the eyes and under the brow bone

4) Go into the crease with a matte dark colour - can be coloured if going for colourful eyes

5) Blend the crease out, keeping everything very soft

6) Do a strong winged liner, following the bottom lash line to get the perfect shape for the model and making a triange to join to the line on the eyelid. Can draw in gel then intensify with liquid.

7) Take product underneath the lash line, carefully following the natural line

8) Add mascara and false lashes for a Bollywood look

9) Strong brows - sketch in a straight liner underneath the brow then fill in to top.

10) Use little finger for stencil to sketch in the lip line

11) Contour the cheeks quite heavily and add a highlight.

This was my interpretation of a Bollywood look, following the above steps given to us in the demo. I went for a classically coloured gold smokey eye with red lips. I was happy with the skin makeup although next time I would like to do a little more contouring work to get a more dramatic finish to the makeup. I liked the intensity of the eyebrows but I would have liked to have done the eyes a little heavier as Bollywood is such a full coverage, dramatic look. I also had no false eyelashes which would have made the look more dramatic and are essential to Bollywood makeup. I liked the colour of the lips a lot but next time I need to be a little neater and work on getting my lip lines perfect for a very clean cut finished makeup look. Overall I am happy with this makeup but it needs some areas of improvement which I would change if I did it again.