Sunday 28 December 2014

Nanageddon

For anyone familiar with the British comedy program "The Mighty Boosh", or anyone that has the Mighty Book of Boosh (which came after the series), this make up is inspired by "Nanageddon" an episode of the Mighty Boosh and also a character which is depicted in the book. She is a demon granny who, when summoned, tries to gather other elderly ladies to take over the world. Sketch below can be found in the Mighty Book of Boosh: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mighty-Book-Boosh-Julian-Barratt/dp/1847673228



The book is written and illustrated by Julien Barratt, Noel Fielding and Dave Brown.








What specifically drew me to the drawing was the mask-like face and the jumbling together of different colours. The mighty boosh has always been a favourite TV program of mine due to its fantastical costumes and makeup, and also its surreal humour.





Painting my eyelids was tricky so the white pupils were more of a smudge.






Because it's so fantastical and painterly I used my fingers as well as brushes, and also an array of materials such as grease paint, kohl and liquid liners and eye shadows.




Thursday 25 September 2014

"Reverse" - 48Hour Film Project May 2014

We had 48 hours to create a short film in the genre of "film de femme" and had to include the line "it was in the papers this morning", a character called "James", a psychotherapist, and a tape measure.

I was part of a team called "you can't have a polar bear" and my role was to make a fake cut, which you can briefly sorta see at 3 min 40!

Director - Chris Kelly
Photography - Fiona Rix
Sound - Charlotte Aitken
Music - Luci Holland
Make-up - Miriam Wilson
"James" - Alex Donald
"Rachael" - Sarah Ford
"Nancy" - Liz Strange






Some of the team:



Selected Pics from 29.06.14 Photoshoot

Photography by Phillipe Monthoux http://philippemonthoux.com/
Model: Electra Gouni









Monday 22 September 2014

Full Glasgow Grin

This is a little more OTT than the half glasgow smile before.

If you ever want to see me in an EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE light, please look no further.

First without any fake blood (Most of these are without flash as the flash on my camera makes the red grease paint look too bright and the fake blood pops out even more later on)




Again I used a similar method to last time, although I struggled more with the scarwax this time as it seemed to melt rather awkwardly. I also used a bit of black and purple shadow around the eyes.





Now here are a few pics after the fake blood was added. WARNING these get sexier and sexier as you scroll down.














 
 
 All set for Halloween. Or if I need to blend in with a gang of particularly violent zombies.







Clay Beginnings

I decided to invest in some air drying clay to help make prosthetics. It was nice to work with a different material and I decided to do something a bit "monstrous". I was going for werewolf but it ended up being slightly pig-like. 







 Once this had dried I added about 8-10 layers of latex. However once I peeled this off I realised it was still too thin and lacked texture.


Here are a few things I've learned recently:

A more effective way to make facial prosthetics is to 1. create a life cast using alginate, cover in mod roc + removed then filled with plaster 2. once set either apply latex layers directly on to cast OR build up clay for a more structural feature along with adding wrinkles and skin texture if desired, then 3. take cast of the whole thing after rubbing with anti-mold or oil and finally 4. pour in a good layer of latex, thinning out at the edges to improve appearance when removed and applied.

I have gathered small pieces of information online from various articles, websites and "how-to" videos. I yet have put any of this in practice...

I have also watched a couple of wig-making tutorials which look fun but I will try that the day I get enough money to buy all those fancy hooks and batches of hair!


Friday 12 September 2014

Drag Quain

Following on from my last post, I decided to once more subject Deebs to my make up experimentation. I also bought prittstick which worked well on the eyebrows, although you do have to be careful that it doesn't clump and that you wait for it to dry properly between coats.

I decided to us his fair skin to create a similarly gothic look to the previous post. I also used the stencil technique to help contour the cheekbones and temples.

The most challenging parts were hiding the stubble/sideburns and softening the face.











As you can see, the sideburns are prominent. However I wanted to show the stenciling of the darker contour colours. Basically I used the edge of a piece of paper across the temples and cheekbones then applied layers of darker colours and blush, creating a defined edge.




This all stems from watching a lot of RuPaul's Drag Race, and I thank Deebs for allowing me to do these things to him.




Tuesday 19 August 2014

Classy Draggy Lady

My plan for this was to create an over-the-top drag look, however I quickly had to take it in a different direction after i couldn't block out my eyebrows properly.





Having watched a couple of youtube videos on this, I thought I'd have a go. In other videos people have recommended soap or pritstick glue, allowing layers to set then covering in layers of concealer and powder. I didn't have prittstick or a bar of soap, so I decided to try scarwax (pictured), which was ok but it doesn't really set it just melts further. Then I tried spirit gum which didn't flatten my brows, just made them rigid and looked messy. 





Lost a few eyebrow hairs in the process but gained experiece in return which is what really matters.




So after my attempts failed, I decided to just try out some draggy makeup, with heavy contouring and black lipstick. These photos don't show up the sheer amount that was on my face at the time. I would have done it with a white foundation Sharon Needles style but my skin had already gone through enough for one day.

















Thursday 7 August 2014

Latex & Sponge Nose

Following on from my previous post, I decided to explore the use of sponge & latex to add bulk.

I found it took a while for the sponge to become tacky enough to stick, and to be moulded. Once it did, it was quite effective, although perhaps not suitable for creating a smooth natural skin surface, particularly as the layers created a lot of bumps and ridges.










 I constructed the nose using about 20 thin layers of sponge, cut into different shapes according to where they were being placed, and moistened with latex. I added a couple of extra layers of latex on top to seal the  outer sponge holes. If I had constructed the nose a little more neatly I think the result could have been smoother but this would do for a monster or witchy-type look. I added a little colour using a liquid foundation but I'm sure I could find paint more suitable for latex - will look that up.

All in all, the best solution is probably to create pieces out of silicone set in a mould to make a precise and realistic shape. But as I do not have the materials or space, I will do what I can with my sponge dipped in latex!








Saturday 19 July 2014

Fish lady; latex-tures


Having failed to master a successful latex application, I decided it was time to experiment using a variety of materials in order to find what works best for me.


In truth I didn't have a set plan except trying out materials so what was initially going to just be a "tired baggy eye" look, turned into some sort of sea monster. But I just went with it anyway.


Materials from top to bottom:


  • newsprint paper - hard to add bulk without ridges showing
  • embroidery thread - could be useful for veins/ detail
  • cotton wool - hard to work with, impossible to get smooth or to apply makeup to after
  • more embroidery thread 


  • upholstery sponge - very promising, I just need to figure out how to seal off holes properly (spirit gum?)



  • crepe paper - texture ok, hard to stick down properly, and very fragile/tears easily
  • thick acrylic wool - not a bad material, although texture is quite specific
  • bubble wrap - hard to disguise edges but a fun texture to work with





I always underestimate the pain of peeling latex off after it's stuck to your hair. I saw a tutorial online which suggested to coat the underlying hairs with spirit gum, and then scar wax once dry. Will try that next time.




Now for the sea lady look. The textures reminded me of some sort of sea creature so I just went along with it, even though it's usually better for me to have a plan first.




                               

Brought to my mind a very fishy episode in the series Mighty Boosh called "old gregg" .


Note to self: sponge is great to work with, especially as you can mould it when the latex becomes tacky. The idea came to me after watching a Rick Baker tutorial where he used sheets of poly foam, which I imagined to have spongy qualities.






Sunday 6 July 2014

Half Glasgow Smile

I particularly enjoyed creating this effect, and learnt a lot in the process.


First I drew a very rough outline in eye liner, to help guide where the scarwax should go.





You can scrape up the scarwax with a tiny little spade if you want!





I tried to get as clean a line as possible. Scarwax is tricky as it melts on your fingers almost instantly and whatever you apply will try and attach itself back on to your fingers.





Next I applied a couple of layers of latex. Again, not an easy substance to use as it doesn't sit smoothly on the skin and sometimes peels at the edges. I had quite a bit of difficulty with this and ended up having to patch it up with more scarwax and latex. Perhaps scarwax is better in smaller quantities.




After some loose powder, I started on the makeup. The makeup was really the fun part, although I was mainly trying to disguise the latex as much as possible






Next time I think I will actually use black more sparingly, to have more emphasis on where the cut meets the mouth, to create more of an "open" look. 

As always, a little fake blood helps.





Only costs £1.99 


Was worth it just to peel off the latex at the end. Very satisfying as long as it's not caught in your hairs.