Make-Up Exploration
Georgie Kennett
Youtube Reference: Carolyn Cowan.(2010). Bodypainting: Waterbased Paints. [online] Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmOgL4r2KeU. [Accessed 20 December 2014].
The video above shows Carolyn Cowan demonstrating how to use waterbased body paints and different techniques of blending colours together. The video shows the use of a stipple sponge, clean fingers or a brush to blend the bands of colours. In our lesson we experimented with the bodypaints using these techniques (shown below).
Body Painting Lesson
I applied thye colour once a thick consistency had been created by activating the paints. I applied the band of colour on my inner forearm, it is important to achieve a strong colouration otherwise the body paint will look translucent this would not create a successful body paint.
The snazaroo paints are activated with water. I used a foundation brush to apply the colour, painting brushes are useful to use instead of make-up brushes because after a while the water will break down the make-up brushes.
I chose three colours to create my bands to later blend. I chose three waterbased snazaroo paints in orange, pink and dark pink.
Between the orange and the dark pink I used a slightly damp stipple sponge, I did not like the stippling technique that much because the sponge left small dots of each colour around the join which in my opinion didnt look clean or neat.
Between the light and dark pink I used my fingers to blend the colours together, a bit of water can be on the fingers to merge the colours without applying more colour.
I painted three bands of colour of equal size and shape around 1/2 cm away from eachother so there was room to blend the colours together.
The coverage of the colours are good and it is easy and quick to create the desired vibrance and application. I will next be trying oil based colours for bodypainting. The advantage of water based is that the process is quicker however the disadvantage is that it comes off if in contact with water which is impractical if the person sweats.
The colours do dry because they are waterbased so you do have to work relitively quickly however if there is a small amount of water applied the colours activate again allowing you to blend colours even if they have either set fully or partially.
I applied a band of red under the orange and a band of lilac above the light pink and blended them wth a flat damp foundation brush. I much preffered this techniques because the brush allowed a seamless blend without any other texture applied to the paints surface.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huYBB1wapZw
The video above shows Carolyn Cowan applying grease based colour as bodypaint onto the skin, below I have replicated the blending she demonstrates in the video with the black and white greasepaint.
I do prefer the snazaroo paints however the grease is probably more suited for most work especially when the model is exposed to water or sweat.
Another problem that is demonstrated in the video above is that white or translucent setting powder can often dull down the colour that has been applied and often the bodypaint is most effective when the colours are solid and vibrant however coloured powders can be purchased but again it makes the process more time consuming and more difficult.
Just to experiment with the colours I painted on some cubes, I think the greasepaints work really well and they do have a strong colouring. They are also much better for when a person is covered in bodypaint other than for a short photoshoot etc because of the fact it is water resistant unlike the snazaroo oaints.
Above is the blended blocks, I did find the greasepaints much harder to blend than the water based paints because the colour tends to move around more.
I started off by applying two rectangle blocks of colour, one white and one black. In the video Carolyn explains how to blend the two colours without ruining the colour of the outer sides.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-k96wtfwkI
The video above shows Carolyn Cowan demonstrating how to use fullers earth in bodypainting. The fullers earth is mixed with flour and water to create a paste that is applied onto the area, a pattern can be created and the fullers earth will dry hard. Below are the pictures of the fullers earth I used in the lesson to create scales.
I applied a thick block colour of green waterbased snazaroo onto the inside of my forearm before the fullers earth is applied to create a colour that will be seen underneath when a pattern is applied and areas of fullers earth are removed.
I coloured some of the fullers earth roughly with some gold water based snazaroo. This was just a rough practice of using fullers earth but I can imagine it working really well on a large area of bodypaint.
One of the benefits of using the oil based colours is that the colour is never set until it is powdered therefore preventing the powder from being moved or rubbed off.
I coloured the fullers earch with a brown kryolan powder, other colours can be created with various other coloured powders as fullers earth is a neutral grey colour. I applied the fullers earth with a wooden spatula over the painted area.
With the blunt end of a pin I removed some of the fullers earth while it was still wet to create the scale like texture.