Body Painting

Preparation & Planning

- Normally have an idea of what is wanted in the body paint
- Prepare stencils before hand
- Can put glitter on a thin layer of cap plastic before hand
- Gems can be prepared on net before hand
- Tell the model what to expect
- Check if there are showers etc. to clean up model on site

Model Selection

- Choose a slender model - small boobs and muscle tone is good
- Dancers are good models
- Must be able to stand up for a long time
- Talk through the products being used
- Bring dressing gown, flip flops/slippers etc. for the model

Budgeting

- Mix fullers earth with paint pigment, cheaper than a lot of products
- Plastic sheets in a roll
- Cheap kid brushes for one off uses

Requirements

- mix products with IPA for waterproofing
- nudity issue - some places demand bras be worn however there are other methods to cover nipples eg. latex and tissue.
- Paint the breast area first as this will be model feel more comfortable and covered.
- Stand the models in slippers, fluffy socks and a hat to keep the end of the body warm.
- Normally get no more than three hours for a body paint.

Products.

- Don't use makeup brushes on body painting
- Creamy colours build up well
- If colours stain the skin (MAC products do quite often) use head and shoulders to remove.
- kryolan - shimmering vision
- use water soluble glue so it washes off well
- house of glam dolls

Body Painters/Makeup artists

- Jenny Shircore
- Phyllis Cohen
- Carolyn Roper
- BodyPaint London
- Carolyn Cowen
- Joanne Gair
- World body paint/paintopia

Fullers Earth

- layer of dermashield
- layer of aquacolour
- can add with ready mix paint pigment to fullers earth to colour cheaply.

This was a quick experiment with colours and glitter that didn't go very well. I was looking at different tones of blue and going for something inspired by the sea but as I didn't plan it properly it ended up being very messy. It was good however to get the feel for using aquacolours and body painting.

This was another quick experiment, doing something more detailed. I was a lot happier with this outcome as it's a lot neater and has a much clearer image. I used a white background to make the flower stand out more then different tones of purple, white and black to the petals to add depth. Although the neatness of the outside lines could be improved in this piece I think this would look nice as part of a much larger set of flowers.

This was another quick experiment I did, this time using fullers earth. I did a base colour of purple aquacolour then to oppose this I coloured the fullers earth green with a pigment paint and layered this on top. Whilst it was still wet I drew patterns into it so the purple completely showed through. I was very happy with how the fullers earth dried as the cracks were good and showed the pink through underneath. Again this would be nice as part of a bigger piece. 

This was the bigger bodypainting piece I did over the 2 days. I was inspired by an image of pintrest and based my paining off of this. I used aquacolours and started with the blues first before moving onto the whites and yellows. I think the thing that brought the piece to life was the finishing touches - I flicked on white and neon ornage paint, sprinkled on glitter and added a gold pigment to the planet. This added a more 3D effect to the piece and a lot of small detail. I was extremely happy with this piece as bodypainting is not my strong point and I struggle with it. However I worked hard and took my time on this piece and also had a clear plan of what I wanted before I started. Next time I would perhaps extend the piece down the arms and add a few more bits of finer detail.