Reflection #2

Nothing much has happened since last month because I've been so busy.  I did try a black and white skeleton face paint look inspired by Tate in the first season of American Horror Story.  To start off, I painted my face completely white, then started drawing the main shapes which were the teeth, mouth, cheekbones, eyes, and nose.  The first struggle I had was laying down the white base.  I couldn't get the white to come out evenly, so it was very splotchy.  Also the brush I used for black wasn't thin enough, so the lines were very thick and awkward.  When I tried to blend the black to make shadows, it just smeared into a weird mess. Some things I will do different the next time I try this is using a thicker white paint, a thinner brush, and blend in a different way.  I still want to do the looks inspired by Ryan Burke and avante-garde, but I will probably need some new colors or materials, and hopefully I get the time very soon.

Reflection #1

My specific goal was to try at least 3 different products or materials while doing makeup, but the general idea was to just broaden the looks that I do.  I wanted to try different, new, and eccentric things that I usually wouldn't even try.  For this purpose, I bought new materials such as body paint, scar wax, and gelatin, both of which I have never used before.  So far I have used two of those products, and I am going to experiment with the body paint soon.  I have a few pictures and videos I have used for ideas and have picked out a specific one posted by madeyewlook on youtube.  She did a video on how to paint anatomically correct face and neck muscles.  Also, I have always had a love for avant-garde looks, so I've looked at some artists who do that style for inspiration. One of my favorites is Ryan Burke.  He does very bright, experimental looks and uses lots of materials, and I am in love with his creativity.

Christmas sfx Makeup Look

Since it is Christmas (well it was when I did this) I wanted to incorporate it into the look. I couldn't find a Christmas one that I really liked, but I came a cross a picture of a guy with a pencil shoved through his nose for the back to school season which inspired me to just substitute the pencil for a candy cane. The materials I used were scar wax, fake blood, liquid latex, and black eye shadow. To start off, I broke the candy cane into 3 pieces and threw the middle piece away. Then I decided what angle I wanted it to be at and drew a line with black eye shadow. Then using a fluffy brush, I blended out the bottom side of the line. For the bottom of the candy cane I just put liquid latex on the candy cane and glued it to my face. Be sure not to put the latex in your nose and as a warning, liquid latex smells like cat pee. Beware. Then I did the same thing to the top piece. Scar wax isn't as easy to find as the other materials, but its a great thing to use for SFX makeup. Make sure you put a lotion or oil on your fingers or the wax will stick, and you have to warm it up before you use it. Take a small ball of it and cover up the edge of the top piece of the candy cane. Blend the edges into your skin with your fingers and cover it with a foundation to match your skin. Lastly, add darkness to the wounds if you want with dark eye shadow and add lots of fake blood.

Second Exposed Hand Attempt

After looking back on my old SFX makeup pictures, I decided to redo the exposed hand and correct my mistakes. I did the exact same process with the cotton balls, cotton swabs, and liquid latex. It worked more so than last time, but it still wasn't completely right. The latex/cotton fake skin wrinkled up and made it look there was fat attached to it, and the edges weren't ripped and raw like it would probably look like if you got the back of your hand ripped off. The coloring worked out better because I put a matte brown eye shadow on before putting the skin color. I also got a new foundation that covers more and stays really matte. Next time I try this, I think I will put on thinner layers of cotton and latex, so it looks more like skin and shred the edges more to make it look like it was roughly ripped off.