7 Days of Body Painting and Makeup

- 7 Days of Body Painting and Makeup -

I've had a special place in my heart for special effects makeup ever since I watched my first episode of Syfy's Face Off. I thought it was so interesting how the artists on that show could take a simple concept and transform it into a full body makeup, completely transforming their models in the process.

I chose to do at least one makeup look or body painting each day for a week in order to discover more about my creative process and to see if I could successfully paint something out-of-the-box each day. 

 - Day One - 

  While visiting my best friend for a weekend, I decided to do a skull-like makeup by using a stippling technique to create shading and add texture. I pulled inspiration from a colorful skull look done by one of my favorite makeup artists, Samantha Ravndahl.

Being inspired to do a look like this in a place without my body paint is practically a nightmare for someone like me, but I made do with two colors of liquid liner and some white eyeshadow. I am pleased with this effort, yet I am sad that I am now out of black eyeliner.

Time Spent: 1am-6am

 - Day Two - 

 On day two, I wanted to really challenge myself; realistic isn't usually what I go for. I was always too scared to make an attempt at painting something realistic, especially on a curved surface, such as my forehead. So, I thought what better time to take a try at painting than a seven-day challenge about body painting?

Time Spent: 11pm-6am

 - Day Three - 

 This semi-body paint was probably the coolest thing I think I've ever done. It might not have gotten as much attention on social media as my other makeup looks, but it's the look I'm most proud of. Inspired by a Zomboy album cover, I drew up a sketch of what I desired to paint and got right to work.

 

 I was in love with how the black outlines seemed to transform my face shape. I felt very challenged by this task because I've never painted much more than just my face, so I definitely felt very achieved after finally finishing this painting.

Time Spent: 11pm-7:30am

 - Day Four - 

Recently I followed an artist on Instagram, who has gained a following of more than twenty-thousand by creating custom dolls, most of which have an aspect of goriness to them. I noticed that makeup artists have recreated his designs using cosmetics in the past, so I got motivated to recreate one myself.

 To my complete and utter joy, the artist himself liked, commented and reposted my face paint onto his own Instagram page. I felt very accomplished because of how I decided to incorporate my style into his design.

Time Spent: 1am-4am

 - Day Five - 

      Occasionally I feel pressured to create something I think people would want to see. I've found that I feel this pressure to conform the more people like my paintings. On day five, this pressure was so strong I decided to paint something not because I genuinely wanted to, but because I wanted my peers to like what I was creating.

This Deladeso-inspried look would have turned out a lot better if I wasn't so caught up in trying to impress those around me. I found that I didn't nearly enjoy painting this as much as I enjoyed painting my skeletal zombie. I will definitely attempt this painting again in the near future.

Time spent: 12am-4am

 - Day Six - 

On the sixth day, I was feeling very uninspired and unmotivated, due to my efforts in the previous day. I scrolled through a massive amount of pictures and posts on various social media outlets, even going through my Soundcloud likes to look at different cover art. I sat down in front of my mirror for hours, scrolling through those pictures and going through my sketchbook, until at last I found a sketch done by oil painter, Relm. 

 I was a lot more pleased with how this turned out, considering how often I erased and repainted. I wish that I spent more time adding colors to the planets and galaxies, but I wanted to mostly stay true to the artist's sketch.

Time Spent: 7:30pm-10pm

 - Day Seven - 

 For some reason unknown by myself, I got a sudden wave of inspiration. Everything I looked, no matter how boring or simple it may have seemed, was a new idea. So right as I got home from my classes I sat down at my desk and my eyes went right to a mug I made in a high school ceramics class. 

The mug has a sun carved on one side and a moon on the other, both sides engraved with upside-down trees. I pulled out my sketchbook and this facepaint is what I ended up creating.

For this one look I wanted to see how fast I could paint, while still maintaining clean lines and completing a somewhat complex painting. I was extremely surprised at how quickly I was able to complete this. Usually, as a perfectionist will do, I take my sweet time getting all the details exactly where I want them. I found that when I spent less time fussing over details, I enjoyed myself a lot more than I usually do.

Time Spent: 4pm-7pm

 - Overall - 

In the end, I absolutely loved this week-long challenge, regardless of all the stress I've encountered during this week. I've learned so much about my personal painting style and even about how to use my makeup and other materials to the best of my advantage.

One thing about makeup and body paint is everything created will eventually be washed away or removed. It's insane how hours of hard work can disappear in no time with only a little water and some soap. But, it's also extremely refreshing knowing that each time I wash away my creations, I have a fresh new canvas on which I can create whatever my imagination comes up with.