Exciting News!

I've just been admitted to the Dick Smith Advanced Professional Make-up Course.  Some serious creature and character making to come.  Wish me luck!

Zombie Makeup Application

I finally had a chance to apply my "Walking Dead" inspired zombie makeup.  Custom foam latex appliance, PAX paint, alcohol-activated makeup, creme makeup, custom out-of-mouth dentures.

Zombie Makeup Sculpt

Sculpt for a Zombie makeup inspired by KNB EFX Group's work on The Walking Dead.

The teeth here are stand-ins for the real teeth, which will be hard plastic underneath the foam latex "skin."

Old Woman Prosthetic Application

I finally had a chance to finish the Old Woman makeup.  This was my first time doing a full face appliance (this one's gelatin) and my first time using Alcohol Activated makeup.  I had some problems with edges (as usual), and there are a few things I'd improve with the coloring, but, overall, I'm quite pleased with the results.

The neck and face moved a lot more realistically than I expected.

This, by the way, is my lovely model.

Guess What Came in the Mail Today...

I caught this on eBay last week and just had to get it.  An original 1964 copy of Dick Smith's Do-It-Yourself Monster Make-up Handbook, a special issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland well before my day.  Now, I could keep borrowing the updated 1984 version from the library a few towns over, or I could reference the digital copy I came across, but you just can't beat the real deal, can you?

Wee Little Old Age Prosthetic Update

Stuart over at http://learnprostheticmakeup.com/ talked me into adding a neck to the sculpture, so here's where it stands now.

Old Age Prosthetic Sculpt

I've been working on a sculpt for an old woman prosthetic that I'll apply on a very kind and forgiving friend of mine later this summer.

I'm not totally sold on the texture, but maybe y'all have some suggestions.  I'm always up for a good critique.  Click the pictures so you can see the textures up close.

It's Chavant NSP Medium over an Ultracal-30 lifecast, for those curious.

Romulan Makeup

Makeup based on Captain Nero from Star Trek (2009).

Gelatin forehead, tattoos applied by sponging alcohol-activated makeup over a plastic stencil (template below), cheapie latex ear tips from post-Halloween sale (since I didn't have the time to mold and cast my own), eyebrows made from paintbrush bristles, bald cap, creme makeup foundation and coloring (could have used more mottled reds and darker flesh tones, but it was a rushed application)...and about two days too little stubble.

Here's the real Nero for comparison...you can see how far off I was on the colors.  Oh well, something to work on for the next project.

And more of mine:

*I regret to admit that there's some healing brush at work in these photos, as I had to rush the application in an hour and was rather embarrassed by the edges.

Feel free to use my Nero Tattoo Templates:

Romulan

Makeup test.  More to come.

Lincoln Makeup

It's theatrical makeup, so it's a little overdone in places and mostly just paint, but here are the pictures!

I think I overdid the nose a little, and certainly need to work on the edges, but overall, I consider it a success, as far as learning goes.

These are actually two different applications, the second photo being from a practice day,  but it came out better than the front shot from the final.  The beard was since trimmed, the shading refined, and a little more work was done on the eyes, as you can see in the first photo.

A Nose for Lincoln

I'm doing an Abraham Lincoln makeup, and I decided I wanted to play with gelatin for it, mainly because I'm doing all of the molding and casting in a dorm room, so de-ammoniating foam latex was out of the question.  Also, it's cheap and reusable-- pretty hard to beat.

Plaster bandages used for some quick and dirty lifecasting. nose, chin, and cheeks.  The chin is a form on which I will build a beard that will fit my face.  I was going to use the cheek casts to make some enlarged cheekbones, but due to time constraints and the fact that this is for theatre, those will simply be drawn on with highlight and shadow.

Casting the plaster positives

Plaster positives.

The sculpt. Chavant NSP soft.

Silicone mold.  Because I had the putty left over from the werewolf makeup in the Fall, and I figured it would reduce the risk of undercut problems, I went ahead and used it for this.  Cool stuff, but it took a while to get the hang of the casting process in a flexible mold.

Plaster bandages as a mother mold.

The gelatin nose.  I'm using a one part Knox gelatin, two parts glycerin, two parts water formula with some creme makeup mixed in.  Lots of trial and error to get the color right.  This is about as close as its going to get for this project, but I'd like to increase the translucency in the future.  It'll get some final coloring when it goes on my face.  Stay tuned.

More Oscar-Nominated Makeup Artists

This is the packet that we were given at the event (which was held at the Academy headquarters) for your reading pleasure.  It's mostly information about the makeup artists, but I enjoyed it.  You might be surprised by where you've seen their work before.