First Body Painting

Well this is exciting! Here’s a shot of my very first body painting! It’s pretty simple because of time constraints (I would have done more shading and detailing given more time) but I think it’s still very effective. I spent about two and a half hours painting, and a little longer touching up makeup and photographing.

Big thanks to model Nicole Franklin – it’s very tiring being a canvas and she was so patient and helpful. It was also her first time being painted so I really appreciate her giving me a chance as a newbie as well. She wore it beautifully.

Note: I have edited out nipples, the rest of the image is not retouched.

Avant Garde Assessment

On Wednesday we had our assessment for Avant Garde. I posted some photos of my practice a little while ago, and here’s the real thing. Not much different except we changed the lip colour and took out her little coloured hair extensions. We also discovered the balcony where we took some of these photos; I will be using it more often, I think.

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Out and About with Nana

Last Tuesday I  met another cool Christchurch model, Miss B – Blond Ambition. She has some gorgeous and pretty shots on her page, but we got up to something a bit different.

I was quite surprised at the response I got after making Dave old; I thought it would be difficult to find young women who wanted to be turned into an old lady. I had quite a few offers! A lot of my classmates are not happy unless they are made up beautifully so it was refreshing to hear from women who still have a sense of fun when it comes to their looks.

After completing the makeup we found a suitable wig and took “Nana” shopping. It was a good laugh for us and the shop attendants were very good sports about it. I thought you guys might enjoy the photos:

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It’s amazing how much better something looks when someone plays the part and has fun with it. Huge thanks to model Miss B for helping with costuming and for selling my look so well! Here’s a picture of her minus ageing makeup; be sure to check out her page too!

Time2Shine & Tara

When I was just starting out, I did some makeup for a mad hatter themed shoot with Tara – Echo Rayn and Time2Shine Photography. It’s been really cool to see these artists grow and improve since then, just as I have. I got a chance to fill in for makeup and hair a bit last minute a little while back, and took a couple of shots myself too. This is my favourite. I am in love with the gold powder, really need to get some!

But anyway you guys should go check Tara and Time2Shine out cause they are lovely people and so fun to work with!

Avant Garde – the hairpiece

This is the hairpiece that I gave up on. The model I was going to use for an alternative look pulled out and my hair tutor thought I would get a better mark if I went back to my original design. She suggested a student from the february class, Liv, who agreed to model for me. I am very glad she did and really happy with how this turned out. There are a few minor changes I want to make on assessment day but overall very happy with the look so far.

Enjoy the photos; available larger in the gallery.

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Black and White day

Today at course we were instructed to do a makeup specifically for black and white photography. I’ve been itching to use these crazy long lashes and thought it would be a good day to use them!

When I first arrived at course I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do with the hair, so I got a few ideas online while waiting for my model (the demo took less time than I had anticipated so I had a good half hour). In the end I made an extended french roll thing; it turned out beautifully. Thankfully I had a very patient model who didn’t mind my playing around until things looked really good.

Thank you very much to Gabrielle who modelled for me today!

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Larger versions of these photos can be found in the Gallery.

Lace Front Wig

Today was our lace front wig assessment. I’ve had a really bad cold these past few days so this morning I had a bit of a battle getting going, but I did, so that’s good. I think turning up is probably the most important thing on any job and I try to make sure I can on assessment days too.

At course most of the lace on the lace-fronted wigs are the wrong colour for white girls (which most of us are – very!), and the only wig light enough is also the most difficult to work with. I was talking to my tutor about it because I insist on getting decent photos of everything (because otherwise what’s the point?), and she thought I was up to the challenge of using the french lace wig.

The wigs are attached using spirit gum as an adhesive to stick the lace part around the edge of the face, and pinning the rest to braided hair underneath. It looks closer to real hair because the edges appear to be growing from the skin rather than having to be hidden under bulky fringes. Seriously has anyone else noticed how terrible wig fringes can be?

I’m really glad it turned out so nicely despite my illness, you can hardly see the lace in the photos and my slap-dash styling worked really well. Thanks very much to Marian for modeling for me!

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Amber

Here’s another nice shot of Amber showing more of the look I did with her. Amber is really good with hair and it was really helpful to have her input. I love big hair so much, there’s just something about being able to fill the frame around her head with it that I love completely. I hope you enjoy this shot as much as I do!

Amber’s sneak peek

This afternoon I met up with my classmate Amber to play around with hair and makeup. Thought I’d give you a bit of a sneak peek!