Photographer: Darren Purcell of Visionary Photography
Model: Bubblegum Harley
Make-Up: Emma Farrell of Emma Farrell Dublin Bodypainting

I have been a bit delayed in posting this, these are shots from a couple of weeks ago, but I guess better late than never. These are some behind the scenes images of the feature film that I am the Head Make-Up Artist on. It is directed by Phil Winston and is an independently funded film being shot in Coolock. The working title of the film is 166.87.66.6, but I am hoping that they go for something simpler like Uri-el. The story centres around a young boy called Daniel who discovers that human beings aren’t the only beings on this planet and is brought right into the middle of a fight between Angels and Demons.

I would just like to take this opportunity to say a BIG THANK YOU to my wonderful assistant Stefania, I couldn’t have done it without her

Film: http://www.uri-el.com/index.html
Director: Phil Winston
Make-Up: Emma Farrell Make-Up
Assistant Make-Up:  Stefania Maniscalco
Hair: Jane Akkerman

A while ago I told you guys that I was going to do the Make-Up of Avatar for halloween. Well I have had a really busy schedule which has meant that I haven’t been able to put aside as much time for this as I would have liked.

Anyway I have started the process and here are a couple of shots of me during my lifecast. We used fast set alginate and plaster bandages. First you vaseline all the back of the head and any hair in the front like eyelashes, eyebrows, nape of neck etc. Then you apply bald cap, in this case we just used a swimming cap as we had a bit of a disaster with our bald cap! You then build up the back half of the head using just plaster bandage as the detail of the cast doesn’t have to be that defined. Then you mix a small amount of alginate and do the nose first so that you can breath out of it. Then you go ahead and mix the rest of the batch of alginate and cover the entire face including eyes, ears and mouth. Be extremely careful that the noseway is kept clear at all times…you have to breath! After the alginate is set you then cover this with plaster bandages to strengthen and support the structure. You can then start to wriggle your face and pull apart the mould. All going well you should have a perfect cast of yourself.

Word of warning! Don’t wear make up while doing the life cast, for some reason whatever make-up I had on my eyelids really liked adhering to the alginate and made for a REALLY uncomfortable few minutes when I thought I wouldn’t be able to get it off!  Also this lifecast was done by professional Make-Up Artists (myself and my friend). We are highly trained, we are just sharing the information with you, so please do not attempt to do this at home!

I am doing a full bodypainting on Monday for the LA Make-Up Academy. I did a little test run today, here are the images:

I had a great night at the Filmbase Special FX Make-up Night which took place on the 28th April, there was blood, guts, burns, bruises and zombies galore

It was a very funny night and there were demonstrations by Tom McInerney, Terri Pinnell an Conor McMahon. I particularly liked Conor’s hilarious demonstration for home made blood and brain recipes which left the poor victim with a sticky syrupy mess all over her head! Just as well its not summer or she would have been attacked by wasps & flies on the way home!

I was a burns victim for the night…it was weird being in the Make-Up Chair for once, but I found it strangely relaxing!

Before

After

I also got a chance to catch up with some old Model Making people who were displaying their armour and props at the event. (Note: I used to be a modelmaker myself in a former life)

I particularly liked the fact that I could see Tom McInerney (Fairycatcher, The Formorian) create a green, ghoulish character from start to finish, he made it look so easy!

At the end of the night we all had to do a Zombie Dance which was filmed…so watch this space…I will update you when I have the video

This is a photoshoot which was supposed to be entitled broken down mechanics…I did the bodypaint as planned, but ended up getting carried away with some colours afterwards. In the end these photographs ended up looking even better than the planned shoot. This is what I love about creativity, there are no rules and sometimes the best things happen by accident.

Make Up: me
Photography: Edel Kelly
Model: Sarah Tapes

Last weekend I attended the International Make-Up Artist Tradeshow in Alexander Palace. I had a wonderful trip to London, delving into the many facets of the city…I spent some time wombling around the shopping mecca that is Oxford Street. Popped into MAC Pro in Soho, which is just around the corner. On the hunt for nautical inspired clothing for a friend, I delved into the alternative shopping destination that is Camden. They cater to every taste vintage, character, goth, neon madness and cheap/nasty.

Image courtesy of Rob Inh00d

Having recently given up dairy and being a vegetarian, I thoroughly enjoyed the delights of the vegan cafe InSpiral Lounge. They had really funky tunes playing on the Saturday evening and a really friendly atmosphere. I had a yummy Vegetable Bake with Nut Cream Sauce yum! If you are in London, check it out!

Photo courtesy of www.quarrygirl.com

I also went down to Southbank for the first time and met some friends in the British Film Institute, it was a hive of activity and is far superior to our little Irish Film Institute I just love the way that London has so many personalities, there is definitely something for everyone, from the hippy to the corporate type every taste, pocket and desire is catered for.

Image courtesy of theboybg

Anyway I have kind of gone off point there, as this isn’t a travel blog, back to the IMATS. I had a fantastic time and really shopped till I could no longer wedge anything else into my back pack and I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make it home with the weight of the thing! I will do a different post about all the things that I bought. I really liked looking at the fantastic work of all the talennted sculpters, make-up artists, model makers in the SFX display. Here are some photos:

Ape Sculpture
I hate to be negative, but I was a bit disappointed with the IMATS this year. My main goal was to attend some talks and learn some new techniques and listen to people at the top of their game. All I can say is that the lectures were badly organised, I felt that there should have been more talks spread across the two days and that they should have repeated some of the classes that they knew would be popular.

Nightbreed:
Queued for half an hour only to be told that it was full. Was very disappointed.

Eve Pearl:
She was very funny, charismatic and seems like a genuinely nice person, but I felt that her make-up just wasn’t up to scratch. Maybe it was because I was watching everything on the blown up monitor (I was right at the back of the hall) her Make-Up was not very tidy, the blending was off and the lip line was all over the place. The model’s skin looked extremely shiny and the make-up looked like it was sliding off her face. I kept willing her to fix it, but she just kept missing all her flaws. In her defence, she did say a few times that she couldn’t really see what she was doing. It was very disappointing as I really wanted to learn something new from the “masters” but I felt like anyone could have done that make-up…if it was a lighting problem and she couldn’t see then IMATS should have fixed it for her…did they not do a practise run?? I felt sorry for her, because loads of people kept leaving her talk, if that was me I would have been really unnerved and I thought that it was a tad bit rude of people.

Tom Savini:
I made sure to queue extra early for this talk learning from earlier experiences. This was the saving grace of the whole trade show. I felt that it was so inspirational to hear about his journey and how he had become such a phenomenal artist in the slasher film genre. Tom brought up some excellent points in the discussion and one of them was that you should always have your portfolio with you…you just never know who you will meet, this lead to the prolific statement that kept ringing in my head after the talk…I think this will become my new motto in life:

“Success is about being in the right place at the right time and being ready.”

Some of the stalls were disappointing. Compared to 2006 which is the last time I attended the show, it is a lot bigger. However as the old adage goes, bigger isn’t always necessarily better. On alot of stalls the prices were not that good, in particular Charles Fox weren’t offering any discount on the day, which I thought was a bit crazy seeing as it was a “trade show”. I did have a great experience getting a few bits in MAC, even though they were crazy busy, I still got the personal attention from one of the artists who helped me get everything I needed, I just wished that I had gotten his name so I could thank him publicly. Also I got a fantastic deal in Mouldlife, where I got huge discounts and a couple of free products to try at home.

I bought a DVD of the World Bodypainting Festival whilst in the IMATS. I watched it the other day and it looks AMAZING. I think that it is the last time that I will attend IMATS London, next  trip I am off to the Boden for the Bodypainting Festival where it would seem spectacle and entertainment play a big part in the procession.

Anyway I would like to hear some other opinions on the Trade Show In the meantime here are some more photos of the event:

Photo courtesy of http://www.istoleyoursoulforthis.com/

Photo courtesy of http://www.istoleyoursoulforthis.com/

Photo courtesy of http://www.istoleyoursoulforthis.com/

Witch

I went to see Avatar directed by James Cameroon the other day, all I can say is WOW! I thought that it was absolutely fantastic . They did a really good job of creating an ethereal enchanted world which to be honest I wouldn’t mind living in.

Anyway I have decided that I would like to go as Neytiri for Halloween this year. I know what you are thinking, that I must be mad talking about Halloween…but every year I make a half arsed attempt at a costume on the day, which is a bit ridiculous considering I am a Make-Up Artist. Here are some examples:

So this year it’s going to be different and I am going to pull out all the stops! Myself and my Make-Up Artist friend have agreed to do each other’s make-up for Halloween. The reason for this is it is kinda hard to lifecast and apply character make-up to yourself.

She is going to apply a full prosthetic character make-up to make me look like Neytiri. I will blog the process as we go along with some pictures and instructions for anyone else who would like to know how it is done. I will also be doing a charcter make-up on my friend. She hasn’t decided what she would like to go as yet. I am trying to convince her to go as the borg:

Or if you guys have any other suggestions of characters that she could go as that would involve prosthetics, let me know. Anyway, watch this space as I will let you know how we get on xx