Oct 29 2008
Greasepaint and makeup workshop knowledge exchange
Last Saturday I went to Veldhoven (it’s near Eindhoven) where I had a greasepaint and makeup workshop, knowledge exchange - with a group of greasepaint artists.
I’ve been almost 6 hours underway (all together in both directions), came home tired as a dog, and all I can say right now, is that: every minute was worth it!
The deal I made with Richard (the leader of the Dutch grimeteamkarakters.nl greasepaint artists club) is that they would give me greasepaint workshop, in exchange for a makeup workshop. We both figured out that it’s much cheaper then doing grease-paint or a make-up course elsewhere.
Of course I was not interested in witch, vampire, lion, cats & Halloween faces make up, like for a theater, circus or even the musical. Never the less, it could be theatrical and it might be used in theaters and in the musicals or even Halloween parties… but the things I was really interested were: burn and cut wounds. Like special effects for in the movies and stuff.
Special effects greasepaint workshop
When doing greasepaint, normally there are many things involved. From face painting and costumes, all the way to special effects and silicone paint. So, the sky is the limit.
During this workshop I learned:
- How to make a cut wound
- How to make a burn wound
How to remove grease paint make-up?
It went really smoothly. I’ve got plenty of valuable tips and the most difficult part for me was: how to remove paint and silicone (latex) gel?! ;-)
At the end, Richard had fortunately some of grease (turpentine based) wax remover products which I could use to clean my models skin. Can’t remember exactly what brand it was, but alternatively if your skin is not too sensitive, scrub wax away with a knife or a spoon, then use the turpentine to wash away the rest… Or otherwise make your skin fat with a creme and then wash it with a warm water.. repeat this a couple of times.
If you’ve got face or bodypaint there, with color only involved, then warm water is enough.. as frankly speaking all well known bodypaint colors are water based.
Latex needs not to be washed as it gets solid, like a mask. The solution for this one, would be then pealing.
Greasepaint tips
If you’re just like me and wishing to learn, then do what I did - and find some nice greasepaint artists and exchange your knowledge. That’s my ultimate tip to you.
Cut and burn wounds
Here are some pictures of cut and burn wounds I made during my artistic explorations that day.
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| Greasepaint cut wound special effects |
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| Greasepaint cut wound special effects 2 |
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| Greasepaint burn wound special effects |
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| Greasepaint burn wound special effects 2 |
October 30th, 2008 at 1:29 am
Ai! Looks very painfull and real.
Nice job, I am curious how you gonna use this knowledge now.
October 30th, 2008 at 4:48 am
Why don’t you plan a shoot and find out?!
:p
October 30th, 2008 at 10:14 am
I/we really enjoyed the workshop. Teaching a very interested “student” is always a pleasure.
On the others side we also learned a lot and think were interested “students”. I/we really look forward in doing another workshop with you.
By the way we also did some nice vampire bites, and bullet holes just to illustrate how easy you can vary with the used materials.
October 31st, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Those burnwounds look awfully real and so does the cut wound!
And these are only your first attempts!
Fortunately you made the colour of the blood a bit too red. Great,otherwise I would certainly have fainted!
July 30th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
The wounds (paint) look incredibly real. More power to you!
November 4th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Thanks guys! Now (one year later :)) I’ve done it many times, it became even more real.