Body Painting Croqui

I was working on coming up with ideas for future body paints and decided that croquis (commonly used for sketching out fashion designs) would speed up my production. However, after a brief Google search, I couldn't find any that I felt were suitable for body painting! They were all outlandishly skinny and thin (which, while fine and visually appealing for fashion, made it very difficult for me to draw in all my design onto the tiny little body) and usually had hands crossing the body or one leg behind the other. I also couldn't find any croquis that were drawn with a grey outline (this is a personal preference on my part- I like to draw the body with a light grey color so that I can concentrate on filling in the color and design of the body painting).

So, I decided to make my own: complete with light grey outlines, realistic body figure type, no cross body arms or legs, and a front and back view. I figured that I would share the croqui with everyone else, and hopefully it will help you in the production of your own body painting ideas.

These croqui were made with reference from [ Basic Pose ] Character Base 4 by pyjama-cake on Deviantart.com.

Edit: I'm still not sure why the image is showing with the grey background- I am trying to work things out between Photoshop and Blogger to play nice and upload the image correctly. Please stand by.

Mixing foundations from Primary Colors

As promised to a few students, here is a little post that will hopefully help with trying to mix foundations from primary colors (red, yellow & blue) and tint/toning it with black and white.

First of all, lets take a look at our color wheel again, shall we?

So, our primary colors are red, yellow and blue. By mixing one primary with another, we get our secondary colors (orange, green, purple). Mix a primary and a secondary and you get a tertiary. So, can't help but notice that brown isn't on there...?

The color brown is made by mixing all three primary colors together (in different amounts, for the desired tone of brown). As in the picture to the right, my preferred method is to mix orange (which is red+yellow) with blue. Because, aside from brown, skin tones are usually mostly reddish or yellowish, I find that starting with an orange color and adding small amounts of blue gives me more control over how the color changes. From there, I tint and tone the color lighter or darker using black and white to change the saturation of the color. Of course, if you'd rather start with green and add red (still ends up being the same combo of colors, just different starting amounts) y'know, go with what ya feel.

Here is a great video by a painter who goes through the process of mixing a skin tone using a similar technique.

Having a deeper understanding of color theory in makeup is an incredible advantage. Corrective makeup is all about knowing which colors compliments the other, and in turn, cancels it out (neutralizes it). Complimentary colors are the colors directly across from each other on the color wheel.

A corrective concealer pallete by Graftobian

In the pallete above, the 'blue neutralizer' (great for covering up old black tattoos which tend to turn blue as they age) uses blue's complimentary color, orange. The 'deep red/purple concealer' uses purple's complimentary, yellow. The 'redness remover' uses red's complimentary, green.

Notice that these concealers do not use intense, saturated colors- instead, they have been tinted and toned to match that of the average skin tone. If you swatch a color against skin and it appears as a noticeably darker or lighter splotch on your arm/face when you squint, then you either need to tint or tone with back or white to match the saturation.


Finally, identifying whether you have cooler or warmer undertones in your skin will help you determine how much yellow or red you need to add to your mix to match your foundation. Ivory and olive tones will have more yellow, while porcelain and ruddy complexions will have more red.

Hope this helps! If you have questions or comments, feel free to leave them in the comment section!

Color Theory in Makeup

"What lipstick is the best for my skin tone?"

"Which eyeshadow should I pick to really make my eyes stand out?"

"I hate wearing light purple colors, it always makes me look washed out!"

Cool vs Warm lipstick swatches 

Believe it or not, color theory plays a huge role when it comes to choosing and applying makeup.
There are different skin tones to consider and match (ivory vs porcelain, sallow vs ruddy) as well as undertones of different ethnicities (a Filipino person is going to have a different skin tone than an Asian person, who is going to be very different from someone with Irish heritage) Many makeup manufacturers utilize color theory when organizing/identifying their product. (MAC's NC or NW lines, or L'Oreal's C, N, and W) Different colors will either compliment or detract attention from eye colors. You can also utilize knowledge of color theory in SFX to make a person seem ill, sickly, feverish, anemic, etc. 

Here I've gathered a few tutorials that I've found have helped me understand color theory better when it comes to makeup. See them in this post after the jump!

In Production

As I'm pulling together this blog and gathering content for posts, I've also been toying with how I'd like it to look visually. I started out my original career as a visual artist, specializing in digital graphic work.  I can't help but want to sit here and design and tweak and edit into the night. However, my career swung towards makeup before I got down to the nitty gritty of learning to code for web and now I find myself scrabbling for old textbooks to make this blog more appealing.

While I grind website coding into my brain, have a look at this little mood-board I threw together (inspired by the design work done by Salted Ink)

Cosmetic Glitter vs Craft Glitter

Recently I was asked why it is so bad to use craft glitter on your eyes when doing makeup. People often argue with me that it is cheaper, practically the same thing, and if it's only going on your eyelids, why should it matter? But there is a difference and serious health concerns, and I always urge people to use cosmetic glitters only. However, it does help to understand the WHY of this general rule.

The main difference between craft glitter and cosmetic glitter is what it is made of- craft glitter is generally made of metal (yikes!) and cosmetic glitter is made of plastic, usually some form of polyester. Even if you only apply it on the lid with a really strong glue, all it takes is one tiny little particle of that metal to fall into your eye and you run the risk of serious cornea scratches or abrasions. Cosmetic glitter is also more finely milled and usually cut into a circular shape, helping reduce the risk of scratching. Craft glitters are usually cut at angles, such as hexagons or squares.

Old fashioned metal-cut glitters.

In reality, however, metallic craft glitters are actually kind of rare to come across these days. (I had an incredibly difficult time finding a picture of some online- the one to the right is the best I could do.)
If you look at most of the Martha Stewart or Recollections line of glitters they are mostly polyester or polythylene. Like cosmetic grade glitters, craft companies finally hit on using poly-bonded colored products that they double coat in plastic and cut into hexagon shapes, allowing them to extend their color ranges to all sorts of hues, shimmers, etc. However, most craft glitters are still poly coated dyes which can leach out when they come in contact with moisture from your eye or mixing mediums.

There are also cosmetic standards to packing cosmetic glitters as defined by GMP (good manufacturing procedures) which helps insure that the workers packing the product are following proper sanitary conduct, there is no risk of rust from machinery that could possibly get into the glitter, etc.

A common complaint is that cosmetic glitters are expensive. There are cheap options out there, you just have to look! Sally Girl is probably the cheapest cosmetic glitter I have come across for only 99¢, and you can find it at most Sally’s Beauty Supply stores. Snazaroo makes some great glitter gels, dust, and powders for around $3, as does Wolfe Brothers (I picked some up at this years IMATS and they’re are amazing!) A great mid-range option that has an impressively wide array of colour options are Eye Kandy's mineral and glitter sprinkles. They also formulated a great mixing medium for liners. (These guys also had a booth at IMATS and their color blends are gorgeous) If you do want to go high end, MAC has a whooooooole range of glitters and pigments to tantalize any OCD collector out there. Urban Decay also released a new eyeshadow line called Moondust (reformulated from their Stardust line) which, while isn’t technically a glitter, has an intense micro-fine sparkle (think sunlight on water) that is super eye-catching. If you are looking to buy cosmetic glitter in bulk, Make Up Forever has a variety of purchase options as well as a variety of glitters; all different sizes, cuts, and holographic effects. (The N56 Silver Multicolored glitter is especially striking with body painting!)

MUFE's Graphic Glitter #36604

In my personal opinion, I feel that it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to glitters. Ultimately though, it is your choice what you choose to do. I can only hope to inform and give advice founded in quite a bit of research. Your eyes are a precious commodity and utmost care should always be taken to protect your (or your client’s!) health. With all the talk of paraben free, cruelty free, and vegan makeup, doesn’t it make sense to extend that same mindset to glitter as well? There are many companies out there that make FDA approved, safe-to-apply-to-skin glitters that far outshine, outshimmer, and out-holograph what you can generally find in craft stores.

IMPORTANT PS: There are a small percentage of cosmetic glitters out there that are also made of micro-fine glass. I recall coming across some at MUFE's booth at IMATS. I believe it is sold as a body glitter (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and is advertised for use on body ONLY, to be kept away from the face.

PPS: As an additional little tidbit, here is a link to a website that compares different cosmetic glitters and rates them based on consumer health as well as environmental and societal impact. Enjoy!