Peeling Skin Practice

 

To create this look, I used liquid latex, a sponge and 1 ply of toilet paper. I dabbed the latex on my arm, then ripped sections of the tissue and stuck it on the latex. I repeated this process once more and then let it dry until it was clear. Next, I tried to colour match it with foundation, and then picked at one side so that I could create this peeling skin effect.

I was happy with how straight forward this method is and how the texture comes out when the latex is combined with toilet paper. I think that this will be easy to achieve while creating my look at university and is not time consuming but a fast method, so this is the most suitable way to create my peeling skin look.

If this method did not work then I could have tested out Snazaroo's Special FX Wax, or Ben Nye Nose and Scar Wax, however with these methods I would have had to sculpt the wax which I think would take too long combined with all of the other elements that I have to create.

Supracolour Practice

 

 

 

My practice with supracolour was much more successful than using aqua colour. Firstly, it does not dry and goes on with a dewy finish that can then be powdered if desired, so this gives me the option if I want to make the skin texture more like that of a snake (dry) or more that of a human (dewy). I was able to layer the paint without displacing much of what was underneath, and still felt as if I was able to work quickly and also able to blend into the hairline easily.

Another advantage with supracolour was my ability to contour with the green colour on its own, which I did not think about during the practice before. Here, I am able to mix colours to make the natural green that I want and also create more depth on the face and on the chest when I create my look.

Overall, this practice was incredibly helpful as if I had continued with the aqua colour I would not have been satisfied and the colour would not have been the one that I really wanted. Moreover, I am still able to highlight with supracolour and I feel like this is important to add to the texture and dimension of the face.

First Practice

I practiced my look in order to decipher what products I would use for the skin, and how to make the hair look how I want it to.

Firstly, I tested on my arm the difference between supracolour (on my hand) and aqua colour (on my arm). What I found with the supracolour was that it gave a natural green colour, however the skin underneath is still visible. This could be rectified with more layers, however I still felt as if this was too light to create a realistic effect that my character's skin is really green. In addition to this, I used a dark green eyeshadow on it to see what it would look like when I contoured, and this gave a strange dark colour that didn't look natural and didn't match the green I created with supracolour. 

Contrastingly I found that the aqua colour was not the right green colour, it is too much of a dark mint colour that i did not think was stereotypical of a green snake. However I thought that I might be able to rectify this by adding white and yellow to make it more natural. However what I liked about the aqua colour is that it is matte and fast drying so I don't have to worry about it sliding off while creating my look, it is also thick so there is no sign of the skin underneath. However I think that this thick, matte effect does not look natural. In addition to this, I used the dark green eyeshadow on this and it did not work either. Despite this, I decided to try the look with aqua colour. 

 

To create this hair, I used two different hair extensions wrapped around Sylwia's ponytail. Her hair is mid to long length naturally, so I had to find hair that would extend as long as I required when in a ponytail. I also think that these extensions are a perfect colour match on her hair.

I achieved this look by firstly putting Sylwia's natural hair into a ponytail. Next, I took one hair extension that had a slide in fastening, which made it not possible to wrap around, so I slid it in the underside of the ponytail at the top. After this, I wrapped the other hair extension around the ponytail many times. This gave an effective thick effect and also was not visible on the hair. These two extensions gave the perfect long, thick look for the ponytail. After this, I used small elastic hairbands to partition the hair and give the look that I created in my drawings.

The downside to this hairstyle is that Sylwia has bonds in the front of her hair, so my original idea to have the whole of the front of the hair pulled back would not work. Instead, I have decided to pull back as much of the hair as I can, and then use her fringe to cover the bonds but flatten the hair down as much as possible. However overall, the practice of the hair went very successfully.

 

 

Not having the prosthetic yet, I had to improvise where it would be with paint as this practice was mostly about getting the green colour right as it will cover quite a percentage of Sylwia's upper body. The aqua colour looks alright on my iPhone camera, however in real life it did not give the effect that I wanted. It was too thick and did not look realistic, and it was still also not the right colour. I also found that once it had dried, I couldn't go over with more without the product underneath displacing and revealing skin tone. I also found that the thickness and drying of it meant that it was not easy to blend into the hairline. Therefore after this practice, I decided that aqua colour would not be suitable and that I would need to practice with supracolour.

In addition to this, I felt as if I had made the eyeliner too thick, and the eyelashes were too long. Now after this practice I know that the eyeliner will look better with thinner lines, and that I will need to cut the eyelashes so as to not dwarf Sylwia's eyes.

Despite this, I was very pleased with how to ponytail went. I was apprehensive about using two different types of hair extensions, however both worked well together and the colour matching was perfect. The only thing that I will need to change is to take the fringe out and fasten it to the head, and to make sure that the bonds aren't visible.

My next step is to practice using supracolour for the green skin, and to practice the peeling skin effect.

Extra Products and Accessories

For my look I have needed to purchase some additional products and materials in order to add to the characterisation of my look.

Firstly, I purchased Liquid Latex that Kat suggested and a sponge that I will use to create the peeling skin effect.

This will give a more realistic effect of peeling skin than the Snazaroo Special FX Wax that I was going to use. I also found that when I've used this before it is difficult to colour as it is sticky. Now that I have this, I will be practicing how to use it to make sure that it gives the effect that I want. 

I bought fishnet tights that I can pin to the hair and paint over to create a scale look on the hair which creates a transition from the prosthetic to the hair. I have also used these before to create mermaid scales.

I found these tattoos, and think that some of these would be perfect for the arms to present regality and a tribal look. I need to test them to see whether they look believable. 

I bought some earrings and 'hair bando', which I will be using as a neck choker. I thought that these items looked mayan and tribal as the earrings are a triangle shape which the mayans used a lot. The choker is beaded which is tribal in that it looks hand made. They both have gold in them, and I think that they will add to the tribalism and regality. 

The eyelashes I got are separated like I envisaged, however they look as if they will be too long for my model's eyes, and so I think I will cut them. I will test them on her eyes before I do my shoot as I don't want to get there and realise that they do not fit or are too large. 

My 1-1 with Kat

During my tutorial with Kat, she gave me some pointers for my design. What she suggested is that where the prosthetic scale area is, it may be hard to blend that into the head, especially as the hair will be pulled back. Therefore she suggested that I paint the scales onto the hair to make less of a transition. My idea is that I paint scales on the hair on top of fishnet tights. In addition to this, Kat suggested that to make it more obvious that the skin is peeling rather than make it look as if her head has been sliced on her neck, to make the skin peel from around the shoulder area, and to use liquid latex for this.

I drew up what I want this to look like:

This tutorial was helpful in that it gave me more ideas that will improve my look. It gives an option for the transition from prosthetic to hair. Moreover, the latex down the shoulder gives more area for the green skin which makes it more obvious that she is a snake and expands the hybrid area. It will also be effective for the mid shot of the hybrid. 

World of my Character

I have created a background in which my character lives in in order to give her substance and make her costume and appearance correlate with where she is living.

Appearance:

My character is a human/snake hybrid woman that is in her 20's. Snakes shed their skin two to four times a year, which is how often she sheds. When her exterior is that of a human, she sheds that skin and underneath is her snake exterior where she has scales on her head and her skin is green. This process happens every time she sheds. So depending on which exterior she has outside, the other will be underneath and be her new exterior. She will have a long black ponytail that is sleek and straight, and her face will be a solid green colour with a contour to sculpt her face. She will have spaced out eyelashes that are sleek and not thick as I don't think this is reptilian like.

She wears gold or tribal jewellery that shows her regal position and connotes Mayan culture. Moreover, she wears clothes with gold on them but it is also partly makeshift from materials people have made or that she finds in the jungle and fashions them accordingly.

World:

The world she lives in is post-apocalyptic. The world was destroyed when the Mayans were around, and they predicted that the world would end correctly. It took thousands of years for the world to recover, and now it is filled with lush green and vast jungles, one of which my character lives in. The apocalypse was caused by a meteor that brought foreign materials to the world, and these began to flourish and changed the way biology works on earth. Therefore, this then enabled mutants to form, meaning mixes of animals and humans grew and evolved, thus creating a strain of snake humans that my character is a species my character is of.

The small amount of population in this world has gone back to primitive ways where gods and royal families are worshipped, and my character is of a high ranking. Therefore she wears gold jewellery and looks as if she is clean and neat. She lives off the forest, so is an expert in weaponry, fighting and hunting.

Inspiration for my Character

I have been looking at characters and locations that inspire my character, her costume and her background. This is useful in gauging what impression I want to give when someone looks at her, and this will add to her characterisation.

Xena: Warrior Princess

Xena: Warrior Princess was a popular tv show in the 90's that sprang to mind when I had ideas for the costume. I want my character to be a woman of power and strength, however also looking feminine at the same time. The characters and costume in this show present this well.

The costume of the character on the left is similar to that of what I imagine my character to be wearing as it is tribal, connotes nature and is feminine. I like the arm band features and the brown colours, I would like to replicate this in a way, however with more gold and in a regal fashion as I would like my character to seem as if she is a goddess or of royalty and wealth.








Kylie Jenner

The hair and costume here is my inspiration for my character. The thick black ponytail shows femininity and I think is a homage to snakes as it will be shiny, straight and slinky like the shape of a snake.

The costume is a bit too war-like and not naturalistic or tribal enough, however the bra part and gold chain is something that inspires me for the character; it is regal, feminine and goddess like.

Avatar

The character of Neytiri is an inspiration for my character as she lives in the jungle in a tribalistic world, and has a strong personality, physique and is completely adapted to living in the forest. Moreover, she is high ranking in the tribe. This is the kind of position I would like my character to have. Moreover, some of Neytiri's accessories that she is wearing in this photo on the left are tribalistic, and I would like to use something like this, however probably in gold to represent the regality of my character.

Moreover, the location of Pandora is something like the world my character would live in. I don't think that there would be glowing plants, however this jungle atmosphere with abnormal geography is what I see the world she would be living in to be like. As it could be post-apocalyptic and this world contains mutants like my character, who knows what would have/can happen to the geographical features of the world if the biological normalities could change.

Tomb Raider: The Game

This is another inspiration for the world that my character lives in. Lara Croft here is on a 'deserted' island called Yamatai, which features a lot of old temple ruins on a jungle/forest covered island. I don't see the buildings in my made up world to be clean and new, they are old, crumbling, covered in jungle vines and leaves, however are still partially inhabited.

Lara croft in this game is the body inspiration for my character. I see her with this physique, anger and determination. She is extremely skilled with weapons and makeshift weapons.









Apocalypto

The world in Apocalypto is what I envisage the world of my character lives in to have been like before the apocalypse. The world she lives in now will be the ruins of this in the jungle, with only remnants of the mayan culture left, mostly regarding their gods and temples.

Different Types of Green Snakes

I want my snake woman to be green, and so I need to know what types of different green snakes there are and where they live, so that I can model my character correctly on it.

Boomslang

The Boomslang snake is poisonous with haemotoxic venom that kills your red blood cells and causes respiratory arrest and haemorrhaging which will make you bleed from all orifices in what could possibly be a slow, painful process. 

The Boomslang lives in sub-saharan Africa and are not only green but an array of colours including red. They are not generally aggressive and can be found relaxing in trees, however with this powerful venom they have the ability to cause a horrible death if angered. 

What I like about the boomslang is that they can cause such a grim death which I think is a suitable characteristic for my character as she is dangerous, and this deadly weapon the snakes carry will be a reason as to why she is royal, high up and feared by many. I also like the fact that they are not just leaf green but can be red also. However what I don't like about the Boomslang is that they live in sub-saharan areas, and I wanted my character to live in the jungle/rainforest, and so this means this snake doesn't have the perfect characteristics for my character. 

Vine Snake

The vine snake lives in several rainforests in the world, meaning there is variety for my character. 

The vine snake is the perfect hunter; it blends into its green surroundings and can silently attack its prey without too much effort. The shaping of its eyes and nose means that its vision stretches extremely far. This snake is venomous but not necessarily dangerous to humans if it is the asian version, which is the rainforest version. 

This snake could be the perfect snake for my character. It has a yellow underbelly, green body and red eyes which encompass the colours that I want to include. It is slender and has a unique face compared to conventional snakes, which I find mesmerising and I think this is more human-like than a normal snake. Its adaption to hunting and living in rainforest climates is what I want my snake hybrid to be like as she will be an expert in all things to do with survival in the rainforest/jungle. They are small but fierce, like that of my character. 

Western Green Mamba

The Western Green Mamba is a snake that lives in rainforest areas of west Africa who's venom is extremely venomous to humans, meaning it is strong and dangerous. 

The snake is persistent when chasing its prey and will almost always catch it, then using its venom to suppress the prey. Moreover, the snake does not have any predators aside from humans and birds of prey, however my human hybrid will not be a prey to humans and will be too big for birds of prey to catch, so it will be pretty much at the top of the food chain. 

I think this is the perfect snake for my character as it is sleek, agile, clever and dangerous. It has the right colourings, lives in the correct habitat of the rainforest, has extremely poisonous venom and is not hunted by anything. This will be the snake that my hybrid is half of.

What I also like in this photo is that the formation of its skin around the mouth is different to the scales of its body, and I can use this formation on the eyebrows or head of my character. 

Resources/Sources

Alford, J. (2014) Deadly Boomslang snake venom makes you bleed from all of your orifices until you die. Available at: http://www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/deadly-boomslang-snake-venom-makes-you-bleed-all-your-orifices-until-you-die (Accessed: 15 November 2015).

Adams, M. (no date) What kind of snake has green coloring?. Available at: http://animals.mom.me/kind-snake-green-coloring-2723.html (Accessed: 15 November 2015).

Western green mamba (2012) Available at: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/Western_green_mamba (Accessed: 15 November 2015).

Snakes

For my look, I need to research the characteristics of snakes and also their shedding process. This is to make sure that my look is anatomically correct while also looking good.

Shedding:

When snakes are about to shed, their skin becomes drab, their eyes become cloudy and the snake becomes disorientated. However when the skin starts to come off, the snake regains normality. The skin sheds from the nose to the tail and takes almost 2 weeks.

This is relevant for my look in that I need to know where the skin sheds from, so that my look is accurate as I want the skin to shed from the head down. From my research now I know that this is anatomically accurate to snakes.

Scales:

The scales of the snake are partly their defence mechanism, it protects them from disease and damage. The scales are also waterproof.

I am also going to use these images as reference images when creating my scales so that they are accurate as there is no point creating shapes that do not look like this as it will not be obvious that she is a snake. I would also like to replicate this red and yellow pattern to contrast with the green. 

Crocodile eye:

As a reptilian reference, I looked at a crocodile's eye to see how its skin is formed, as I want the eyebrows of my character to be reptilian, and as snakes don't have eyebrows I thought that this would be a good inspiration and add to the hybrid aspect.

When looking at this I see it is important to note that not all of the shapes are the same size and the same shape, so I do not need to make sure that all of the shapes are the same. 

Resources:

PETEDUCATION.COM., (Date unknown). Snake Shedding: Ecdysis and Dysecdysis [viewed November 2015]. Available from: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=17+1831&aid=1648

Smithsonian National Zoological Park., (Date Unknown). Snake Skin: Beauty...and Function [viewed November 2015].

Special Effects Makeup

Broadening my knowledge of special effects makeup can benefit me with my project as I may be able to use some techniques, or at least be knowledgable in different methods that I could use in further projects.

From the book 'Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen', I learned a lot of useful tips. Here are some examples of what I derived from the book:

• Don't use sulphur clay when creating a silicone after product. Apparently the sulphur will not enable the silicone to set, and so you should avoid this type of clay when working with silicone. From my classes I also found that there are several things that do not enable silicone to set, such as Aloe Vera and garlic. It is important to know these things otherwise it can affect your work as you will not do it correctly. 
• Chemistry is a fundamental part of special effects makeup. Unlike conventional makeup, in special effects makeup you work will a plethora of materials and substances that are chemical and depend on reactions, concoctions and different types of curing. These can contain toxic chemicals or, if not worked with in a well ventilated room or with a mark on, can give off dangerous fumes. Knowing what all the different materials you can work with are, their danger level and their characteristics is imperative as without this knowledge you may put yourself or the person you are working with in danger, and working safely with these different materials can enable your work to be more detailed and professional. These different materials include cold foam, foam latex, gelatine and foamed gelatine. 
• Sculpting tools can be homemade, not just ones you buy in the shops. 

This is an image of a handmade tool in the book. I have seen a tool like this in one of the videos I posted before about sculpting facial features, and is an interesting concept and not something I would have thought of if I was to take up sculpting. It is also possible to use the corners to create holes in the face above plastic sheeting.

I found this a really interesting example of sculpting and it was helpful to see how the professionals do it. The edges of the sculpt are so smooth and thin, and this is what we should be doing with our sculpts in order to make sure the edges are almost non-existent and blend-able. 

After this, I looked at the 2015 edition of 'Stage Makeup' by Richard Corson. Here are some things that I derived from this book:

• Knowing the anatomy is imperative when moulding and creating. In order to create an anatomically correct, believable old age makeup, you need to know the different areas of the face and the bone structure in order to know how this affects the skin and its movement. When studying the face, both looking and feeling is important. When sculpting, you should know where the depressions of the face are so you can correctly place these, such as the eye sockets and the temples. 
• Choosing a pigment is not just choosing one colour, it is a mix of colours. When choosing the correct pigment, you need to be aware that colour does not consist of just one element but all the elements of it need to be considered. These are its hue, intensity and value.
• Be aware of the character's background to create realism. When creating a character, you should consider its heredity, race, environment, health, age and temperament. This is what we are currently doing for our hybrid character; I need to know what the environment that my snake lives in is like and what this means for my character and what characteristics it adds. 

References/Sources

Debreceni, T., 2009. Special Makeup Effects for Stage and Screen. Focal Press, Burlington.

Corson, R., Glavan, J. and Norcross, B. (2015) Stage Makeup. Tenth edn. CRC Press.

Moodboard

This is the moodboard for my character. When looking at her, I want to give off the impression that she is living in an ancient world, dwelling in an old temple in the jungle while being of royalty and power. The fact that the temple is old and she lives in a jungle could show that she is living in a post-apocalyptic world, thousands of years into the future where we are plunged back into primitive ways where we worship gods, and people have become mutants that may have been as a result of the apocalypse. The use of green will be beneficial in that it will lend to her jungle location, and the gold jewellery I want to use will represent regality. Now that I have this, I can come up with a story and world in which my character comes from. 

Finalising My Ideas

After my mind map, I wrote down ideas for the concepts that were my favourite from the idea process:

This enabled me to write down the possible looks or techniques I could use for these looks. As visible, some have more possibilities than others, and some intrigued and excited me more than others. 

I looked at some images on google for inspiration for each look:

Tree:

I really liked the look of the roots and bark on the neck going up to the face here, and I could create a prosthetic for this. What I would need to research and practice a lot is the texture of roots and bark. 

I would also put this moss type foliage on the face which would add to the realism and texture of the look. 

Snake:

These images were really inspirational for me when thinking about the snake look. The first image is the kind of thing I would like to create, to replicate the shedding of a snake's skin. More research would need to go into this, however I think that this would be realistic in that the character could still be a hybrid even if it is shedding its human skin, because underneath the snake skin could be another layer of human skin, and this process of shedding and alternating between skins could be a background story. However because I like the second photo so much, I think that I would like to create the peeling skin look on the neck so that I could make the whole face look like a snake. From the first photo, I also like the texture on the eyebrow, which I could incorporate and create a prosthetic out of. 

I really love the makeup elements of the second photo. Especially the black line on the lip, and the scales on the face which is a look I actually tried for my portfolio when applying for university. In the third photo, the inspiration was the hairstyle. I think that this is very reptile-like but also lends to the femininity and human characteristics.

Cat:

If I was to create a cat look, this is what I would do. However I think that this prosthetic would be too complicated to create as it is more 3D than the surface wounds we had to create for the wound project. I am not sure how I would fashion the clay, I think that I would need a different material in order to create this prosthetic and this is not a technique I have learned yet. Therefore this is an interesting idea, however I don't think I will be creating it. 

Whale:

I couldn't find any photos of whale makeup, however my idea is to replicate this under part of the body:

Moreover, the makeup on Bill Turner for 'Pirates of the Caribbean' inspired me and made me want to put barnacles on the face and body but made out of prosthetic in order to create realism, as if the character has been under the deep sea for a while. I would also paint the model blue to replicate a blue whale's exterior. 

My favourite ones were the tree idea, the snake idea and the blue whale idea. I felt as if the cat idea was too simple and would not be very interesting, especially for this 'Brave New World' concept, however still created it on paper to see what it would look like. 

I created some preliminary face charts with an idea for one look each, and whichever one I felt had the most possibilities would be the one I would continue with and create further. 

Face Charts

Tree

Once I put this look on paper, I didn't like it. I don't feel as if I would be able to replicate bark or roots well enough to make them look realistic, and I would like to create a look to the best of my ability and don't think I could do this. I'm sure with the right design it could be a good hybrid idea, however I think that creating a bark prosthetic would be difficult to colour, especially as I found it hard to use the alcohol activated colour palette when creating my wound. I have not decided to go ahead with this design. 

Snake

This was my favourite face chart to create. As soon as I started it I felt excited and had ideas that I really want to create and could visualise in my head and had an idea as to what I wanted to do. When it comes to the neck, I have used this 'Special FX Wax' before (in my portfolio for applying for university) to create this peeling skin look and really enjoyed it and found it relatively easy to use. I think this would be effective and I would use this better than what it would look like when creating a prosthetic, however I will still keep the prosthetic idea in mind and research how likely it is that I can recreate peeling skin realistically with clay and a mould. 

The prosthetic area will be the raised bit on the forehead, with the inside being flat and coloured on top of fishnets to create the scale effect. I have not yet decided whether I will use an eyeshadow or paint for the base, however my idea at the moment is to paint a black base with supracolour or aqua colour, then powder over the top with translucent powder, and then use supracolour or aqua colour again but over the top of fishnet tights to create this multicoloured scale look.

I believe that this is the design I will carry on with because of the excitement and inspiration I got when creating it, and I believe that I have the ability to create the looks that I want without throwing myself into the deep end. I think that the look is also aesthetically pleasing and a sufficient merging of human and snake. 

Cat:

I was not very inspired when creating the cat look. I know that if I was to create this look, I would need to research what type of cat I was creating in order to get the facial features correct and also the hair colour perfect. I felt as if it was not very challenging, and also the fact that I would not be able to create the nose part myself and the only prosthetic part would be the eyebrows meant that I was not utilising the skills I had learnt enough. Moreover, I think that this is a stereotypical look that would not allow a lot of room for unique creation. However I do like the thought of the use of crepe hair to add to the texture and realism. Despite this, I have not chosen this look. 

Blue Whale:

This was also an idea that sounded better than it looked on paper. I don't think that this would be and easy creation as the barnacles would need to be very accurate and detailed, which is not something I feel confident enough in yet. Moreover, I feel as if the mouth area would be too complicated, and I would not be able to create a prosthetic that would go down underneath the chin as the prosthetic needs to be on a flat surface. Moreover, I feel as if painting the whole face blue would not be practical and is too dark of a colour for me to work with at this moment as I feel I would not create an even look on the face and I am not sure how long it would last before it starts to sweat/rub off. Therefore this is not a look I am going to carry on with. 

Reflection:

I found cutting down to my favourite ideas and than breaking them down very helpful in that this was the creating the base for what I wanted and gave me a rough idea of how complicated they would be, what I would like for the look and what I would need for the look, which showed me whether they were plausible. After this, the face charts were so helpful as I was able to put was I was visualising down on paper, and therefore able to see whether what I wanted actually looked good or realistic, and this proved that some did not and therefore enabled me to make a choice as to which idea would be the most sensible and relevant to the brief. Now that I have done this, I can set about researching for my snake look to make sure that it is anatomically correct, and so that I know 100% what materials I need and I can start experimenting with how I am going to create the look and which products are best to use. To begin with, I need to create a hair design, and then I need to start sculpting and moulding as soon as possible.