CLARE HEDGES
Art Finishing techniques
I used silicone caulk and low odour solvent as a thinner with silicone pigments mixed in to paint my pieces. I flicked on the base colours. I decided it would be a good idea to paint all three pieces at the same time, so I would do a base colour on one and then do the same base on each other the other pieces. This worked well to try and keep a continuity between them.
Due to some unforseen problems when running my pieces, I was forced to do my painting at night by artificial light which was far from ideal as I could not see the actual colour. I built the colours up really subtly and made sure they were really translucent.
I started with a base layer of green, and then added brown, red, blue, purple. After I felt I had gotten a good enough base tone, I used skin illustrator (the complexion palette) on the face piece. I painted on this directly with a brush, rather than flicking. I used blues and purples in the deepest shadow areas such as by the eyes and the nasal labial folds. I used green on the tail end of my wrinkles - the secondary wrinkles. I then used a really fine brush to detail the nose area with capillaries using the silicone paints again.
I made the decision not to apply any skin illustrator to the bald cap head piece - this was because I wanted to reuse this piece for my assessment as it is not encapsulated. I am aware that skin illustrator can crack - I wanted to avoid this so wanted minimal skin illustrator on the head, apart from some age spots.
When my face piece was touch dry, I then began to punch the hair. I tested this on a test piece first as I had forgotten exactly how to do it.
I watched some youtube videos to try and get the feel for hair punching again. It took a few attempts however I soon got into the swing of it.
Once again, I was punching late at night which was difficult and meant that I could not see the white hairs very well at all. I decided it was best to try again as soon as there was light in the morning.I found it a whole lot easier and faster to punch the brows in the daylight.
For my test run, I did not have a chance to dress the hairs for the eyebrows which I was disappointed about as the brow hair lacked movement.
I was initially happy with the skin tone that I had layered up using the silicone paints. I liked the redness of the cheeks and the painting around the eyes. I later realised when filming that the make up was too anaemic and was not the look that I had imagined and designed. I had wanted the skin to be more broken and weathered.
I still had half an eyebrow to punch.
These were the eyebrows punched and trimmed - I struggled with cutting the brows. I wanted them to be long and fantasy like however if I had more time, I would liked to have dressed them with some marcel tongs to give them some shape to make them look more realistic.
At the time, I was happy with the colouring of the head and face piece however looking at this picture, I can see that the pieces needed more colour.
I punched hairs into the ears as I thought this detail would add an extra element and would add to the character.
ASSESSMENT PIECES - 2nd run
I had some problems with my silicone painting the second time round - I used a different silicone and it took a long time to dry. This meant that the colour kept rubbing off. I added some glycerine to the thinned silicone mix, as I had found from my research that this can speed up the cure.
This paint job took a lot longer than my first one, however I am much happier with it. I am happier with the purple capillaries and tones on the nose. I am annoyed at myself for not getting a better picture of it.
From my test make up, I decided that I needed to style the eyebrows somehow. I didn't have access to any marcel tongs, so I decided to try wetting the hair, wrapping it around a pencil and hair drying it to see if I could get some movement in it that way. Although this is not an ideal way to style the hair, I am happier with the result and I am glad that I tried this.
The photo below shows the eyebrows for my test shoot - they are all over the place whereas the brows in the picture above definitely have more of a shape and are more controlled. I feel they look more natural and I am happy with them.
I also decided to add some nasal hair to my piece for my assessment. Although these are unlikely to even be seen, I have learnt from my research that it is the little details that make a make up more realistic.
Overall, I really enjoyed the art finishing techniques of painting and hair punching. In future, I would like to do more of this and spend a lot longer on it. This is something I could explore further in third year and try and improve my skills on.