CLARE HEDGES
Painting, Flocking & Hair punching
Silicone Painting
MATERIALS -
SOLVENTS - Naptha, Panel Wipe, Low Odour White spirit
SILICONE - - Silicone Caulk clear (1hr shower). Can also used the same silicone as the pieces - as you know they will definitely bond.
Should create a thick syrup consistency - thicker than cap plastic, similar to honey.
The thinner gives you a longer working time because you are thinning the catalysing elements. You can make a large batch of the thinned silicone base and then freeze it. Take it out for 20 minutes and it will be ready to use.
PIGMENT - silicone oil with pigment
PAINTING SKIN TONE
Colours should be transluecent - it is crucial that they are not too opaque as this will not look natural.
Black and white will kill skin tone - do not add.
Stipple colour, avoid brushing as this will displace colour.
It is important to consider that skin illustrator will eventually crack over time. Blue bird colours are supposed to be more flexible than skin illustrator
Start by painting blue shadows into the deep shadows, with green as secondary shadows in the shallow lines very lightly.
Add colour and then wipe so that it falls into wrinkles.
Use a blue and a touch of red under the eyes. Green is prominent in the skin and is often overlooked when people paint skin tones. On the tail end of the wrinkles that you have already painted, add green.
Apply red to areas with a lot of blood - cheeks, nose, brow. Keep the reds subtle as this colour is very pigmented and can overpower. Add some blues to your reds.
Can create capillaries using tiny strands of red silk thread.
HAIR PUNCHING
For hair punching, a sewing needle and holder is required. A knotting hook holder is useful for this.
Grind down the eye of the needle using either sandpaper or a dremel.
The angle that you punch the hair in, it will lay that way.
Bulk punching can be used but not on the face.
Ensure that you do not punch through your piece as this will be very irritating for your actor.
For a more realistic look, hair should be marcel tonged.
FLOCKING
The flocking process works by electrostatically applying fibers to a surface which has been coated in adhesive.
A silicone adhesive should be used.
Coloured flicks can be mixed, for example on this silicone piece, the chin has been flocked using a mix of red andblack.
http://www.swicofil.com/flock.html
SILICONE PAINTING RESEARCH
http://www.atdcreations.com/
I have found that one of the most useful places to source information is the Neill Gorton 911 FX group as it has so many industry professionals in one place who are able to give advice.
The files section of the group is really helpful - this is where I found this file on silicone painting which is a culmination of many peoples own inputs on the subject in one place.
Oil paints can be used to intrinsically paint the piece however may inhibit the cure - unpreidictable.
Oil paints are not cheap - may be worth buying silicone pigments - as a little goes a long way and can be sure that it will not inhibit cure.
You can also tint the skin of the piece by stippling or brushing colour into the mould and then backfilling it with plain silicone - this is interesting as I had not heard of this before.
Avoid oranges when intrisically colouring as this will make it harder when extrinsically painting. Choose pinkish tone or pale red.
Silicone pigments from Stuart Brays sculpt gel DVD. These are the pigments that he suggests having as they are primary and you will be able to make secondary colours from them. For my project, I have purchased the dark flesh, blue yellow, red, white, black and brown.
As silicone pigments are designed to colour silicone intrinsically, they are unlikely to inhibit your cure. Must be used with a base.
Oil paints have impurities within them that can inhibit the cure. Some paints, even within the same range, can react differently to silicone and even change the colour due to the different minerals within them. This is really interesting to know as I would not have considered that the oil paints could change colour. Also takes a long time to set.
Acyrlic is a last resort - can have odd effect on silicone. It will also speed up the cure time - must use a thinner to counteract. Acrylic is therefore best avoided.
Fig 97.
This picture of Stuart Brays hand, clearly illustrates how many different colours (reds, greens, yellows, pinks, blues) and speckling/mottling that can be seen in the skin.
Naomi suggests mixing your base paint coat with a hint of green rather than trying to get a pinky flesh tone - surprising how much blue and green there is in your skin. It counteracts the orange tone and gives a realistic looking colour. Then go over with translucent blood red, freckle brown, warm yellow, vein blue and green.
Use glycerine to speed up the cure of your silicone caulking - glycerine is a hygroscopic (water attracting) and works like a catalyst. This is a really useful tip.
Ideally, you should paint your piece as soon after casting as possible as the fresher the silicone, the better the bond.
Ensure surface of silicone is very clean and dry. Silicone painting is effectively a laminating process - applying layers of silicone on top of itself.
Wash piece with warm soapy water after demoulding.
Regardless of cleaning - to guarantee sucess it is a good idea to apply a thin layer of silicone base mixed with your chosen solvent and no colour. This get stippled on first (use non latex sponges for this) and then should be allowed to dry, preferably over night. The next pigmented layers will stick better to this base layer. Another useful tip.
STAN WINSTON - Releastic Skin tones with Jamie S Grove
Put finger over the brush to block it, the bubbles created from this will ensure that the paint is properly mixed.
Use your own hand as reference for colours, paint should be built up in layers to show the imperfections in colour.
A big difference between a good paint job and a bad paint job is the attention to detail. For example Groves is painting in between the teeth of the gums.
MIKE SPATOLA - WITCH MAKE UP
Although these appliances are foam and have been painted first with PAX and then skin illustrator, I thought they were interesting research.
I do not really like the colouring of the final make up as I feel it is too green and the colours are not subtle enough. However in the process, Spatola says that he likes the green appliance more than the pinker one so this is a design choice. It is also important to consider that these are foam and therefore are opaque rather than naturally translucent.
NEILL GORTON - TIMOTHY SPALL
These cheek pieces were prepainted by Neill but were not quite the colour that he wanted
Fig. 102.
These cheek pieces are more red than those on the left. Neill painted the capillaries using a tiny model painting brush
Fig, 103
T
It was this picture of Neill Gortons Timothy Spall make up which inspired me to create a character make up with imperfect skin tones. I was amazed by how he create the capiliaries using a tiny brush. The colouring is briliant.
104 & 105
HAIR PUNCHING RESEARCH
Fig. 107
I found the video below really helpful as I had forgotten how to hairpunch and this was a very clear example. Fig 108
LARS CARLSSON ON HAIR PUNCHING
This is interesting, as I would have thought punching the hair the whole way through the piece would cause irritation to the actor that was wearing it. However Carlsson explains that pushing it through ensures there will be maximum hold so that you can style the hair without being afraid of the hair coming out. I would perhaps style the hair before punching it instead.
You would not be able to hair punch a large facial piece such as a long beard into a silicone piece if the piece was too thin. The silicone must be thick enough for the har to stay in place.
Carlsson suggests glueing the hair on the inside of the piece using a solvent based adhesive such as Telesis. This would be a problem if the piece must be reused as the Telesis would stay sticky.
If this is the case, then the same silicone which was used to make the piece can be used to stick the hair down in place on the inside of the piece.
The longer you leave the hair on the inside the better the hairs will stay on - this would also stop the issue of the hair irritating the actor.
You can dip your punching needle in a silicone caulk (which has been thinned with naptha) before punching to help secure the hair - a good tip.
ELECTROSTATIC FLOCKING
Flocking is a process which involves applying short fibers, usually nylon, rayon or polyester directly onto a surface which has been coated in an adhesive.
There are several different application methods for flocking including: electrostatic, gravity, spraying and transfers
The application method used in FX make up is electrostatic flocking,.
Fig. 106.
Fig, 90
Fig. 91
Fig. 92 & 93
Fig. 94.
Fig. 95.
Fig. 96
Fig. 98.
FIg. 99.
Fig. 100. & 101.
Fig. 109
Fig.110.
Fig. 111.
As moose antlers actually have a fuzzy coating of fine hair, Stuart flocked the whole of them with brown and beige nylon. I think this looks really effective and the gradient in colour is really nice.
Creature FX artist Deborah Galves uses different hair techniqes including punching, flocking and fur laying. It is interesting that you can use hair punching over flocking to add layers and give the model an extra dimension.
 flocking.jpg |  punching 2.jpg |
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 help.jpg |  flocking 2.jpg |
A dremel or sandpaper can be used to sand down the eye of the needle and create the knotting hook like this picture below.
Crown rooting needles used to punch this whole head of crepe w wool hair.
This Lars Carlsson hair punching film is really inspiring as the hair looks so natural. It has made me want to try various types of hair punching such as other facial hair like beards and head hair.
Here is another example of Deborah's excellent flocking work.
https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/artists/deborah-galvez-master-creature-effects-artist