Final Look (Editorial)

Below is my face chart for my editorial look. As you can see the skeletal influence has carried on strong into the design for the face. I want this look to resemble a warrior with his war paint on, which is why I have opted for a bold design, with the accentuated teeth. Think growling, like dogs or other such animals when warding off threat or danger. 

I have chosen a black male model, so I've decided to paint over the fullers earth with white and yellow supra colour mixed together. I think this will less harsh and more natural than just painting it white, but I think the contrast of this with the model's dark skin should look good.

Final Look (Catwalk)

Here is my completed face chart for the Catwalk look:

For the hair, as described, I will try to create a dreaded look, using fullers earth. I have practised my method here:

I'll start by braiding the hair back before applying the fullers earth and allowing to dry. I then want to use more muted colours on the dreads as I don't want them to stand out so much. The rest of the hair will be pulled to one side with some fullers earth working into strands to create a couple of defined dreads. I want the rest to look unkempt and not brushed.

As far as styling goes for this character, I want to keep it really simple. This look really is all about the skin so I can;t detract from that. Again, I will be using material that I have been picked up on travels. I will be using a beautiful sari found in India as pictured. The greens, reds and golds of the design lend themselves nicely to the kind of image I want to create, something of-the-earth and natural feeling.

Again, accessories will be very simple. I have a beautiful gold band to go around then neck to help reflect the golden glow of the skin. I have gold cuffs which I may choose to use on the ears and I will bring along feather with me to the shoot, to add to the hair if I wish.

Catwalk Look

As I have already discussed, I was keen to create a catwalk look that represented a 'Golden Goddess' look, but I want to keep the look earthy and natural feeling so I have decided my main focus will be the skin. I need the skin to be flawless, glowing, 'golden' - just not in the literal sense. I think this can be achieved by a tan and some beautiful products with a high sheen - and maybe a little gold spray here and there!

Here a few examples of some tribal markings I've been thinking about adding to the face..

                       

I want the markings to be subtle and elegant, but also empowering. I want the face to appear strong, and although beautiful I am not aiming for a girly look. For this reason the two face charts to the left have been ruled out, as these feminine designs will look to 'pretty'. I like the boldness of the other two, they both have the powerful woman look about them.

To see which lines I preferred the most I next decided to try it on myself. Here I tried a combination of line from a couple of the face charts above, but I was really struck by the simplicity yet effectiveness of it. This is just the kind of look I was trying to come up with, as it adds real strength to the face but will allow the beauty and flawless skin of my model to really shine through.

All these lines needed now was depth, so I began to experiment some more with natural pattern. It was the pattern of a feather that lead me to try this out:

Here I have gone over the black line created with a black liquid liner, with horizontal white lines. I used another liquid line to achieve this but really like the look. It's completely natural looking by it's design and yet a subtle, sexy look to have on a runway.

Editorial Styling and Symbology

For my editorial look I know I want the body paint to be striking, but to create the sort of mysterious/tribe look that I am after I have decided to think carefully about the styling. I want there to be symbolism, perhaps to help create a weird,  mystical shaman like feel to the look. I have included this picture of Calypso from Pirates of the Caribbean as she is definitely an influence to the sort of look I am going for, with her tattooed face, rich worn fabrics and carefully selected jewellery and hair beads.

Another idea I like is the use of a turban, which on a male model will hopefully have more impact than on a female as it more unusual. Pictured is an example of a Wodaabe man wearing a turban. The effect is enigmatic. I would be interested to see what I could attach to a turban too, such as feathers and trinkets. I think the fabrics used will be important so I will consider this carefully before making it.

Something I know I would like to get into the image somehow is Cowry shells. I know they have been used as currency for thousand of years, even discovered mysteriously in some of the most in-land locations as explained here on the Wikipedia site:

"The Ojibway aboriginal people in North America use cowry shells which are called sacred Miigis Shells or whiteshells in Midewiwin ceremonies, and theWhiteshell Provincial Park in Manitoba, Canada is named after this type of shell. There is some debate about how the Ojibway traded for or found these shells, so far inland and so far north, very distant from the natural habitat. Oral stories and birch bark scrolls seem to indicate that the shells were found in the ground, or washed up on the shores of lakes or rivers. Finding the cowry shells so far inland could indicate the previous use of them by an earlier tribe or group in the area, who may have obtained them through an extensive trade network in the ancient past. Petroforms in the Whiteshell Provincial Park may be as old as 8,000 years"

Theres a mystery to the cowry shell that I want to include in my final piece, so I've decided to remove the shells from an old bracelet of mine, sew them together and attach them to my turban.

Another accessory I made is the bracelet below. I decided to cut out these small face and fit them to the bracelet sections. In the image these faces still haven't been stuck, but to make them fit the domed bead a scrunched up the paper lots, to make it soft, before glueing with spray mount. I then sprayed more glue over the top to give a hardened finish. 

I took the idea to do this from old tribes who used the heads or body parts of their defeated as body adornment. 

So.. after all the turban talk here is my attempt at creating my very own:

I started off with the polystyrene head and a beehive wig that I found in a fancy dress shop. I then sculpted the turban around the wig, which gave me initial volume instead of me having to layer up the turban with fabric (seeing as I have no idea how to tie one!).For the fabrics I wanted to use some that had culture and significance to the project, so my first layer is sari fabric which I purchased in India. Around this I wrapped an egyptian silk scarf, and to bring more shape to the front of the turban I added a silk scarf that belonged to a Great Great Aunty of mine, who for a woman of that era did a lot of travelling. This was secured into place by a feathered alice band and plenty of safety pins! The face that the materials mean something to me have definitely added to the turban and I'm pleased and suprised at how it turned out.

As I used a wig for the base, I had the fringe to contend with. I initially was going to remove the wig by tucking it up into the fabric. After a little more thought I decided it might be fun to try and get another cultural reference in there. I decided to crop the fringe so it was very short, resembling that of the Mucawana women (pictured) who use cow fat and cow dung to stiffen their very short fringes.

I hope all these ideas put together will create a successfully styled piece. For the shoot I will attach the cowries to the turban and add feathers etc. as I see fit. I will also play around with the possibilities of adding and earrings.

References:

http://www.coincoin.com/seXX1.htm

http://pinterest.com/pin/214835844696146836/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mytripsmypics/5056134021/

Turkish Eye

When trying to gain a little inspiration a few weeks ago, I decided to sift through various artefacts my Mum has collected over the years, of which there are plenty! One little symbol I came across time and time again was the Turkish Eye, Evil Eye or the Nazar Boncugu which literally translates to 'Evil Eye Bead'. This glass blue eye is believed to withhold protective powers that ward off evil spirits and protect the wearer from harm. In Turkey today people still attach this symbol to anything they believe could attract greed and envy, such as their cars, houses, their livestock, their businesses and their children.

During my own travels to turkey my friend who lives their bought me a beautiful silver bracelet with the eye design all around it. I thought I'd use this design to inspire a free-hand face paint in class. Here is what I came up with:

 

It was a very quick and simple design, using water based face paints and Illamasqua's liquid eye liners, 'Precision Ink' in colours Scribe and Glister.

Skeleton Inspired Body Paint Design

Having looked into the Skeleton Tribe I was sure I wanted one of my final looks to be influenced by the ferocious body paint they wear. I want to use a male model with a strong physique, using the skeleton as my main inspiration for design. Below are my own designs that I have come up with:

1. 2.

3.4.

5.

These designs would be for my final Editorial look, for which I want to create an organic image using raw body paint and strange fabrics - I want it to look as though it could have been a design taken straight from an exotic tribe. I don't want imagery to look too futuristic or modern, which is why I have decided against design 1. & 2. even though I really like the strong lines and warrior-esuq markings. Design 5. seemed too 'flimsy' for me. I like the design, but it's important my model comes across as formidable. I thought design 4. was too much, considering a warrior going to war probably wouldn't fiddle around painting on such precise detail on a large scale when design 3. says enough, whilst allowing the body to talk for itself. I like how the design almost looks like a sheet of armour across the chest and heart, and I think teamed with the right face design it could be a really dramatic look.

GOLDEN GODDESS

I love the idea of creating a Golden Goddess look, so to get the ideas flowing I have made myself a little moodboard.

 

Having looked at my collected images, I know for sure I woud like to at least use gold as a highlight for one of my final looks. Unlike the image in the bottom right hand corner of the woman sprayed entirely gold, I could use a gold pigmant to select desired areas, such as in the image of the 'Vogue' front cover, and the middle top Image which was a look created by Alex Box. Both these images have selected the inside corner of the eye and it is a really dramatic effect. I love also middle bottom image, where its appears a selection of gold leaf and gold pigmants have been used to create this modern look. My favourite aspect of this however, is the gold highlight used to highlight the top lip and filtrum of 'Cupid's Bow' area. 

The central image of Kelis is a snapshot from her music video 'Acapella' which I have discussed in my earlier post, HERE. I love the use of facial jewellery as it instantly adds a tribal concept, even to this glam look.