http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com en-gb learnprostheticmakeup.com 2009-11-2T00:00:00Z learnprostheticmakeup.com http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#51832 Well the show went ahead and all was well in the land of Frankenstein. Two dress rehearsals and four performances later and we are done. Below are a couple of finished shots.Where the mic was taped on kind of followed the edge on the back which was handy but being theatre edges were not a major issue. We all did a dress rehearsal together so everyone know the drill and in the end it was applied in about five minutes with ten minutes painting and tickling time to get it sweet.I had the delightful Kelly Marshall and Chamia Choudhury take care of the application for the show as I was unavailable for those evenings. They did a great job and I had an absolute blast making it. Now I want to do another one. Happy stickingStuart 12.00 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE ... 2009-11-2T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#51261 Now the mould is dry and hard enough I have cast out the skins in latex. I swill a layer or two then build up a thickness of cotton wool and tissue in the areas which dont need to move such as the top and back of the skull.Once this is left somewhere warm such as an airing cupboard for two days it has thoroughly dried throughout. I talc the inside to prevent it sticking to itself and there you have a latex skin. I repeat the process twice again so I have two for the show plus a spare so Jai can rehearse and get used to wearing it while I paint the other two in the workshop after the makeup testoh the luxuryNow onto painting. The paints I will use are PAX paints for an article on mixing and using them click here as these will adhere well to the latex and be used on the skin when applying the makeup for the show. I start with a base coloir on the two different skin areas and the gradually build up layers of colour with washes of thinned pax.The brain and skull areas are pained with a ... 2009-10-23T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#51047 Now the mould has hardened overnight its time to crack it open. Using a huge screwdriver and persuading it with a nylon mallet I go for the seamline and gradually the mould starts to open. Hurrah Fingers crossedI go around the back and front gradually increasing the gap size until it freely comes away.Here are the two halves of the mould and Im pleased to say that everything is well. A quick clean up and Im ready to bond these two halves together. Even though the mould was made in two halves to get it off the head shape easily I can effectively make this into a one piece mould by putting the two halves back together with clamps and adding clip wads of plaster and scrim onto a few points of the chunky wall I built. When these have set I can remove the cumbersome clamps and use it as a one piece mould.Here is a close up look of the seamline when the mould is closed up Im happy with that Alright So now I pop this in a warm place to really dry out overnight away from all moisture for... 2009-10-20T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#50948 The mould will be made out of plaster so in order to comfortably remove it from the head when it is finished I need to make it in two halves.I put a dividing clay wall on the top and support the back with plaster and scrim no bandage still using clingfilm ceran wrap first to keep the other half of the sculpt nice and clean. I use thin strips of clay which bend easily over shapes and then just wipe a small tool over the clay to get a nice smooth surface.Because I want to make the mould in two halves I make keys or joggles in the clay using the handle of a screwdriver. These will then help the two sides join in the correct position The screwdriver handle gives me a smooth rounded indentation which will be reproduced in the plaster. I prefer these to hard edge shaped keys which can chip easily. There are tools for this many made by mouldmakers themselves but the result is the same.And voilathe wall is ready and waxed with a little spray wax. Lets get busy with the first layer of plaster.... 2009-10-19T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#50805 Now the sculpt is finished its time to make the mould. The head piece is a simple slip latex appliance so I need to use plaster for the mould. I am using a hard casting plaster called Crystacal R as it is a strong plaster to make moulds with but also absorbs the water from the latex well.The first step is to ensure the bottom edge of the mould finishes in a nice neat line just under the edge of the sculpt. In order to create this I make a solid ground for a clay wall using bits of wood hotglued together I realised I had no plaster bandageDohOnce this was in place I placed a layer of water based clay onto the wood and carefully laid it up to the plaster surface keeping below the finished edge of the sculpture just a fraction of an inch.This now keeps the bottom edge of the mould neatly in line with the shape of the sculpt. Next stopthe plaster.Happy stickingStuart 12.00 Normal 0 false false false ENGB XNONE XNONE ... 2009-10-16T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#50497 Now the sculpt is finished. The details have been hardened upwrickles hardened up moles and little imperfectione here and there and the meaty softness contrasting with the hard sharp lines cut into the skin and bone. I had to lop an ear off in order to mould the sculpt sorry Jai. It was a clean break and itll glue back on. As the sculpt goes up tight to the back of the right ear thats camera right to have the plaster ear there would just get in the way.By maintaining contrast like that I hope to create a dramatic effect that will be seen from a distance as well as include enough little details to keep it looking good up close. I will also paint a lot of detail too and a lot more will be done with the colour and makeup. Heres the sculpt all the way around.I tried to make the surgery look clean and messy in different places as if there was surgical precision mixed with frantic urgency on the part of Dr Frankenstein. Lets hope the mould goes as swimmingly Ill be back Happy stickingStuar... 2009-10-13T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#50250 Thought it might be an idea to show you the incredibly rough design sketch. Being for stage it needs to be effective from a distance. Jai and I agreed to not go the UniversalHammer flattop route and go for the man made up of men look. There will be some additional stuff that will be done in makeup rather than appliances. This is because there will be a lot of singing and sweating on stage and unlike movies or TV I cant pop in for checkups in between takes. As a result Im keeping the appliances to a minimumand away from the mouth area.Here I have refined the sculpt smooted the shapes down and sharpened the details up. Being for stage I wont go too much into the wrinkles and pore texture although its too much fun to leave it out entirely. Old habits die hard I love the blocking out stage and it makes the refining so much easier. Using rough edged sculpting tools coarse plastic brushes and scratchy green scotch cloth you can shave down the surface gradually arriving at a smoother and... 2009-10-8T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#50194 Finally managed to get stuck into the Stein. Its been such a busy couple of weeks with teaching and paperwork and this head has been staring at me through the workshop window daring me to get on with it. At last I have.The plaster has had plenty of time to dry nicely and being Crystacal its nice and hard also a pain to have to shave down and clean up. Still lets have a look at some shots of whats happened so far.The plaster cast is not too bad on the frontjust a few air bubbles around the facial hair. The top two shots are the cast just as it was from opening the mould. The dark clay slip used as a release from the plaster bandage is clearly visible and stops right at the seamline which needs a little clean up. The lower two shots are after two hours of work with surforms rasps and rifflers. I wont be remoulding this head so I had to use a hard plaster to start with which makes it more work than it usually would be to shave down. I like to sketch out a pencil outline to ... 2009-10-7T00:00:00Z http://www.learnprostheticmakeup.com/page2.htm#49041 With the last workshop 15th 16th amp17th September just finished its time to finally get on with the Frankenstein creature makeup for Stage One Theatre Company. In my entire career I never once got to do a Frankenstein makeupso I leapt at the chance. Its low budget but I really wanted to do it anyway so thinking caps on. I shall keep you up to date here with progress sketches and sculpts.Here are a few shots of the lifecastmany thanks to Kelly and Karl for their excellent assistance. It was a textbook cast and everything was perfect. A great start to a fun project. Thanks especially to Chamia too for taking the photosWe used Nivea on the shaved head as a release agent which is much nicer to remove than vaseline. I pack out behind the ear with bandage to help prevent the plaster ears from breaking so easily. I chose to do the back half in bandage which saves on alginate and also because there is no detail I need on the back of the head. An added bonus means the face is covered... 2009-9-19T00:00:00Z