Design Process

I based my look partly off real accounts and ideas and was also inspired by different looks from films. I know I wanted to create a face piece to make sure that my look didn’t just look like a person covered in paint.

I researched many different ways of working with special effects materials and I originally wanted to work with silicone pieces, however after testing different ideas I decided that I wanted to use latex and putty instead so that I would have more freedom when creating my look.

I started off just practicing layering the skin with latex to create a skin surface that didn’t look very human. This was easily achieved using a stipple sponge with latex and stippling it all over the skin, waiting for each layer to dry and them applying another one. I really liked the way this looked and it was a much better alternative than just leaving the natural skin texture as it was as it did look very alien.

I also tested with different colours on top of this such as black, grey, green and brown shades. I decided one the green mainly because I felt that most of the accounts I researched appeared to include this colour.

I created my face piece using latex. I did this by using my KATE head from first year as a base to build clay onto the face. The piece would just be covering part of the forehead and nose. I found it quite difficult to sculpt the piece when it was on the face, I think because it was hard to reach different angles to blend and because it’s a different shape to a real face.

 I covered the clay with 99% Alcohol and then applied my latex onto using a stippling brush. It took me a few different attempts to get this right as this isn’t really a technique than I am used to. I did find this way a lot easier than using silicone though, as it was a more simple and faster process. Overall, I did find that the more I practiced the better the pieces looked and I as very pleased with the final outcome.
 

(practice pieces)