Firstly, I hung up sheets to create curtains for my model to stand behind in order for him to feel more comfortable. I then set out my equipment to ensure I had everything I needed and that I wouldn’t run out of anything and placed a plastic sheet on the floor to prevent any paint from going on the floor. I then turned on the lights around my station to ensure that I had good lighting and therefore I could check my application of the face paint wasn’t streaky. When I was set up and my model had everything he needed I was happy to start.
I began by painting lots of different random shapes (squares, triangles, circles etc) on my models’ chest, stomach and arms using a variety of different brightly coloured face paints. I then connected each shape up to make sure no skin was showing and to the ensure all the skin was completely covered with paint. This part was very simple, and I made sure that all the shapes were as neat and precise as I could get them. I used small dense brushes to do this as this would give me the highest coverage and I made sure the paint was a thick consistency to prevent streakiness. I also kept referring to my body chart which I had previously drawn. I then moved onto my model’s legs whilst his upper body was drying. I started by painting random objects such as a pineapple, guitar, pencil and an umbrella, as Picasso often incorporated random objects into his paintings. I then filled in the rest of the legs with shapes just like I had done on his upper body, so no skin was showing as in the brief it states that only 25% of the body can be covered with clothing and this was my model’s boxers. I also found this step simple, but my model did have hairy legs, so it wasn’t as easy to paint over the hairs. Therefore, next time I would ask him to shave his legs, so the paint will go on much smoother. My model was wearing black boxers, so it was impossible to paint over so this would also be something I would change next time.
While his whole body was drying I began to apply a bald cap which I had previously made. To do this I started by gelling my model’s hair slick back. Then I carefully placed the bald cap on my model’s head and applied a prosthetic adhesive around his forehead and step by step secured it down. I worked my way from the front of his head towards the back as it was only a frontal piece we had to create so I wanted it to be very neat around the front. I found this much easier than last time as my bald cap was much stronger and the edges were very thin, so it looked less obvious. Once the prosthetic adhesive was completely dry and the bald cap was secure I started to paint my models face. I chose to do his face last as he doesn’t enjoy having his face touched and he is also insecure about his skin, so I didn’t want the paint to be on as long and to perhaps irritate him. I was careful with the placement of the paint on the seam of the bald cap and tried my best to hide it by using darker colours such as black and dark blue. On my models face I chose to incorporate disorientated faces as this is a huge aspect in many of Picassos paintings as well as his unique style of art ‘Cubism’ which is why I chose shapes on the rest of my model’s body. Once I had pained the disorientated faces on his face and neck I went around every single shape, feature and object with a black face paint to make them stand out and this is also something Picasso does in his paintings. I tried to be as neat as possible when outlining the shapes but again the hairs were quite difficult to paint over.
Overall, I was happy with the look I had created as you could tell it was a Picasso inspired, I had met the brief and followed all health and safety precautions. However next time I would change certain steps such as the colour of my model’s boxers, and to shave him so there would be no hairs.
Becky x
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