Move over tattoos... I am going to talk about body painting today.
In one of my Bitlanders blog, I wrote about if skin art is a go or a no for people. I also discussed the types of art on skin. Aside from tattoos, body painting is another popular type of skin art which this post will focus on.
Short Info on Body Art
There are different kinds of things you can use to create art on skin. You can use make up or acrylic or even colored pens like I sometimes do!
Painting on body parts or the whole body is of course a temporary thing. It cannot last for more than a day, unless you are part of a show or something, I guess you can walk around in body paint like latex for a day or two? I don't think any body paint can last that long though. If it does, it might get uncomfortable.
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Even celebrities are no stranger to body paint. Usually they are painted on when they get wounded on screen. Yes it can also be more of prostethic make up but it is still body art.
As an artist the paint to use will depend on the skin type of the model and the purpose of the art. If you'd like to paint yourself, you would have to look for the best fit for your skin type, just like make up. This means you will have to experiment on which ones work for you like some cosplayers do.
Ancient humans used natural dyes or pigments (1) like henna to paint their skin as part of rituals, spiritual activities or during wars. Nowadays we just do it for fun or to express ourselves in art and to entertain people. There are artists who do body painting for a living because their art is unique and incredible.
Henna art on foot (Source)
Let me introduce to you two artists who became known because of their body art paintings : Johannes Stoetter and my Instagram discovery, Kay Pike. Why these two people? Because I like comics and body art. Haha. Why not combine them together right? So here we go!
Kay Pike, The Cosplay Body Painter
Two years ago I was into designing and selling my own temporary tattoos (SkinTatz) and so it's no surprise I discovered an amazing body painter like Kayleen Pike, from Canada.
Spider Woman (Source)
I love Spider Woman. For some reason she is so underrated and unpopular. When I read the comics I liked the character a lot and so seeing Kay Pike as Spider Woman blew me away. It looks really cool to me. If you look at the pic above, she looks like she's straight out of comics! That's why I like her and people also like her work because it is more of a comicbook style of body painting.
She does western comic characters and also some anime and game characters too, either male or female. Aside from doing body painting she also sells prints of her character photos online. Ms. Pike also attends comic conventions and of course also joins in talks/panels about body painting. Cool huh.
Check out a livestream video of her doing her body painting below.
Her process first involves looking at character pictures and determining how best she can do an optical illusion to fit the art to her features. Then when she's done planning, the painting proper begins. Of course this can take hours to get finished, it can take up to 15 hrs (2) to be exact. The time will depend on the complexity of the character she will paint.
This also made me wonder if she painted herself naked. I wouldn't want my painted but naked body on public display if it was me. I would still like a sense of decency if I had some body paint on. Even if I was painting on someone, if ever I would, I will certainly have them wear underwear that I can paint on. The problem would be the material might make the artwork stand out from the rest.
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That question has now been answered with her very own video about it. I saw that you can use liquid latex instead. (And yes there are sellers of liquid latex locally.) Check Kay Pike's video on how she applies liquid latex (3) on boobs. Haha.
This is definitely one way for models to get decent before getting painted on and it will most likely look better in pictures and won't be as noticeable as wearing painted on cloth or being totally naked.
Want to know what she looks like under all that body paint? Here you go.
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Johannes Stoetter, The Fine Art / Nature Body Painter
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Now this guy is a popular one. Johannes Stoetter is a self taught Italian artist, speaks German (4) and is also a musician. He made it into mainstream media because of his nature inspired body paintings of people who become animals or fruits.
Watch this video and see for yourself.
Now you know why he's famous. As you have seen from the video, he has also done paintings for ad agencies for commercials and prints. If that ain't something to be proud of I don't know what is. Lol.
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Like Kay Pike, he also has prints of his work for sale online.
Don't you think body art is amazing? Would you like to know what products they use? Haha, I would like to put it here but I am not here to sell their paint. Let's just enjoy the beauty of their art shall we.
XOXO,
@artgirl
All images are copyright of their respective owners.
Written by @artgirl for Steemit
© Art x Stephanie Rue
For my other articles still within the 7 day period since posting this, do check below:
♦ 10 Things A Non-Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fan Should Know (Spoiler alert!) - Part I
☺ 10 Things A Non-Buffy the Vampire Slayer Fan Should Know (Spoiler alert!) - Part II
♥ 6 Things A Non-Fan Should Know About Game of Thrones
For my art and other posts, feel free to check my blog page.
Enjoy!