Craping the skin with Sue Mainstone

For todays class we learned how to age the skin using liquid latex. Sue gave the class a demo and it was then out turn to set up our workspace according to the H and S rules. 

Health and Safety.

1. Cover your client with a cape to ensure no product falls onto there clothes. 
2. Wash hands to avoid bacteria contamination.
3. Set up your work space in With health and safety in mind. Make sure the space is organised and clean. 
4. Apply a small amount of liquid latex to your clients skin. Make sure you apply this to the inner forearm as this is the most sensitive area. wait until its dries. If your clients skin goes red, gets itchy, or feels hot do not use on your client. 

Tools used.

1. Liquid Latex.
2. Old age stipple
3. Acetone.
4. Barrier Cream
5. Couch roll for surface area.
6. Artists palette.
7. Cotton buds.

Technique.

1. Clean all of the makeup off of your clients skin. 
2. Cleanse Tone and moisturise your clients skin. This will remove any barrier off of the skin so that the latex will stick.
3. Once you have removed the any makeup or dirt from the skin, you apply the barrier cream.
4. Place the liquid latex on a palette or bowl, making sure you put the lid back onto the latex bottle. 
5. Apply using a stipple sponge. Apply in thin layers to taught skin, and blend the latex out so to get rid of any harsh lines. Wait for them to dry each time. This will give a really wrinkled effect. Dry using a hair dryer on a cool setting. You can see when the latex is dry as it will be clear. 
6. To make the latex look more like skin, you can apply either translucent powder or slightly tinted. This will give it more texture too, making it look more like skin. 
7. You can squeeze the skin slightly to create deeper wrinkles.
8. If you have any harsh lines or lumps, dip a cotton bud into the acetone and lift off the latex very gently. Go lightly with this because you may risk taking off more latex than you mean to. 

Without smiling.

Outcome.

I missed the beginning of this lecture due to a family emergency so I struggled with this class. Sue gave me a briefing and my partner Tolly talked me through it, which I was really grateful of. I struggled at first as I had missed the demo. I didn't know how much to use or how to really apply it, but I found that if I kept practising I could figure out where I was going wrong. I definitely preferred using the liquid latex. Its definitely really interesting to work with and I really want to purchase some of my own so that I can practise. Some of the other girls attempts were fantastic so I really got to see what you could do with latex. I am going to keep practising this as I feel I can create some really interesting looks with this. 

First half of the semester: The Picture of Dorian Gray. By Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde. The portrait of Dorian Gray. 

We were asked to read a classic book from a given list over Christmas. I chose the book the picture of Dorian Gray. I absolutely fell in love with it. I always find it hard to connect to certain books depending on the writer but this one I was completely enthralled with from beginning to end. Oscar Wilde combination of wit and intellect make this book a classic. The great attention to detail and descriptive content Surround you with the story.
The book is a dark tale based in London In the late Victorian era. I will be looking at Victorian male beauty and style from this era. 

My chosen character is Dorian Gray. I did want to choose Lord Henry Wotton but I feel that Dorian Grays character has more Creative leeway. Some of his experiences I feel can help me create an exciting and interesting interpretation. I do feel however that They are almost one character. Lord Henry remains unchanged through out the book. He still has his ideas and philosophies but its as if he is living through Dorians character. You don't hear much of Lord Henry's activities. It seems, as the book goes on, that Henry still takes part in affluent London. Still attends dinners, and social gatherings. Whilst Dorian seems to be the one living out Lord Henry's philosophy. 

Dorian Gray is a young and beautiful young man. He is the grandson of Lord Kelso, his mother was Lady Margaret Devereaux whom, apparently was an incredibly beautiful girl who men were frantic over when she then ran away with 'a penniless fellow; a mere nobody, sir, a subaltern (someone who is socially and politically outside of the power structures of there hometown) in a foot regiment, or something of that kind.'  This man ended up dieing in a brawl a few months later. It was rumoured that Dorians grandfather had paid someone to kill his daughters husband. This was hushed up though and and Kelso brought his daughter back with him, who in turn never spoke to him again. She died a year later leaving dorian. Nothing is known about how he grew up or who with but it is mentioned in the book that he received ownership of the family property Selby. My thoughts are that he must have had some sort of communication with his grandfather or someone in charge of his estate, to still be able to keep the property. Dorian comes across as very vain and very easily influenced. He seems spoilt and naive of the world outside of his own. The way he absorbs everything Lord Henry Says is a clear sign of this. 

Through to the end of the book it seems that Lord Henry Wotton is the only friend Dorian has. Henry  isn't effected by Dorian and as much as he likes Dorian its as if he see's him as more of a human experiment then an actual human being.  He gives Dorian a book that will influence his behaviour for the next 18 years. Dorian begins a life of experimentation and no morals. Leaving people dead, angry or completely on a downward spiral in his wake. 

I dont particularly like Dorian's character. As much as he is smart having spent most of his life researching his different obsessions. He doesn't seem wise with life, people and personal growth and awareness. He is completely selfish and unaware of the affect his choices make on other people.  He goes about life doing whatever he wants with no thoughts of the concequences and I did find myself disappointed when James Vane (Sybil Vane's brother, Sybil killed herself after Dorian made her fall for him and then he left her.) died and didn't get his revenge on Dorian. His character chose a life of immorality and ended up spending a lot of time in the darker seedier parts of london. Opium drug dens etc.

My Initial Idea and Thoughts.

I really want to play into this with my final design. I want to incorporate this into a dream sequence. In my movie I would have a dream sequence that Dorian has. In the weeks past seeing the picture change for the first time (because of his cruelty to Sybil Vane), Dorian Contemplates what it would be like if he destroyed the picture and he took the burdens of ageing and sin back. He is having a battle with himself and is terrified of seeing the portrait change, but he is also terrified of seeing his own face change. I thought that in my movie he would have a dream where he was back to normal and ageing like everyone else. In this dream his face has taken the character of himself with all of his awful deeds too. He would pass the mirror in his attic room where the portrait use to be kept and he would despise his own reflection. All the colour would have gone from his face, his eyes and cheek bones hollow, His lips greying, and his skin broken. The darkness of his insides seeping through his skin.
 
Image Ref:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ae/8f/f5/ae8ff52ba97ce23d1f41b8403d89eaa9.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/72/bf/7e/72bf7e4b442d9046dfa53a46e4ba9c89.jpg
http://img14.deviantart.net/ce4d/i/2004/364/5/0/the_face_of_dorian_gray_by_kenmeyerjr.jpg
http://41.media.tumblr.com/154c89dce449469d1657560e71f19d81/tumblr_o3nnr4dpyE1qzkm8ro1_1280.jpg
http://impakter.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/e56d5ae916f971b8d2a983db585ae29c.jpg
https://image.artrescape.com/artwork/7562/2013-07-31/[29]_untitled_charcoal__on_canvas_72.5_x_60_cm_2013.jpg

Practise

Technical

Outcome

Research