Week 3 competition

This weeks theme was Mystic....



Another fairly poor showing,



just 3 entries.......

but I WON!!!!!

Well, I was in with a pretty good chance.....YD thinks he's pretty cool as he was my model when I finally won but I couldn't do this one on my own face.

Unfortunately I can't use my prize ticket to the Australian Body Art Awards which is this week, but another painter who is going offered to swap me some paint for the tkt so I'm happy!

week1 winner

And this weeks winner was.....
a beautiful and quite traditional version of a carnivale mask.


The other entries..... and not many other them either so I was in with a chance! (my entry is in post below)




















This weeks theme is Fiesta......wish me luck!

1st entry

In February the Australian Body Art Awards are on in Melbourne. Unfortunately I won't be going to the spectacle but last week they opened a photo competition for face painters which meant I could participate without being there. It will run over 3 weeks with a different theme each week and you can enter up to 3 designs a week.
WhooHooo!
This weeks theme was Venice.
A few entries were put up on the facepainting forum and so far they were all lovely masks, so I decided to change track and made my entry a sunset theme with cathedral, gondola & street lights in silhouette.
I had no model, so had to paint me which was another reason not to try the delicate swirls & detail of a mask. It was the 1st time I have done a total full face on myself too and I have to say, my respect for full body models has risen as it's so hard not to scratch yourself without thinking about it and those models can be painted for hours.
I had a few other ideas which included millefiore beads and the Doge's Palace's intricate arches but time didn't allow for those to be painted.
It's quite exciting being in a competition, being judged against others more experienced.
So now I wait for this weeks theme to be announced.....

new decade begins

Happy New Year - here's to happy times in 2010! I hope everyone had the fun/alcohol/sleep/food they wanted last night to bring in the new decade.

I was thinking about how little fanfare this decade is heralded with, unlike the last -altho that was the start of a century too I guess....




I've had the urge to try to do a body painting but trying to paint wriggly little boys is near impossible - so if anyone out there wants to be painted let me know....

the Wolfe Brothers

The last 2 days I have spent being inspired by the wonderfully clever, giving and positive vibe flowing Nick & Brian Wolfe, identical twins well known in face & body art circles around the world. They started out in the highly competitive painting world in Orlando FL and have a couple of movie credits for Special FX, have left behind a growing paint supply business, have several how to books published and now travel the world teaching, judging and competing (&winning) in face & body competitions around the world. What a life!

Day 1 we spent painting rubber heads.....doing cool, ultra fast skulls, tribal designs, stars and flames. Then the guys showed us a little more, whipping off things like dino skeltons in moments.

After lunch we moved on to learning basic face parts - highlighting & shadows, expression....

That's my head there -1st in line. I'm pretty impressed!!

........Then the guys again wandered thru the room transforming the basic faces into an array of scarey 'boy' faces.....see, so easy!!!

Day 2 we all returned a little tired as so many of us had been kept up with all the info being sorted thru our heads all night. We started with bruises, scratches, bullet wounds & blood splatters. Yes it was special effects (and gore) day!

Then using the basic from the day b4 we were shown how to do the 'ripped of skin' look....he did it so easily! I can't wait to try.

After lunch we went on to showing how to do latex effects which was pretty cool then finished the official lessons with a full on SFX (pre made) mask -attachment, adding horns, painting it and finishing up with those freaky contacts & teeth. If they hadn't have been teaching us I reckon they would have whipped this one up in 15-20 minutes easily.

Then they started to play and painted just about all of us -I was about 15th and suggested just a little dragon.....and got this work of art......I didn't want to wash it off.

inspiration abounds

This week I attended Annie & Amber's 2 Day Brisbane workshops. It was wonderful to be sitting in a room (& simply talking to ) a room full of other face painters -others who get excited about nice brushes, beautiful paints and ways to get great results, quickly. I was definitely inspired and can't wait to have a chance to paint.

We all got painted, painted ourselves and each other, trying the new techniques we were shown and new brushes and paint. Things are so much easier when you are shown HOW to do something rather than trying to muddle thru yourself. Even if its just the way you 'swoosh' your brush or sponge!

I also spent half my time at the shops this morning looking for suitable containers to try making my own split (rainbow) cakes - this may become an obsession....

Hopefully, I can now make contact with some of the other painters I met on a forum and I will hear about more workshops, meetups and there's even talk of a convention here in Brisbane! A whole new community for me.


If you are interested more pics can be seen here.


Apart from these two great days I have had an unusually busy week and I'm happy to say some of it was socially. Both Tuesday night and Friday night I went out with my new 'school mum' friends, 1stly to the movies with the mums then last night we went out for our now regular monthly dinner to which we had generously invited our husbands.
I've also had a poorly attended Fete meeting and an extremely satisfying face painting workshop of my own teaching the ladies who will be on the fete face painting stall the basic techniques and running thru our face designs.

I am looking forward to no school runs for the next 2 weeks but dreading the bickering I know will fill my days with both boys at home...

more Aussie designs

Here's the last of my Australia Day designs.


A Rainbow Lorikeet


a Redback Spider


and thanks for the idea Katy.....
a Thong !

getting ready for Australia Day

So, I just thought I'd start getting ready for Australia Day celebrations and do a few designs......

































some green & gold....... flag variations........ wattle & gum blossoms ..... a koala ..... the southern cross...

any other suggestions?

and Just on the odd chance someone is searching for Australian designs & stumbles by here...

If you like my designs please make your own versions to photograph - DO NOT USE MINE!
I have permission to use these kids faces - you do not.

Jokers

Just before Xmas I did a job for a bunch of crazies getting ready for their work Xmas party.......

.....there were 12 of them and they walked thru the city like that in 32' heat!

Christmas designs

Today Cheeky Cheeks did our 1st christmas party for the year so yesterday I used #1son as a canvas so we would have some Christmassy designs to display....





















it was all a bit of a waste tho as only one design got used, the rest went for the usual old butterflies, spiderman, hearts & flowers......
































but I think looked in the spirit of things!

happy halloween

So I figure blogging is a self indulgent thing, so where else can I put up pics of myself, with my face painted by myself, which I thought looked pretty good -if I do say so myself!





All for #1son's school class halloween BBQ last night. The kids all had a ball....


oh and here's some pics of the kids..... with my little batman and dragon boy.