My attempts with Scarification

My first attempt of recreating Scarification without the excruciating pain of actually going through with it, was done using food. 

Food and other items that can be used are items such as:
- Popcorn (unpopped)
- Split peas
- Rice
- Spaghetti
- String

There are many more items that could be used, it really doesn't matter what is used it just needs to be small enough to look as though it could replicate a scar on the skin. Looking at images of different scarifications could help during this process to gather an image in your head of what you wanted to create.

Other equipment that is needed is:
- PVA glue/Liquid Latex (if creating a look on a larger scale for example the whole back/arm or leg then it would be much more cost effective to use PVA glue as it gives nearly the same effect as using liquid latex which is fairly expensive when using in bulk.
- Mixing bowl
- Hairdryer if necessary
- Tweezers

Method:

1. Firstly, place the required amount of material needed into the mixing bowl. Then add the liquid latex/glue so as not to pour too much in to begin with.
2. The glue/latex can dry quite quickly and get very tacky very quickly so it may be a good idea to do small sections at a time otherwise a lot of materials may go to waste. 
3. Stir all together and check that the consistency is not too thin but that the foods/materials are all covered in the latex/glue. If more is needed to make the mix thicker, add more gradually or wait a while until the mixture thickens as it dries. 
4. If more than one material is being used within the design, it would be a good idea to use separate bowls for each material as these can clog up and be difficult to separate. 
5. Use tweezers to pick out the pieces that you need and start to lay onto the desired area. It may help to draw a design onto paper or even mark out the design on the skin using an eyeliner or something similar to help your accuracy when applying the materials onto the skin. 
6. After the desired effect is made, either wait for the skin to completely dry or use the cool setting on a hairdryer to speed up the process. 
7. Now colours/foundations can be applied to create interesting effects on the skin. 

I am not too pleased with my images however I feel that for my first attempt it went okay. I liked using the natural colours on top because it created different effects on the skin and brought out the designs in different ways. 

Another material that can be used for replicating scarification is using TUPLAST. This is a tacky, glue like substance that almost looks like a second skin. It is completely clear, and dries onto the skin almost instantly. I think that this gives a better and more realistic effect, but you are much more limited to the shapes that can be made as there is only so much that it can be built up in one application. Tuplast is also very expensive and would be unsuitable for a large scale design, unless you were willing to spend a lot of money on the equipment. 

I applied the tuplast to the skin and then split it into 3 sections. The top section has powder applied over the top of the tuplast, the middle section had foundation applied on top with a powder brush to stipple it on, and the bottom half used supracolours to outline the 'scarring' and give an inflamed and sore look. 

Here I started to pull and peel off the product, which made my skin slightly pink and gave an interesting blotchy look onto my skin. This did hurt quite a bit however so I would be unhappy in doing this on my model, however I do like the effect that it gives. I like how pulling off the product gives a more bobbly and ruffled effect onto the skin.

Another effect was stippling colour onto the skin. I really like this effect and think that it would work well in the editorial shots. I also really like the faded edges of this piece and the 3d effect that the tuplast gives. I cannot wait to try this on my face! 

After I peeled the tuplast off of the skin, the colour left a stencil and I really liked the effect that it gave. I would like to try out some more stencilling on the skin and record this here!

Scarification

Scarification is used in many tribes in Africa, and is done by using a sharp object, for example a piece of glass, a knife or a stone, and slicing the skin in different ways to create scars in different directions of various shapes and sizes. After the scarification is done, a method called Cicatrisation is sometimes practised. This method involves causing irritation to the skin after the cut has been made, by putting caustic plant extracts onto the skin forming permanent blisters. 

Scarification can not only be shown on the bodies and faces of west african tribes but also on pottery, carvings and sculptures. For example the pot shown below from a book called North American Art:

The location of the tribe depends on to what it extent the scarification is done. For example in Ghana the scarring is usually more minimal and only on the faces whereas in Nigeria a whole body may be scarred with intricate designs. Scarification can mean many things, to show strength and social status and identity, and especially for women, can make them more attractive to men. This is because it can imply that because the women have gone through this much pain of scarification and would therefore be able to withstand the pain of childbirth. 

Below are some images and video links that show scarification in action:

Soft pastels

I was playing around with some chalk pastels this morning and I created this interesting effect by drawing brightly coloured horizontal lines across the page and then using a peach colour to drag and blend all of the colours into one, down the page. This gives a very interesting effect and reminds me of the clothing and materials than an African tribe may wear. The drawing shows pattern and colour but also gives a 3d effect to the page and I think that it is really effective.

Here they are!

What next? Continued...

So now I have had the evening to think about what it is that I want to portray in both the Catwalk and Editorial looks, I feel better about going forwards and feel that my research will now be more refined and in depth. 

I started my work last night by creating a table of the differences between Catwalk and Editorial looks, this is shown below:

Catwalk	Editorial
Impact from a distance	More detailed up close, intricate
Remember it is not usually seen as close up	Needs to have perfection - will be looked at closely
Model needs to be mobile - think of hair and clothing changes etc.	Tends to be more extreme
Design references must be clear and translate to the viewer easily	The design is selected usually after discussion with the Stylist and the Creative Director
The makeup and hair cannot takeover from the clothing as this is the ultimate and original purpose for catwalk	Post production can be used to great effect for Editorial
Limited time - need for speed and product knowledge is key with what is being worked with, there is no time for something not working	Pre production may also be used, for example the use of a backdrop on the cyclorama for the shoot
Must be translatable to other models easily, options for different hair lengths, skin tone etc.	The setting/lighting/mood can help to tell the story of the piece
Must include face and hair templates which are easily understood so that the members of the design team can replicate this look onto models	Be more imaginative and experimental with techniques used
Think about where the catwalk show would take place, implications of this i.e. the floor surface and how difficult it would be to walk on.	Product knowledge also key - however if for example a lip gloss will only be at its most shiny when first applied it is important to think about this when shooting, i.e. apply this just before the shoot happens
	Face and hair templates are also just as important when it comes to the day of the shoot so that you know exactly what you are doing

 
This helps me to understand what it is that is important in defining the two types of shot and helped me to write out what it is that I would like to show in these two shots. I then went on to create a couple of bullet points for each type and briefly outline what it is that I want to produce, these are also shown below:


Ideas for Catwalk:

- Inspired by the Inuit people, with flashes of other tribes with similar looks, origins and ways of life i.e. the Yupik people and the Inupiat people
- Blues and neutral icy colours could be used in terms of styling hair and makeup
- Textures could include furs, suedes and wet-looking material possibly
- I need to ensure that I really research the tribes and understand their values and their reasons for the way that they look

Ideas for Editorial:

- Colourful, bright, lots of detail on the face and drawings on the face and body
- Influencing many african and american indian tribes, a mash up of lots of tribes and my favourite parts from all of them
- I will use more accessories than clothing within this piece, as the images will be more close up so I can use more intricate pieces that will be seen

I plan to now draw out some more pieces of research and start the design process. This may be fairly jumbled up where I will design something and then go back to do some research but I feel that this will be necessary in order to show my gradual development in the designing and research process. 

What next?

I have decided that I need to write down my progress so far when it comes to research and how I feel about the project, also where I think that I am heading with regards to the design process and the looks that I want to ultimately produce. 

I know that within my brief I need to hand in:

- 1 Wild Kingdom storyboard.

- 2 Character moodboards (1 Editorial, 1 Catwalk).

- 2 images for Wild Kingdom catwalk (1 focussed on makeup, 1 focussed on hair).

- 2 images for Wild Kingdom editorial (1 focussed on makeup, 1 focussed on hair).

- A link to my blog (minimum of 20 pages of visual research via the blog. Pages must explain my design progressions and include several makeup templates for each character to evidence how they have evolved. The blog must include reflective text throughout.

- 250 word evaluative statement.

- Makeup and Hair technical file sign off sheet. 

Although I am still going through the research process, I think that it is important to start deciding on the themes and looks that I would like to produce in both the Editorial and Catwalk look. This will really help me and my work to guide me through and make me focus on different things for different tribes etc. I want to create a few sentences for both Catwalk and Editorial that give me guidelines on the next step of research. The research will then be more honed in and make more sense with the direction that I wish to go in. 

I will be posting soon on the direction that I will take, the sentences may be fairly vague and my final outcome may have completely digressed from this however this will be shown gradually throughout my further research and design processes. I also want to document my models on here within the next few days so that I can start to think about what I could do with their faces, bodies and hair. 

I think that this post and the next couple of posts will really help me to set out a plan for the next few weeks and help me to keep to a time schedule too. 

Sculptures and pottery

Below are some examples of pottery, sculptures and masks that inspire me when looking at North American Indian and African tribes. I think that it is important to look at different forms of art rather than just the members of the tribes to ensure that I gather lots of inspiration and knowledge from a wide range of sources.

Transfers

Transferring an image onto the body gives a very interesting effect. I chose my image from a magazine (non-glossy) and cut out the design that I wanted to place onto my models skin. I chose this crayon design because I wanted to see how different colours imprinted onto the skin, and the strongest colours against my models skin tone. 

Then, using a nail varnish remover that contains acetone, I pressed the design onto my models skin and rubbed a cotton wool pad over the reverse of the image, until it was completely soaked.

Because some of the parts weren't completely covered, I decided to try out two different products to colour in the rest of the image. I used my Aquacolours at first and saw that these did not give a very good effect. The bold colour works really well against the skin, but the lack of shading and highlight gives a very unrealistic look. 

Because of this error, I then decided to use the Supracolours instead. These worked much better, as you can see from the last two crayons on the right, the green and the blue. By using the Supracolours I was able to do more of a painting technique and use different pressures and amounts of product depending on how dark I wanted that section to be.

A close up of the two successful paintings.

When it comes to relating this to my project, I think that it could work very well with different patterns and could be used as a form of stencil instead of drawing freehand all of the time. I could use a transfer to place faint lines of the design on the desired area and 

Experimenting again!

 I wanted to show some more experimentation with makeup and different methods of applying it. Because of my first bodypainting session (with the turquoise pattern on the models back) I realised that it was difficult to draw circles and dots freehand using a brush. So, I used cotton buds and dipped these into different colours of my Supracolour palette and experimented with overlaying dots onto my arm. I think that it gives an interesting look and could be done all over the face to give an interesting affect. 

This is the equipment that I used for this experiment:

Relating this to tribes and what I have been looking at, I can relate it to the image below. This is an image of an Algonquin Native, the bodypainting on his face could be replicated by using this method too.

Experimentation

I decided to create my own tattooed drawings onto the skin of various models. Here is the outcome!

The first drawing is my favourite. I like the idea of some thick lines and some thinner, creating a more interesting look. I also love how the whole arm and leg is covered in designs.

I think that it is important to draw out ideas on paper first, to get your inspiration flowing but also to look at what designs are effective from afar, close up, and on different skin tones/body parts.

Textures, Patterns, Paintings

The Lisu women celebrating new year in very bright costumes with lavish amounts of jewellery (above).

The three images above are patterns and textures that have inspired my whilst reading Tribal Asia, and I would like to look back at them for inspiration if I decide to use an Asian tribe in my final look! The use of greens, reds and yellows are very prominent here, and the clashes of the colours really stand out from one another. The use of a highlight with red and shadowing with black is also something that I would like to use in my Makeup designs in the continuation of this project. 

Teeth in Tribal Asia

A Mru girl shown below portrays the Mru idea of beauty. With blackened teeth with soot and red painted lips this is definitely the opposite idea of beauty in modern England, where people will pay a lot of money to have the complete opposite!

Another idea of beauty in the Sakkudai culture is the sharpening of the teeth. The book reads; 'A hammer and chisel are used to grind down the enamel in this painful procedure'. Ouch! 

The outcome of sharpening the teeth...

Tattooing in Tribal Asia

The images below show a variety of Henna tattooing on the hands of women in different asian tribes. Henna was used to decorate the hands and body and is a temporary design on the skin, that is believed to promote health and fertility. Henna tattoos are also closely related with weddings and religious festivals. 

 This image shows the ancient way of applying tattoos on the skin. A sharpened bamboo stick was used to inject plant extract dyes under the skin.

The image below shows a buddhist symbol of eternity. The endless knots can be designed in many different ways but the lines do not have a start or a finish and are never ending. I think that this piece of information is very useful as during my designs I need to ensure that I use drawings that are not offensive to the tribe or religion that the tribe worships. 

Another tattooed man, this time from the Iban tribe. The tattoos would be earned by the men by 'carrying out a successful headhunt'.