Mortal Kombat's Mileena

Products used:

Eyes:

• BH Cosmetics 120 Color Palettee II
• Lorac Pro II Palette
• Urban Decay Deluxe Shadow Palette
• NYX Black Khol Liner Pencil

Body:

• Mehron Paradise Paint in Violet
• Diamon FX Paint in Black and White
• Lorac Pro II Palette (shading)

STOP MOTION!!!

I absolutely love stop motion. I love the time it takes to place an object, take a shot, move the object, take a shot, and repeat the process over and over. It's pretty therapeutic (WHOA-just spelled that word without auto-correct). I actually enjoy doing lots of tedious things that most people would find absolutely awful. I love filling up pieces of paper with tiny swirls, I love finding all the extras in video games, like hidden bananas or loot boxes; I love playing newspaper games like sudoku and crosswords, I love geometry and algebra problems--and you know what? I really dig puzzles, and stop motion is absolutely a puzzle. 

Check out one of my very first stop motion videos using a chalkboard and some change in my bedroom when I was a kid.

I want to go to makeup school.

Youtube has been miraculous in teaching me what I currently know about makeup and face paint. I can create things I never knew were in my brain and I can do them using a very small selection of products. Though I am my own worst critic, I do understand the magnitude of what I've been able to create with my small amount of knowledge and experience. My intentions are not to come across as boastful, but rather to illustrate that I've come a very long way with a small amount of resources. I work very, very hard and have a creative bolt built into my genes, but imagine the kind of work I could be producing with professional training. People from all over the world tell me how extraordinary they feel my work is.. but can you believe it could be so much better?! I want to learn new techniques that make me time efficient. I want to learn about colors and color theory. I want to paint people into backgrounds and learn how to airbrush. I want to get into sculpting and building facial appliances. I want to learn about makeup and facial structures. I want to create art that no one has ever seen! I know I can do it. I have the spark in my head just waiting to explode into fireworks.. but I need to know more.

Living in the midwest suits my personality (calm, friendly, natural) but it lacks in opportunity for this art form. What a dream it would be to build up my own educational studio in the midwest for artists like me who can't afford/don't desire to live in a bustling city. The sad reality of it all is money, however, I've already come very far with little money and my outlook is positive for my future and whatever comes of it.

Jinx - League of Legends Tutorial

I've been waiting to do Jinx for quite some time but had wanted to do the look with pink contacts. I'm not sure what took me so long to come up with the idea to paint the eyes on (I do that frequently in my looks) but it finally came to me the other morning as I was getting out of bed. This character received two attempts. 

First attempt

Second attempt. I chose to not paint my mouth on this time around and I wanted my eyes to look a bit more realistic with extra shading.

It's HARD to paint eyeballs on your eyelids. Give it a shot and you'll understand, or just watch my video and see me struggle!

Pop Art - My First Face

My first face paint of all time was inspired by, Roy Lichtenstein, who inspired the thousands of pop art face paint works. It was the beginning of my last Spring semester at KU and I had enrolled in my final elective course of my college career, Stage Makeup 101. I was disappointed by the first class, where we were given a syllabus and the out line of work we would be doing through the semester. Old age, animals, highlighting and contouring, among others. Pretty dull I felt. I had enrolled in the class after seeing YouTube videos of Kandee Johnson transforming into an Avatar so I knew there were plenty more creative uses for my required $50 stage makeup kit. 

That evening after classes and work, I sat on the floor of my apartment and began googling images of the pop art face paint I had seen so many times prior. With the back of my paint brush I began applying the iconic red chicken pox all over my face and finishing with the black line work. I took out my fairly new Panasonic GH2 camera and snapped a few photos under the yellow, incandescent light bulbs in the bathroom.

The following year, after being introduced to Sister Act Face Painting and learning about high quality, water based face paints, I gave my pop art face a second shot with photographer friend, Jim Grace, present to document. Perhaps I will make this face a yearly tradition. We will see this January!

First Blog Post

Still figuring things out on this, my third, attempt at a website. Thankfully, each site gets better than the last as my experience grows.

Once I learn how to get pictures in these blog posts I will reward myself with a glass of wine and some bacon cheddar cheese. 

<<<I've done it. I'm not sure exactly how I've done it but I now know I can do it! 

This is a still shot from footage of my 5th birthday party. Seated next to me was my best friend, Rosie.