Camouflage, Film & TV |

January 25, 2017

Body Painting for Blue Peter

Blue Peter presenter Radzi Chinyanganya camouflage body painted on the Show

Several months ago I was contacted by one of the producers for the children’s television show Blue Peter. He was interested in my camouflage body painting and invited me to appear on the show to paint one of the presenters.

I remember watching Blue Peter when I was younger and my parents remember watching it too. So I had a look at Wikipedia to find out a few more facts about this iconic show.

Looking Back

The first programme was shown on the BBC way back in 1958 and there have been more than 4,000 episodes since then, making it the longest running children’s TV show in the world. The show includes various viewer and presenter ‘challenges’ and also the very popular (and my particular favourite) arts and crafts projects that viewers could recreate at home. Blue Peter has always featured a number of pets. My mother said that most people from her generation affectionately remember the presenter John Noakes and his border collie ‘Shep’ from the 1970’s.

The Blue Peter Badge

The badge in the shape of a shield with a white background and blue ship logo was originally introduced in 1963 and was coveted by every child who watched the programme. This version of the badge is what the presenters still wear. Viewers can send in letters or art work to try and win one. There are now also several other badges for various achievements including the Gold badge which is the highest award and given for exceptional achievement. Gold badge holders include David Beckham, JK Rowling Tom Daley and Queen Elizabeth II.

The Presenters

There have been numerous presenters over the years. My parents recall Peter Purves, John Noakes and Valerie Singleton whose highlight on the show was when she very famously accompanied Princess Anne on her first solo trip overseas in a Kenyan Royal Safari in 1971. The current presenters are Barney Harwood, Lindsay Russell and Radzi Chinyanganya – who would be my model for my appearance on the show.

My Body Painting Challenge

So it was with all this history under my belt that I set off from London to the studio in Manchester with my fellow artist Laura Scimone. The show would be broadcast live and I already knew that the painting time was limited so I took Laura along to ensure that we would be finished in time for the show to go live at 5 pm.

I travelled up to Manchester the morning of the live show and we had approximately 4 hours to complete the bodypainting whilst also allowing Radzi enough time to fit in rehearsals.

It’s always a challenge when I see a location for the first time on the day of a shoot and the Blue Peter studio offered up quite a few technical challenges for a body paint. I’d seen photos of the studio space prior to the show day but what couldn’t be seen in the photos was a detailed grid pattern that wraps around the entire studio! I knew that it was going to be a race against time to get all the detail onto Radzi in the amount of hours we had since all the grid squares had to be painted on individually. It might have been difficult, but that’s what I particularly like about doing make up or bodypainting for live TV. The extra pressure of knowing that you have to get it finished and looking perfect always makes it even more exciting!

We also had to run through the script whilst I was painting and I was worried that when it came to the live show that I would somehow mess up one of my answers or forget what to say! Thankfully once to show got going the adrenalin managed to carry me though!

1 a blue peter 5 WP Blog There was also an interactive section that featured 3 children painting various animals onto their hands. This was great fun and the children did very well.

So all in all it was a very enjoyable day. Everyone was really friendly and Radzi was a delight to work with and a very patient model. Plus at the grand old age of 34 I was absolutely thrilled to get my own Blue Peter badge!!

Film & TV |

August 10, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting and Make-up as a Career FAQ’S

My Most Frequently Asked Questions Part 1

I get quite a few emails requesting information regarding my career in the make-up and body painting industry. Some requests are from magazines or on-line publications who would like to feature my work. Some requests are from students who are thinking of a career as a make-up or body painting artist, or who need information for their college assignments. It’s not unusual for me to receive questionaires that can take a considerable time to complete. I do try to reply to everyone but sometimes it’s just too hectic and I just don’t have the time. So I’ve compiled a list of the most frequently asked questions from the various requests that I’ve received. I’ve had to split it into two parts as I think most people might just fall asleep if they had to tackle the whole list in one go!

Some of these points are covered in more detail in earlier blog posts, so if you have a poke around in the archives you should be able to find more in depth and (hopefully) useful information there!

Graduation from West Thames College’

Where did you do your training?

Suffolk College Ipswich. I did Art and Design followed by Beauty Therapy. Then West Thames College in London where I did a HND in ‘Specialist Hair & Make Up’

What made you want to start your own business?

After graduating from West Thames I had to weigh up the options of working for an established make-up company or starting out as a freelance make-up and body artist. Although there is the chance of less financial stability with no regular work, I do prefer the diversity of the assignments that come in. Then there’s the freedom that I get from less rigid working hours, and best of all I love being my own boss.

Artwork by Carolyn Roper

Why did you decide to paint on a body?

I’ve always had an interest in art and my hobbies include sketching and painting on canvasses. A lot of my spare time is still spent in my little art room at home working on various projects. I particularly love using pastels, pencils and oil paints. I, like most people, had seen the amazing photos of Demi Moore ‘wearing’ her suit painted by Joanne Gair. So when I began my Specialist Hair & Make-up HND course at West Thames, I was very pleased to see that body art was one of the modules as it was definitely something that I wanted to try. Once I started painting on the body everything just clicked and I knew this was something that I wanted to pursue.

What did you find difficult when you started?

It does take several years to get established in this industry, so it was definitely the lack of any regular work and no regular income. Living in rented accommodation in London, and having to pay very high rent meant a lot of sacrifices had to be made. No holidays, no shopping for nice clothes, meals out etc. But the sacrifices and hard work have paid off and it’s definitely been worth it in the end.

Where is your business based?

I’m based mainly in London but travel anywhere that my work takes me, whether it be somewhere in the UK or an overseas location.

Las Vegas a favourite destination

Have you done much international body painting?

Yes. I’ve been lucky to travel extensively during my career and have worked with clients in some amazing locations including Hong Kong, Cape Town, New York, Chicago, Las Vegas, Atlanta, Orlando, The Dominican Republic Mumbai, Thailand, Paris, Rome, Berlin and several other European locations. Some assignments have literally been fly in, paint, fly out! Plus there’s the dreaded jet lag to deal with. But most of the long haul destinations have included some free time for site seeing and most importantly time to shop and fill my suitcase with assorted souvenirs. After a December trip to Hong Kong everyone’s Christmas present had a definite oriental theme that year! One of my favourite destinations is Las Vegas and I’m really lucky to have visited 3 times for various body art events.

Can you describe your clients?

Most of my clients are from the world of marketing. They’re usually Advertising and PR agencies who want to use body art for a particular campaign or promotion. I’ve also worked with quite a few television companies who are featuring body art, or would like to use body painting for a television commercial. I work with some charities that are very close to my heart, and I do some private commissions if I have the time.

Body painting in the Caribbean

What’s the most unusual place you’ve painted?

This definitely has to be the assignment in The Dominican Republic. I was commissioned to camouflage several models into a lovely hotel and beach side location for a Belgian travel company. On some days we were very tight on the timings and for one location we only had around 40 minutes to get the painting completed before the sun went down. So myself and Emily who was helping with the job, ended up painting as fast as we could, practically up to our chests in the sea….well it was more like Emily’s waist as she’s a lot taller than me! We had the paints floating next to us in a bucket, so yes, we were painting in the Caribbean….quite literally!

Who decides on the design?

I would say that with 95% of my commercial work the client is the one who provides the design. Sometimes they want my input and then I put a design together for their approval. If there are logos I hand cut the stencils beforehand for a nice crisp professional finish. For my past competition work I usually play around with sketches before deciding on my final designs.

What do you like about painting on the body as opposed to working on a canvas?

Body painting at IMATS New York

I like the way a body painting can tell a story and have a range of emotions. You can play around with the lighting and position of the models’ body and your artwork changes every time the model changes position. You can also interact with your model and I’m very much a people person, so it’s great to create a piece of art that you can actually chat to whilst working. The down side is that you can’t just leave a body painting as you would with a canvas. You can’t put it aside whilst you have lunch, or leave it for another day. Once you start you have to finish, and usually as quickly as you can.

How long does a body painting take?

The timings will depend on how much of the body is being painted and the complexity of the design. A full body paint in a very intricate design can take up to 4 hours. With camouflage work I always prefer at least 4 hours particularly if it’s a very detailed background, but I rarely get as long as I would like. As a commercial body artist it’s all about being able to achieve the best possible result for the client usually in the shortest amount of time. I’m always up against the clock and there have been a few shoots where I would have loved the luxury of an extra hour for finishing touches. If the timings are really very tight I take along another artist so that we can work together to speed up the painting time.

Do you work alone, in a partnership, or have employees?

It depends on the job and the timings. If it’s a one model or 2 torso body paint I usually work alone. For bookings with multiple models I have a great team of make-up and body artists who work with me on larger assignments. Some of my team are also employed by established make-up companies like MAC or Inglot and some are freelance like me. But most have been with me for many years and 2 of my girls were actually my bridesmaids when I got married 3 years ago.

Continue to FAQ’s Part 2 for more information on life as a freelance make-up and body painter.

Camouflage, Film & TV, My Work Assignments |

April 16, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

‘Naked and Invisible’ On Channel 4’s All4 Facebook Page goes viral!!

Personal Trainer Ashley Lewis camouflage body painted against shelves of vegetables

The ‘Naked and Invisible’ series of short films for Channel 4 featuring my camouflage body painting has gone viral over the last week. Since its release 10 days ago the brilliant video has received more than 5.7 million views and has been shared an unbelievable 66,000 times all around the world. It’s been seen everywhere from Hong Kong to Buenos Aires and Venezuela to Nepal.

You can watch the trailer clip at the All4 Facebook Page here or if you would like to watch all 4 short films in their entirety, go to the Channel 4 website here

I’ve worked on a lot of camouflage assignments during my career but this has to be up there as one of the most enjoyable jobs that I’ve ever done. So naturally I’m thrilled for everyone who was involved in the making of the series.

Matthew ‘Morgan Fabulous’ camouflage body painted against a clothes stall in a busy market

The background to the series.

As I said in a previous blog, I was approached by Showem Entertainment Ltd several months ago regarding an idea that they were working on for a series of short films for Channel 4. This would involve volunteer models being camouflaged, using body paint, into various backgrounds around London so that they were invisible to the public for a short while.

All the models had a particular reason for wanting to be invisible for a day. I really liked the concept and was very happy work on this project with the team. We started the series back in August last year with the lovely Leyah Shanks who is a body confidence blogger from Edinburgh. It was my job to blend her in to the back of a telephone kiosk in a London street. We then moved on to various locations around London and I painted Body Builder Kate Austin, Personal Trainer Ashley Lewis, Amputee Taylor Crisp, Alternative Model Alison Ward and Librarian and Drag Queen Matthew ‘Morgan Fabulous’ over the course of a week.

You can read the full story with all the images from the series on one of my earlier blogs here

Welsh Body Builder Kate Austin camouflage body painted against supermarket shelving

Definitely one of my favourite assignments to date

Working on the production of the series was a great experience and the whole crew from Showem Entertainment Ltd were just brilliant. The very brave volunteer models who were completely new to the sometimes surreal world of body painting were absolutely marvellous to work with, and we had so much fun with the various scenarios. The reaction of the members of the public when they were ‘surprised’ by the models wearing their camouflage body paint and not a lot else was at times hilarious and so much fun to watch.

And finally I had some lovely testimonials from Simon Goodman the producer of ‘Naked and Invisible’ and also Laura Scimone who is a member of my make-up and body painting team, and who worked incredibly hard alongside me for a week whilst we were filming the series. A big thanks also to Emily Dowdeswell from my team who also assisted on the pilot for the series.

“Carolyn is a true artist and a brilliant collaborator. Her technical ability in bringing her camouflage body art illusions to life so realistically is almost superhuman. It was a real pleasure to work with her on Naked and Invisible.”
Simon Goodman, Producer/Director.

“Working with Carolyn Roper is one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve ever had. She is professional, precise and with the most amazing calm funny personality. She is the most “Speedy Gonzales Body painter” that I’ve ever seen – incredibly fast. I’ve learned a lot from her and I always do, working next to her. Thank you Carolyn for sharing your amazing talent with me.”
Laura Sicmone, Make-up Artist/Body Artist.

Camouflage, Film & TV, My Work Assignments |

February 7, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Body painting ‘Naked and Invisible’ people in London for Channel 4

Around 6 months ago I was approached by Showem Entertainment Ltd regarding an idea that they were working on for a series of short films for Channel 4. In the shorts, models would be body painted into various backgrounds around London so that they were camouflaged and invisible to the public.

I really enjoy camouflage body art so was definitely up for the challenge. The people that I painted had volunteered because they all had a particular reason for wanting to find out what it would be like to be invisible and it was fascinating to meet them and hear their stories. They were all marvellous to work with and very patient during the whole body painting process which can take several hours. I’ve painted literally hundreds of models during my career in numerous locations around the world, but it’s always very important that I put first-time models at ease and find a comfortable pose that they’re happy with.

The series has just been released and can be seen on 4OD

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible

Leyah Shanks

Leyah Shanks

We started the series back in August last year with the lovely Leyah Shanks who is a body confidence blogger from Edinburgh. It was my job to blend her in to the back of a telephone kiosk in a London street. Leyah disappeared into the phone box and undressed. She emerged in her pants and I arranged her in a pose that she would be able to hold for the duration of the painting. I was working with the talented Emily Dowdeswell and once the camouflage effect was finished we cleared away the painting equipment and left Leyah to surprise the public.

Leyah was a brilliant model and absolutely loved the whole process and said ‘it was incredibly freeing to rid myself of all my clothes and underwear in a public place’.

You can watch Leyah’s unique and unusual experience here

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible/on-demand/62181-003

You can also read her account of the day on her interesting blog here.

http://iamleyahshanks.com/2016/02/06/naked-invisible-channel-4-short/

Ashley Lewis

Ashley Lewis

I also painted personal trainer Ashley Lewis from London. Ashley has an amazing physique so can stand out from the crowd and sometimes his physique attracts negative comments. He wanted to know what it would feel like to be invisible and NOT have people staring at him. I had to camouflage him into a fruit and veg market stall and had the lovely Laura Scimone helping me with the painting. Unfortunately, as we were working outside, we were beaten by the weather on our first attempt, so we had to relocate to an indoor shop with hilarious results once the painting was finished.

Ashely’s experience can be seen here.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible/on-demand

Carolyn Roper camouflage bodypainting Matthew Morgan

Matthew ‘Morgan Fabulous’

Matthew… ‘Morgan Fabulous’

Another fantastic model was drag queen and librarian Matthew whose alter ego is ‘Morgan Fabulous’ and he was definitely fabulous to work with. He gets mixed reactions from his clothes and make-up and would love to give other people the confidence to wear what they want to. Laura and I had to camouflage him into a coat stall in busy Spitalfields market.

Listen to his story and watch is transformation here.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible/on-demand/62181-006

Alison Ward

Alison Ward

Alison is a fully tattooed model from Bath. She was tired of being treated differently because of her tattoos and wondered what it would be like to be invisible for a day. So Laura and I camouflaged her into a stack of suitcases in a market. The main challenge was covering all of Alison’s beautiful tattoos and completing the body painting in such a busy market place.

Watch the story unfold here.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible/on-demand/62181-002

Taylor Crisp

Taylor Crisp

Taylor was born with a shortened femur and had her leg amputated as a child. She wanted to overcome her fear of having her scars on show in a public place. She was camouflaged into a busy café and once she removed her prosthetic leg she couldn’t stand for too long, so Laura and I had to make sure she was comfortable with her pose on a stool before we began the painting. Taylor was very apprehensive about the process before we began, but ended up enjoying the day and hoped that her experience might help others in a similar situation.

See her story here.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible/on-demand/62181-005

Kate Austin

Kate Austin

I also had the pleasure of working with Welsh body builder Kate Austin. She has an amazing physique but it can leave her feeling self-conscious.

Kate wanted to see what it was like to be ignored so she was painted to blend in with some shelves in a supermarket.

Kate was a pleasure to paint and I think she enjoyed the experience. The reaction from the shoppers was very funny!

Watch Kate surprise the shoppers here.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/naked-invisible/on-demand/62181-004

I’ve worked on a lot of camouflage assignments during my career but this has to be up there as one of the most enjoyable jobs that I’ve ever done. It was a great experience. Everyone from Showem Entertainment Ltd and all the brave volunteer models were absolutely marvellous to work with. We had a lot of fun with the various scenarios and the reaction of the members of the public when they were ‘surprised’ by the models wearing their camouflage body paint and not a lot else. It was all very funny!

Film & TV, My Work Assignments |

December 19, 2015

| Carolyn Roper

Festive make-up, twinkling body painting and the X Factor finale.

Kylie’s dancers made up for her Royal Albert Hall Christmas Concert

A Kylie Christmas at The Royal Albert Hall

On Friday the 11^th of December I was delighted to be working with my colleague and Getmadeup team member Emily Dowdeswell at The Royal Albert Hall for ‘A Kylie Christmas’. This was Kylie’s first ever headline appearance at the venue to celebrate the release of her new album. Emily and I were responsible for the red sparkling hair and make up for Kylie’s dancers, and also her backing singers. It was great fun with wonderful backstage catering and a real party atmosphere to the whole evening. Every seat had a Santa hat on it, so the whole audience could join in with the festive fun. It was very hectic, but very enjoyable. Everyone was a delight to work with. On Saturday morning, whilst I set off for Wembley for the X Factor final weekend, Emily dashed over to ‘The Strictly Come Dancing’ studios to repeat the hair and make-up on Kylie’s dancers for that show.

Shona McGarty made up for EastEnders Christmas photo-shoot in Inside Soap Magazine. Photo: Dan Goldsmith

Inside Soap Magazine

I had the pleasure of working on the Eastenders Christmas shoot for ‘Inside Soap’. I was responsible for the hair and make-up for the lovely Shona McGarty, whose character is Whitney Dean in the soap. There’s a very colourful and festive 4 page article in the magazine. I used Mehron Pro Celebre HD foundation to give Shona’s complexion a lovely radiant finish.

Gold body painted models for ZEEN oil promotion at Fortnum and Masons, London.

Glittering Gold Body Painting for ZEEN Oil

We recently had a booking for a team job for ZEEN Oil which is a Moroccan oil handmade by local Berber women in rural villages. The event was very early on a Monday morning where 5 models would be painted gold to promote the product at Fortnum and Mason’s. The taxis for models and artists were booked for 3 am. I wouldn’t get home from Sunday night’s X Factor until around 1 am, so there was no way I would be awake enough for the painting. Our very talented Getmadeup girls from my team, Emily and Alison, did an amazing job on our gorgeous models with some stunning make up and sparkling gold body painting using Mehron Gold Metallic powder. If this reminds anyone of the James Bond film Goldfinger and the urban myth surrounding gold paint….specialist metallic body paint that is cosmetic grade and FDA approved is actually completely safe to use on the whole body.

Backstage at the X Factor with Chief Make-up Designer Julia Carta and Paul Merchant, Head of Make-up at Charles Fox – Kryolan UK.

X Factor Final weekend

The 12^th and 13^th of December saw the final shows of this year’s X Factor. I’ve been a part of the make-up team for the contestants for the last 4 years, working under the X Factor Chief Make-up Designer, the celebrity make-up artist Julia Carta. It’s always exciting being involved in such a huge live show, there’s a lot of running around backstage with last minute touch up’s etc. We get to know the contestants really well in the make-up room and we’re sorry when they leave the show. This season was more condensed than previous years because of the Rugby World Cup and just flew by. It’s quite sad when it’s over and it’s time for our little team to disband once again. But it’s also a sign that Christmas and 2016 are just around the corner.

The Christmas Market at Colmar, Alsace.

Seasons Greetings from everyone at Getmadeup

It’s been a great year here at Getmadeup. I’ve worked on so many diverse projects with rugby players, actors, celebrities, live body art installations and also TV shows. And my marvellous team of make-up and body artists who support me on larger assignments have been brilliant as always and great fun to work with. There’s lots more in the pipeline for 2016 and I’ll be sharing plenty of interesting, and hopefully useful information, about the sometimes surreal world of freelance make-up and body painting.

Merry Christmas from Lois, my furry companion, pictured here in the Black Forest, Germany.

I’m spending the holidays in Europe and looking forward to visiting some of the beautiful Christmas markets in the Black Forest and The Alsace. So I would just like to wish all my Getmadeup girls and boys, clients, colleagues, family and friends a wonderful Christmas and a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year.

Camouflage, Film & TV, My Work Assignments |

November 22, 2015

| Carolyn Roper

My body painting role in the Hollywood Movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’

My invitation to attend the Hollywood Premiere of ‘Dumb & Dumber To’.

In 2013 I was the body painting artist for the camouflage scenes in the Hollywood movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. So this time last year I had just got back from a truly memorable trip to Los Angeles for the World Premiere of the film.

The vending machine camouflage body painting scene featuring Rob Riggle.

The body painting challenge on set

I had to camouflage the American actor Rob Riggle into two different backgrounds for the film. One scene was set against a wall in a garden and the other one was the infamous ‘vending machine.’ The directors of the film Peter and Bobby Farrelly didn’t want to use any CGI, or any post production work. They wanted to film the scene exactly as had I painted it, so I knew the body painting had to be perfect. The vending machine design in particular was very intricate and Rob was incredibly patient whilst I took several hours to blend him into it seamlessly. When I had finished everyone was very pleased with the end results and when “wrap” was called at the end of the scene I was given a round of applause. It was a brilliant experience being on set for 3 weeks and meeting the cast and the crew and Rob was an absolute delight to work with. So I was thrilled when I was sent an invitation to the Premiere in November 2014.

The World Premiere Los Angeles November 2014

I flew to Los Angeles and stayed at the beautiful Beverly Hilton which is an iconic hotel where numerous major movie stars have stayed over the years. The walls were lined with black and white photos of famous past guests. The pool area was also reminiscent of a 1950’s film set. The weather was amazing with temperatures in the 80’s.

On the Red Carpet for the Hollywood Premiere of ‘Dumb & Dumber To’.

The Premiere was held at Westwood Village Theatre in Hollywood. It was very exciting arriving at the theatre with barriers on all the pavements and lots of security guys around. I definitely had to do the obligatory photos on the red carpet!! We made our way into the theatre and everyone was given tubs of popcorn and cola in the foyer before we sat down to wait for the film to begin.

It was quite a surreal experience watching the film and seeing my work on the big screen. Watching the scenes where Rob was camouflaged was amazing. Seeing him hidden before most of the audience had realised and then hearing their reaction when he moved out from the background was great. When the film finished and the credits rolled my name was on the screen as the Make-Up Consultant. It was certainly my most unique cinema experience ever!

Posing with Rob Riggle at the ‘After Party’.

Joining in the ‘After Party’

Once the film had finished we all set off for the ‘After Party’ with the cast and crew. It was great fun and there must have been hundreds of people there spilling out of the venue onto the lawn. There was a lot of delicious food and it was great to meet up with some of the people that I had worked with on the film, including the lovely Rob Riggle.

I would have loved to stay for longer, but all too soon it was time to leave the sunshine and return to London as I was busy working as a make-up artist on the X FACTOR as one of ‘Head Make-up Artist’ Julia Carta’s team for the contestants. I’m sure I bored them all to tears with tales of my travels. But I have to say it was an amazing experience and definitely the highlight of my body painting career so far!

Westwood Village Theatre Hollywood blog WP

Westwood Village Theatre, Hollywood – the venue for the Premiere.