Body Painting as a Career |

August 19, 2016

My most Frequently Asked Questions Part 2

This is a follow-up to my last blog post called ‘Body Painting and Makeup as a Career FAQ’S’ .If you haven’t ready that one. please click here

Do you prefer make-up or body painting?

Working with the brilliant Ben Haenow X Factor winner 2014

These two sides of my business are very different, but I really enjoy both of them. As well as being very well known for my body painting I’ve been part of the make-up team for the contestants on the X Factor for the last 4 years, working under Celebrity Make-up Artist and X Factor Chief Make-up Designer Julia Carta. It’s always great to pick up my make-up brushes which is a real contrast to the body art side of the business. Body painting can be very hard work – there’s often far more work behind the scenes and pre-planning before the actual day of the shoot. Plus stretching and bending for several hours at a time can be very tiring, but the transformations are usually worth it.

What makes a good model?

My amazing model Mark Ramprakash

It does depend on the design but body painting isn’t a quick process and can take several hours. A good model is one who understands the process and can stand still for long periods of time. A nice personality also makes the job more enjoyable for everyone. Friendly chatter and banter does make the time pass more quickly. I do ask that models don’t use their mobile phones whilst they’re being painted. It doesn’t look professional in front of the client and it can be difficult for me to paint them if they’re constantly moving their arms and hands around, particularly if its camouflage work where the models do need to stand perfectly still. I’ve also painted quite a few celebrities over the years and I have to say that they’ve all been marvellous to work with. When working with a celebrity confidentiality is paramount, but I’m always impressed by their patience and ability to cope with what is usually their first introduction to the bizarre world of body painting. Mark Ramprakash was one of the first celebrities that I painted for a healthy eating campaign and he was incredibly nice to work with.

Do you prefer painting on a male or female model?

If it’s a commercial job the client is usually the one who decides on the sex of the model. Some clients prefer a female model as they seem to attract more attention when they’re painted, but it does depend on the shoot and what the images will be used for. Personally I prefer painting men as you get a smoother canvas and a larger area to paint on without having to deal with the curves of the breast area on female models.

What has been your most unusual request so far?

Meeting the lovely Dr Christian Jessen

I have painted for some of the episodes of Channel 4’s ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ and was asked by the production team if I could make various small special effect pieces to replicate warts and infections that men can contract during unsafe sex. So I got my liquid latex out and made a variety of little lumps and bumps, wrapped them up and set off on the train for the production offices in Birmingham. I think it’s fair to say that they have to be the most unusual contents of my handbag ever! Once I arrived I had to attach them to some fake penises. But these were the wrong colour so I had to paint them first to make them look more natural. As I was painting on plastic they took ages to dry so we all sat in the production office waving them in the air to speed up the process. Then once the fake penises were painted and adorned with their assorted warts and pimples Dr Christian took them on holiday to Spain where he showed them to the holidaymakers on the beach to demonstrate safe sex practices whilst having fun in the sun. So this was definitely my most unusual request so far and I think it was a really unique way to illustrate a serious health issue. A couple of years later I was invited to appear as a guest on Channel 4’s ‘Sunday Brunch’ to talk about my camouflage body painting. Dr Christian was also a guest and we reminisced about my unusual homemade attachments after the show!

Are you sad to see the paint washed off?

Once a painting is finished I’m always happy to see the end results. But as long as we’ve managed to capture the design with some good photography I don’t feel too bad once it’s washed off. Although I must admit that a tiny part of me is a bit sad as the model heads off towards the showers. Or we have to get busy with the baby wipes removing everything that has just taken a few hours to create.

What has been your most memorable job so far?

Rob Riggle camouflaged for ‘Dumb and Dumber 2

I’m very lucky to have had lots of high points during my career so it’s difficult to choose just one. Painting Rob Riggle for the Hollywood movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ has got to be up there as a really brilliant experience. Spending 3 weeks on the set of a major movie was incredibly interesting and such good fun. The whole crew were just so friendly.

All the work that I did with the late great Storm Thorgerson are some of the assignments that I’ll never ever forget. Working on album covers and translating his ideas into body paint was amazing. Plus spending time with him in Cape Town whilst painting for a series of fine art prints was pretty special too. In between the painting there was plenty of time for relaxing by the pool and chatting in the sunshine.

What has been your most challenging job so far?

Backstage at the Alan Titchmarsh Show

This has to be the painting for ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ again! It was one of the most memorable, but also the most challenging. Camouflaging Rob Riggle into the background for the scene with the vending machine required absolute precision with the body painting as it was important that he was completely invisible to the audience before he moved and revealed his identity. Plus there was the pressure of painting for a major Hollywood movie and knowing that the producers were not going to use any CGI or tweak anything in post- production, so the camouflage body painting had to be spot on. Luckily I was given plenty of time to complete the intricate design so the finished results turned out really well.

Another tricky job was my appearance as a guest on ‘The Alan Titchmarsh Show’ to demonstrate camouflage body art. I took along one of my team, Alex, to help speed up the painting and it should have been quite a relaxing job. The male model had to lie on a table and I had to paint him to blend in with various vegetables. But with the combined weight of the model and the veg, the table started to collapse! So we had to wait until the table could be reinforced and this was seriously eating into the painting time. The show was due to go live at 3 pm and at one point around midday when we still hadn’t managed to pick up a paint brush I was thinking that we would appear on air with a half painted model missing a few carrots, a couple of cabbages and maybe a pumpkin or two. So we had to paint as fast as humanly possible to get him ‘hidden’ in time. Thankfully it all worked out really well in the end and our human arrangement of fresh produce managed to surprise the startled audience.

What has been the proudest moment of your career to date?

Becoming a World Champion for the 2nd time

I’ve had a few really proud moments during my career. There was the feedback from Peter and Bobby Farrelly the producers of ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ after I had finished the camouflage body painting for the film! Plus Jim Carrey telling me that my work was amazing! Also standing on the stage at The World Body Painting Festival in 2007 with my friend and fellow artist Carly Utting as new World Champions in the ‘Brush & Sponge’ category. And then again in 2009 when I won the ‘Special Effects’ category with my assistant Paula Southern. I was the youngest, and the first artist, in the then 12 year history of the festival to win the championship in separate categories.

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!

Body Painting as a Career |

January 21, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

For a successful Body Painting career, versatility is vital

Getmadeup team job for Rugby Sevens promotion at Twickenham

Although being well known for my camouflage body painting, as a freelance body artist I have to be able to paint whatever design my clients’ require, whether it be crisp logo work, temporary tattoo’s or intricate details for fine art prints. I never know what, where, or when the next assignment will be and each body paint brings its own challenges. Quite often the design will be something that I’ve never painted before, so I have to have confidence in my ability to transfer my client’s design onto the body with a very professional finish, often in the shortest possible time.

I also have a very talented Getmadeup team of make-up and body artists, most of whom have been with me for years, who support me on larger assignments when multiple models need body painting and/or make-up.

Camouflage body painting for Belgian travel company TV advertisement

Camouflage Body Painting

Camouflage work is quite specialised and can be pretty complex depending on the background that the model needs to be blended into. Personally I prefer a ‘busy’ background with a lot of detail. It might take more work, but I find this makes it easier to make the model disappear. I’ve worked on numerous camouflage jobs during my career, some that needed the model to be virtually invisible like when I painted Rob Riggle for ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ where it was vital that he wasn’t seen by the audience before he moved and revealed his identity. But on other camouflage jobs the model needs to be painted into the background, but still be partly visible to the viewer. In this image we were painting in The Caribbean for a television advertisement which was for a Belgian travel agency. I was with my fellow artist Emily Dowdeswell, and due to the timings we only had 40 minutes to do the painting before the sun went down. We were quite literally up to our waists in the sea with our paints floating next to us in a bucket!

Body painting leathers and logos for World Super Bike champion Leon Haslam

Logos

Some jobs have the client’s logos incorporated into the design. I hand cut stencils for the logo work to give a really professional finish. There are usually only one or two logos required. But for the job at Silverstone where I had to paint World Super Bike rider Leon Haslam in his racing leathers, I had to cut numerous stencils for all the logos that were needed on his torso. It was a really enjoyable day. Leon was great to work with and everyone was really pleased with the finished result.

There have been quite a few people, including very experienced motor cyclists, who didn’t realise that Leon was ‘wearing’ body paint and not his actual leathers. There’s a time lapse video of the painting on my video page.

Carolyn Roper StormStudios body painting

The Beach Back Catalogue body painting in South Africa for StormStudios. Photo: Rupert Truman

Fine Art Prints

As well as body painting for CD album covers I had the pleasure of working on a series of limited edition fine art prints for the late great Storm Thorgerson and StormStudios. The designs were all of various album covers from Storm’s vast portfolio including Pink Floyd, Muse and Audioslave. Some of the shoots took place in the UK, mainly at The RAC Club in Pall Mall. But we also had an amazing two week trip to South Africa in 2009 where I worked on ‘The Beach Back Catalogue’ and ‘The Outback Catalogue’. Visit www.stormsight.co.uk for beautiful prints and posters and other assorted goodies from the very talented crowd at StormStudios.

Celebrity Ricky Whittle body painted with tattoos for Now Magazine

Body Painted Tattoos

Tattoos are always popular with clients and I’ve painted quite a few over the years. If the tattoo is only required for the photoshoot I use my usual water based body paints, and the design can be washed off easily with soap and water at the end of the day.

But sometimes the client might want the tattoo to last for a few days. I would then use one of the more durable alcohol based FDA approved cosmetic inks on the market. It depends on the brand that you use, but the design will last for at least 3 or 4 days, and sometimes up to a week. These products are usually removed with an oil based cleanser.

Mystique body painting and SFX for PR stunt to promote X-Men First Class DVD

Body Painting and Special Effects

There are times when I’m called on to produce some special effects to transform the model for a particular shoot. Some prosthetic pieces can be bought ‘off the shelf’ from specialist suppliers such as ‘Charles Fox-Kryolan UK’ in Covent Garden, London. But for some of my jobs I make the pieces myself with handmade individual moulds and liquid latex. It can be a bit of a messy process and I think my husband’s heart sinks every time I commandeer the bathroom with my sack of plaster and tubs of latex.

For one assignment I was asked if I could transform 2 models into Mystique and Azazel during a week of PR events for the release of ‘X Men First Class’ on DVD. I hand made all the numerous latex pieces myself, and then had to reproduce the look several times on various models throughout the week. They appeared at different London locations including seated on an underground train, and in a 1960’s style ‘pop up lounge’ at Victoria Station. I then had the pleasure of transforming model Sam Cooke into ‘Mystique’ for a photoshoot at the end of the week.

Carolyn Roper Kate Garraway body painting

Celebrity Kate Garraway make-up and body painting

Combined Body Painting and Make-up assignments

As well as being a body artist I’m also a make-up artist and some shoots require a combination of make-up and body art. If we’re working on a shoot with a celebrity their time is very valuable and will almost certainly be limited. So I usually take along another artist from the Getmadeup team to help to speed everything up.

In 2011 I was commissioned to reproduce a £5.00 note on TV presenter Kate Garraway to publicise the charity lendwithcare.org. It was a very enjoyable shoot where I did the body painting on Kate’s back whilst Emily Dowdeswell did her hair and make-up.

Body Painting as a Career |

January 4, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Body painting – Which paints will work for you?

The 2007 World Festival winning design using Mehron body paints. Photo: Reinhard Bichler

I thought I would start the New Year by covering one of the questions that I get asked on a very regular basis. What body paints do I use? This has the potential to be a long blog so you might want to make yourself a cup of tea and find a comfortable chair!

When I first started out in the industry in 2003 there weren’t very many brands available. But the popularity of body painting has grown massively over the years and there are now numerous very good brands out there including Mehron, MistFX , Kryolan, Cameleon, Diamond FX, Global, Graftobian and TAG. This can make for a bewildering choice when someone is starting out in the industry.

I should say that I can’t recommend one brand over another. I’ve found that by chatting to other body artists during my career, what one person really likes, another artist will dismiss completely. I can tell you what I use, and why. But would advise anyone wanting to get started with face and body painting to do a bit of research. Buy a few different brands, play around with them, and see what’s going to work best for you. These will be the tools of your trade, so you want to make the right choice for you. Budget might also be an important consideration and the prices vary between £4 – £5 for Cameleon or Diamond FX. Up to £8 – £10 for Paradise and £12 for MistFX.

Basic bodypainting colours for your kit.

There are two main techniques with body painting. ‘Brush & Sponge’ and ‘Airbrushing’. When starting out it’s much cheaper/easier to put together a kit with a few basic brushes and sponges and a selection of primary and basic colours. I would include black, white, red, yellow, and blue. I would also recommend green, purple, pink, orange, grey, and brown as you don’t want to spend all your time mixing colours.

The 2009 World Festival winning design using Mehron body paints. Photo: Reinhard Bichler

Paradise Make-up AQ by Mehron

I’ve been using Paradise paints by Mehron since 2005 so most of the work in my portfolio has been done using Paradise. The paints have a glycerine base with avocado oil and cocoa butter so they smell as good as they look. They come in a really wide range of colours in a solid cake form. There is also a metallic range too. The Silver Argente is the best that I’ve used. The paints have a very creamy consistency when mixed with water and blend beautifully. I find them perfect whether I’m painting a smooth base coat or layering the colours. They’re also great for fine line work too. As well as using Paradise for numerous assignments with high profile clients, including the Hollywood movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’, I’ve also won two World Championships with these paints. The first occasion was in 2007 with my painting partner Carly Utting and then again in 2009 with my assistant Paula Southern.

World Super Bike rider Leon Haslam, painted using MistFX body paints. Photo: Gary Prior

MistFX by Mistair

Most face and body paints on the market come in a solid cake form. MistFX is a very different product as it’s a liquid and comes in a bottle. Some people can be confused by this and think that it’s only suitable for airbrush work. But the paints can be decanted into a small dish or artist’s pallet and work perfectly when used with brushes or sponges too. They come in a range of 24 intermixable colours with a matt or lovely pearlescent finish and have a very high pigment concentration so the colours are very vivid and give a beautiful professional finish. They’re extremely durable and don’t smudge easily. I’ve painted for some high profile campaigns including The NHS and Coca Cola using Mistair. I’ve also had the pleasure of painting Super Bike racer Leon Haslam at Silverstone. The resultant body painting looked so realistic that people thought he was actually in his leathers!

The Face Paints Direct logo was designed and painted by myself using MistFX. Photo: Joseph Sinclair

Suppliers of face and body paint.

For Paradise paints, brushes and also the full Mehron range visit www.mehron.com or Mehron UK at Treasure House www.treasurehouseofmakeup.co.uk

For MistFX paints by Mistair and a wide range of other products including make-up, hair art and nail art go to www.skinbysterex.com

Also for Mehron and MistFX and just about every other brand of face and body paint as well as numerous other products and accessories for the professional face and body painter a visit to www.facepaintsdirect.co.uk is a must. Jane offers a speedy and very efficient service. A lot of my work comes in at very short notice and Jane has gone the extra mile on several occasions to make sure that I get the products that I need in time for my assignments.

My skull design for a Kryolan Masterclass at The Royal Opera House was painted using Kryolan

Another marvellous supplier for artists is Kryolan UK in Tavistock St., Covent Garden. I still remember my first visit when I was a student back in 2002. It was then known as Charles H Fox and was established in 1876. I was like a child in a sweet shop and blown away by the extensive choice of anything body art related, plus the make-up, the books and the videos. And also the range of quite often gory prosthetics and the beautiful wigs that were displayed in the shop.

The original Charles H Fox has since been refurbished and rebranded as Kryolan UK and it remains a wonderful shopping experience for any make-up or body painting artist. But enter at your peril. There are so many tempting products and friendly helpful staff…….you could end up with a serious dent in your bank balance!! www.uk.kryolan.com