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Body Painting Marketing and PR, Camouflage, My Work Assignments |

March 29, 2018

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting in London

As I’ve mentioned in an earlier blog I’ve been very lucky to work in some beautiful locations around the world. Some very memorable body painting assignments have taken me to Hong Kong, Cape Town, Mumbai, New York, Las Vegas and the Caribbean, as well as numerous other lovely locations. But being based in London it’s always a pleasure to work in our beautiful capital city.

So, I was delighted to work on a body painting project in London with the British Heart Foundation (BHF) for their 2017 ‘Wear it. Beat it.’ campaign. The charity wanted 4 models camouflaged into iconic red backgrounds around the city using only body paint to encourage people to wear red and raise money for the campaign. Each fantastic model was chosen because they have been affected by heart disease and are all heart surgery survivors. These individuals show the breadth of heart conditions that devastate the lives of millions each year. They are alive today largely thanks to the research the BHF have funded. The images bring to light how more than one in four people (26%) die from heart and circulatory disease in the UK each year.

London bus body painting

Camouflage body painting in London for British Heart Foundation

Vintage Red London Bus

The first photoshoot was at the Ensign Bus Company in Essex. Our volunteer was 55 year old Mark Ellis who was born with a form of congenital heart disease called pulmonary stenosis and had open heart surgery just days before his sixth birthday. He’s now celebrating more than 50 years since surviving open heart surgery. I had to body paint Mark and camouflage him into the front of a vintage red London bus. Mark was very patient and great fun to work with and he was really interesting to chat to whilst the painting was taking place. Photographer Anthony Upton TNR.

Body Painting in Playhouse Theatre, London

Camouflage body painting for British Heart Foundation

The Playhouse Theatre

The second photoshoot was at Playhouse Theatre where I had to body paint 34 year old Laura  Fordham from South East London. Laura was diagnosed with a rare heart condition just days before her wedding and has lived with a pacemaker since 2013 to prevent her from going into a cardiac arrest. Laura was absolutely lovely to work with and I painted her whilst she was sitting in the seating area at the theatre and camouflaged her into the background of the theatre’s seats. Photographer David Parry.

Camouflage body painting in library

Camouflage body painting for BHF in Royal Society of Medicine Library

The Royal Society of Medicine Library

The third camouflage painting was at the Royal Society of Medicine library where I painted Rachel McCauley from Sussex. Rachel contracted a viral infection which affected her heart muscle and the lining of her heart early in 2017. I camouflaged Rachel against two bookcases of red books in the library. Rachel was a brilliant model to work with and the body painting went very smoothly. Photographer David Parry.

Telephone box camouflage body painting

Iconic red telephone box camouflage body painting for BHF

Iconic Red Telephone Box

The final image involved painting Karen Jackson in front of an iconic red telephone box. We had a tremendously early start for this shoot and I left home at 3.30 am to get to the location and set up ready for the arrival of Karen at 5.15 am. Despite the early hour Karen, who underwent a heart transplant 11 years ago was up for the challenge of the body painting and again very good fun and interesting to work with. Photographer David Parry.

Camouflage body painting cancer research

Camouflage body painting for Cancer Research UK

Victoria Station – Human Billboard for Cancer Research UK

Back in 2013 I was very pleased to be commissioned to paint 4 models at Victoria Station in London. I had to camouflage them against a backdrop which was a billboard from the ‘Beat Cancer Sooner’ TV advertisement, encouraging the nation to come up with a million actions to fight cancer over a 6 week period. All of our amazing models were cancer survivors. Adam, Anna, Parminder and Linda were brilliant to work with, standing very still for several hours whilst me and my team completed the painting. This was a great campaign to be involved in. It generated a huge amount of interest at the station and was also featured on the ITV news.

I’ve body painted literally hundreds of models during my career and worked on numerous high profile camouflage body painting assignments. Some of these jobs have involved painting members of the public, not professional models. Camouflage body painting can be very tiring. The painting can take several hours and the model has to remain perfectly still during the process, although there are breaks in the painting process for the models to move around etc. But I’m always blown away by the enthusiasm and commitment that my non- professional models show. They’re always very interested in the whole body painting process. It’s usually their first experience with this type of art and they always do their utmost to make the painting go smoothly. These four wonderful volunteers for the British Heart Foundation campaign and the CRUK campaign were no exception and an absolute delight to work with.

Game of Thrones PR

Game of Thrones PR campaign Tower Bridge, London

Body Painting  in London for ‘Game of Thrones’ Launch

Last July I was commissioned by Taylor Herring PR to work on the Sky Atlantic launch of the eagerly awaited seventh season of the hugely popular ‘Game of Thrones’. This entailed fitting the prosthetics and body painting the 5 actors who would be replicating the characters from the cult TV show. Once we had completed the transformation the actors looked absolutely awesome. They made several scary appearances during the week-long promotion starting at Hadrian’s Wall, where at first light the Night King was seen on horseback making his way south. We then moved on to Sheffield and Glasgow and finished at iconic landmarks in London including, Oxford Circus, Tower Bridge, The Tower of London and Buckingham Palace. The White Walkers and Night King even popped up at tube stations to give the commuters a fright! It really was great fun, most of my team, myself included, are huge ‘Game of Thrones’ fans, so it was brilliant to work with the prosthetics and such realistic characters.  Their unusual appearance around the streets of London, particularly at Buckingham Palace certainly turned a few heads.

This was an incredibly successful campaign for Taylor Herring and generated more than 100 pieces of media coverage and an unbelievable 20 million video views.

body painting, body painting artist, body painting for PR, body painting London, bodypainting, camouflage body painting, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup
Body Painting Marketing and PR, Camouflage, Film & TV |

March 8, 2018

| Carolyn Roper

Camouflage Body Painting

Camouflage body painting is a very popular style of body art and I’ve been very lucky to work on some really interesting projects during my career. I’ve painted on numerous great assignments in some amazing locations including Atlanta, Cape Town, the Dominican Republic and Monaco.

Camouflage body painting is more specialised than a straight forward body paint and it can be quite tricky. The level of difficulty usually depends on the background that the model has to be blended in to. Personally, I prefer a busy background as the details make it easier to ‘lose’ the model. Sometimes it’s important that the model is completely invisible until they reveal themselves. But usually the model is partially camouflaged and can still be seen against the background.

Camouflage Body Painting for Film and TV

My camouflage body painting has been seen on film and in many TV and online advertisements including the Hollywood movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’ and for clients including The Ford Motor Company, LG Phones, Panasonic Viera, Irish National Lottery, Neckerman Belgian Travel Agency, Opticrom and Royal Caribbean Cruises. I’ve also made guest appearances to demonstrate my camouflage body art on The Alan Titchmarsh Show, Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch and Blue Peter.

Below are a few or my favourite assignments in more detail.

Camouflage body painting Rob Riggle

Camouflage body painting for Hollywood movie ‘Dumb & Dumber To’

‘Dumb and Dumber To’ Hollywood Movie

This has got to be one of my all-time favourite camouflage body painting assignments. In 2013 I painted the American actor Rob Riggle as Captain Lippencott for the Hollywood movie ‘Dumb and Dumber To’. For this assignment it was very important that Rob’s character wasn’t seen until he moved out of position so I had to successfully camouflage Rob in 2 locations using only body paint so that he would ‘disappear’ completely. One background for the painting was a brick wall, but the one that I enjoyed the most was painting Rob to blend in with the front of a vending machine. Using a very detailed background can be quite time consuming, but it makes it much easier to really hide the model. It was also important that the camouflage body painting worked very effectively as the producers Peter and Bobby Farrelly didn’t want to use any CGI or post production work to enhance the camouflage effect, so my painting had to be spot on. Everyone on set was really pleased with the finished results and Rob was an absolute delight to work.

Body painting for Neckermann Travel

Camouflage body painting in the Dominican Republic

Neckerman Belgian Travel Agency TV Advertisement 

One of the nicest locations that I’ve worked in had to be a beautiful beach resort in The Dominican Republic. I was commissioned to body paint a number of models into different scenarios all with a beach and sea background. As there were multiple models to be painted I took my team member Emily with me to help to speed up the painting time. It was incredibly hot and for one of the scenarios we were up to our waists in the sea, painting before the sun went down. There was some free time at the end of the filming for sun bathing and shopping which was just wonderful.

Opticrom camouflage body painting

Camouflage body painting for Opticrom TV idents

Opticrom TV Idents

This was a lovely assignment. I was commissioned by Caravan Production Company to camouflage the heads and shoulders of 4 models and blend them in with some beautiful floral backgrounds which were painted by the very talented artist Gill Bustamante. We were hoping to get the painting finished in one day, so I took along my friend and team member Laura Scimone to help to speed up the painting time. The original artwork was beautiful and the finished film appeared daily throughout the summer on the ‘Pollen Watch’ segment on ‘Good Morning Britain’ to publicise Opticrom Hayfever Eye Drops.

Body painting Alan Titchmarsh Show

Behind the scenes body painting for The Alan Titchmarsh Show

Alan Titchmarsh Television Show Guest Appearance

In 2013 I was invited to appear on the Alan Titchmarsh show as a guest artist to demonstrate my camouflage body painting skills. I had to paint a model on a table covered with vegetables and successfully camouflage him against the produce. I took along one of my team Alex, and it should have been quite a relaxed morning before we went ‘live’ at 3 pm. But the weight of the model, plus all the vegetables, made the table collapse and we had to wait for emergency repairs to be made. So it ended up with quite a frantic painting session to get the model finished before the show started.  But the overall effect was really good and the assembled live audience didn’t spot the model lying in amongst the vegetables until he moved his arm and leg and revealed himself.

Camouflage Body Painting for PR Campaigns.

Camouflage body painting is also used extensively for PR campaigns and publicity stunts. These assignments are great fun but are usually very tight on the timings, so I usually take along one of my team to help to get the body painting finished as quickly as possible. Many of these campaigns are filmed outside so usually involve the models wearing clothing which is much more difficult and time consuming than painting directly on the body.

Body painting Houses of Parliament

Camouflage body painting for RBL ‘Count them in’ campaign

The Royal British Legion

One of the largest PR campaigns that I worked on involved body painting veterans into various locations around the UK for the Royal British Legion’s ‘Count Them In’ campaign. I was commissioned by Taylor Herring to paint the 4 volunteer veterans starting with a library in Manchester, a rugby stadium in Cardiff, a café in Plymouth, finishing in front of the houses of parliament in London. All the models were wearing clothing and my fellow artist and team member Laura Scimone joined me in our dash around the country painting the fantastic volunteers. This proved to be a hugely successful campaign covered by numerous daily newspapers and had a huge online presence.

Vegetable stall camouflage body painting

Camouflage body painting for launch of ‘Covert Affairs’ TV Show

Covert Affairs TV Programme

I also enjoyed working on the launch of Really TV’s CIA drama ‘Covert Affairs’ in 2013. I painted a model at 3 different London locations including a market stall, a London bus and a black cab. At the vegetable stall in Portobello Market the model was lying on the actual stall wearing a body suit and I had to camouflage her into the actual vegetables. All the details in the background made the model blend in very easily and we were all pleased with the end result. This image still pops up regularly all around the world and is the subject of at least 2 meme’s.

Park Mark body painting

Camouflage body painting for ‘Park Mark’ campaign

National Car Parks ‘Park Mark’ campaign

Another large multi-centre campaign which required camouflage body painting was for the British Parking Association. I had to body paint several models who were wearing body suits or clothing and blend them into various backgrounds in different car parks around the UK. We visited Cambridge, Nottingham. Stratford upon Avon and Warwick. This was to highlight the ‘Park Mark® Safer Parking Scheme’ which is a Police Crime Prevention Initiative and is aimed at reducing both crime and the fear of crime in parking facilities. Two of the camouflaged body paintings actually appeared on the back of double decker busses which were seen out and about in Norwich.

Rae Morris video body painting

Camouflage body painting for Rae Morris ‘Closer’ music video

Camouflage Body Painting for the Music Industry

I’ve done quite a bit of body painting for the music industry over the years. My work has used for CD and book covers and fine art prints. One of the assignments that needed my camouflage body painting skills was the music video for the release of the CD single ‘Closer’ by the very talented Rae Morris. There were numerous models and dancers who would need to ‘disappear’ in the video and one particularly tricky image where I had to camouflage a model into a garden bench.  The open slat design of the bench needed really precise painting to successfully hide the model, who would actually be sitting on the bench next to Rae. Due to the size of the shoot and the timings I took along my team and we all painted our socks off to achieve a great end result for the client.

body painting, body painting artist, body painting for advertising, body painting for marketing, body painting for PR, body painting London, bodypainting, camouflage body painting, camouflage body painting artist, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup
My Work Assignments |

March 6, 2018

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting and Make-up Review for 2017

Yes, I know I’m very late with a round-up of 2017 in my strange world of body painting and make-up. But it’s been a bit of a crazy year what with a busy working life and a major house move in the mix.  We moved into our new house last June and are still up to our eyes with updating and redecorating our new abode. I’ve put together a few of the highlights from 2017 and I’m looking forward to more body painting fun in 2018.

X Factor artists 2017 Tour

X Factor Live Tour 2017

X Factor Live Tour 2017

I started 2017 with a trip around the UK as the make-up artist for the X Factor Arena Tour. I’ve been involved with the tour since 2014 so I’m very familiar with the routine of the exciting live shows and the coach travel and hotel stop-overs in between the venues. Last year the tour visited 15 venues including Glasgow, Belfast, Bournemouth and Brighton. Getting to know the different set of performers every year is really interesting and we always have lots of fun combined with the hard work of getting everyone looking their best for their live performances. The atmosphere backstage is electric and the response from the huge audiences is amazing. When the tour finishes I always miss the faces of the friends that I’ve made over the weeks and the giggles that we’ve had travelling around on our tour coach.

Heroes and Villians body painting

Heroes and Villians body painted for Globestar Management in Rome

Body Painting in Rome

In April I was booked by Globestar Management to body paint for a prestigious event at a fabulous venue in Rome. The party had a ‘Heroes and Villains’ theme and there were numerous models that had to be transformed into various characters along with some body painted human statues who would pose gracefully around the venue. As there were multiple models to paint I took along my friend and fellow artist Emily Dowdeswell to speed up the painting time and also join me on my sight  seeing and pasta eating outing! Any booking with Globestar is always good fun and this trip was no exception. The models were great fun to work with and the body painting went very smoothly. We managed to dash around this amazing city and eat our own body weight in pasta and gelato.

Tuk tuk in New Delhi

Tuk tuk in New Delhi

An Exciting Trip to New Delhi

In May we had a whistle stop tour to India to make-up and body paint the performers at an after party for a fabulous Indian wedding. I put together a team of 2 body artists, 2 make-up artists and 2 male models who would be painted as Greek Gods. The organisation by Acrobat Productions was superb as usual and we all met up at Heathrow airport for the flight to New Delhi. I’ve been lucky to work in India once before when we were body painting for an exclusive event in Mumbai. This was my first time in New Delhi and as we stepped off the plane I’m sure the temperature was hotter than the sun! Thankfully we were in a lovely hotel with a beautiful pool to cool off in, in between the rehearsals and the actual event. On the day of the show we had to keep the make-up and body paint in the fridge as everything was melting in the heat, including us! We managed to get out and about to see some local sites and visit the markets so that we could fill our suitcases with the obligatory souvenirs.

Isle St Marguerite, South of France

Isle St Marguerite, South of France

Body Painting in the South of France

I was no sooner back from India when I was booked to work with a team of artists to body paint for an exclusive private event on Isle St Marguerite, which is little island off the South coast of France. We flew into Nice and then had to get a boat over to the island. We painted several robotic characters for the party and then had to bounce back across the waves in a small boat in the dark to the mainland. Definitely not recommended for those without good sea legs!

Characters from Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones promotion in London

Body Painting for The Game of Thrones Promotion

In July I was commissioned by Taylor Herring PR to work on the Sky Atlantic launch of the new series of ‘Game of Thrones’. This entailed fitting the prosthetics and body painting the actors and models who would be replicating the characters from the cult TV show. They made several scary appearances during the week-long promotion starting at Hadrian’s Wall. We then moved on to Sheffield and Glasgow and finished at iconic landmarks in London. The White Walkers and Night King even popped up at tube stations to give the commuters a fright! It was really great fun, most of my team are huge ‘Game of Thrones’ fan so it was brilliant to work with the prosthetics and such realistic characters. Their appearance in London, particularly at Buckingham Palace certainly turned a few heads.

Barcelona architecture

Iconic building in Barcelona

Barcelona

In November I had another booking from Globestar Management with a make-up job for an event in Barcelona.  There were several characters to transform into walk about acts for the event, so I packed my wig glue, coloured hair spray and gems along with my body paints and flew off to the sun. Again, everyone was brilliant to work with, the models looked great and we managed to get a quick look around this beautiful city before the flight home.

More interesting assignments to end the year

Other highlights from 2017 include the body painting for the new ‘Dermalex’ TV advertisement. This involved painting lettering onto the bodies of several models. This was much harder than it sounds as the words had to be completely straight on the curves of the body.

Dermalex body painting

Body painted model for Dermalex TV advert

I also worked on a really fun assignment for Channel 4 for a ‘Wickes’ promotion where households were chosen to have their room fantasies brought to life. One of the designs involved recreating a room with a theme that would tie in with Hammer House of Horror films and seances for a 21st birthday party. The guests had to be transformed using costumes and make-up so that they resembled characters from the vintage black and white horror movies.

body painting, body painting artist, body painting for marketing, body painting for PR, bodypainting, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup
Body Painting as a Career, Camouflage, My Work Assignments |

November 9, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting Around The World

Since starting out in my freelance body painting career in 2004 I’ve worked on some amazing assignments in some beautiful locations. Some of these jobs have had very tight schedules and it’s literally been fly in, paint, and fly out! But luckily, most of the long haul destination jobs have included some spare time to get out and about for some sightseeing, trying the local food and of course buying some local souvenirs! That definitely makes the jet lag worth it. Although my husband might disagree as he sees yet another coconut shell drinking cup, raffia hat and heavily embroidered stuffed animal emerge from my suitcase!

I’m very lucky to have worked with clients in Hong Kong, New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlanta, New Orleans, Orlando, Cape Town, Thailand, South Korea, The Dominican Republic, Mumbai, Paris, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Berlin, Alicante, Rome, Gran Canaria, Latvia, Nuremberg, Monaco and Malta. A lot of my work comes in with reasonably short notice and some of these destinations have required visas. So it’s usually a race against time and an anxious wait to get all the paper work approved in time for me to fly out!

Below are some of my favourite assignments.

 

Carolyn Roper Las Vegas bodypainting

Demonstrating highlights & shadows to the students in my Las Vegas Convention Class

Las Vegas

I’ve been very lucky to visit Las Vegas 3 times and this is definitely one of my very favourite destinations. The first visit was incredibly memorable. I was invited to teach at the 2011 Face Painting and Body Art Convention by the organiser the lovely Karen Owens. At the end of a long flight seeing the outline of the skyscrapers of the Las Vegas strip peeping out from the desert as the plane approached the airport was a surreal experience. Once I had collected my suitcase from baggage I was met by a chauffeur and whisked off in a white stretch limousine, courtesy of Karen, to the beautiful Flamingo Hotel. So it was definitely a ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ moment!  The convention was brilliant with so many friendly people and I returned to teach again the following year. My third visit was in 2015 when I painted at a make-up artist trade show representing the ‘Olivares Haus of Glam’.

Carolyn Roper Cape Town bodypainting

My camouflaged model taking people by surprise in Cape Town

Cape Town

Another very beautiful location was South Africa where I’ve worked on 2 assignments in Cape Town. The first one was in 2009 when I was body painting for a series of fine art prints for Storm Thorgerson, including ‘The Beach Catalogue’ and ‘The Outback Catalogue’. In between the painting there was plenty of free time for getting out and about sightseeing and visiting the local markets.  The second trip was in 2010 when I was commissioned by H2 Films to camouflage a model into various locations for an advertisement for ‘The Irish National Lottery’. Cape Town is amazing I loved the scenery and the culture and it’s definitely on my list of places to re-visit purely as a tourist without a paint brush in my hand!

Carolyn Roper Mumbai bodypainting

The painted models in their beautiful costumes ready to perform to the audience in Mumbai

Mumbai 

On New Year’s Day in 2012 I escaped the British winter weather and travelled to India with the great team from Acrobat Productions. I was commissioned to do the face and body art for the performers who would be working at a prestigious wedding in Mumbai. We stayed at the beautiful Trident Hotel and after the job we all had a few days to relax and see more of this fascinating city before we flew back to London. I loved India and it’s definitely a country that I would like to return to sometime in the future.

Carolyn Roper Dominican Republic bodypainting

My model camouflaged in the Dominican Republic for the Belgian travel company’s television advertisement

The Dominican Republic

Back in 2012 there was another memorable campaign that I had the pleasure of working on. It was a television advertisement for the Belgian travel agency ‘Neckermann’. The idyllic location for the filming was The Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. Our long-haul destination involved planes trains and automobiles before we reached our hotel, which was the base for the filming. My job was to camouflage several models into tropical looking backdrops so I took along my Getmadeup team mate Emily Dowdeswell to help with the painting. We had a fantastic week working with the models and managed to fit in some shopping in our free time…. yet more souvenirs in the suitcase!    

Carolyn Roper New York bodypainting

My design for the Make-up Show in New York

New York.

I’ve visited ‘The Big Apple’ 3 times and it’s always a pleasure! I’ve demonstrated make-up and body painting at various industry trade shows in this great city! In 2008 I represented Mehron at ‘The Make-up Show’. In 2011 I painted for AOFM at ‘IMATS’ NYC and my last visit was in 2015 when I was commissioned to paint for ‘Olivares Haus of Glam’. There’s usually been enough spare time for me to get out and about in between the painting to shop until I drop!

bodypainting, camouflage body painting, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup, getmadeup.com
Body Painting as a Career, My Work Assignments |

September 16, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting Illusions and 3 Dimensional Designs

As I’ve previously mentioned in an earlier blog, for a successful career as a commercial body artist versatility is key! You have to be confident that you can paint in any style that your client requires, whether it be logos, tattoos or camouflage body painting. And although very well known for my camouflage work, one of my particular favourites is painting 3 dimensional and illusion designs. I love the way that you can create something so different from the norm and really trick the eye using only body paint.

3D body painting Carolyn Roper

3D body painting at Olympia, London

3 Dimensional Body Painting at Olympia Beauty London

In 2014 I represented Mistair at the Olympia Beauty show which is one of the UK’s best trade events in the beauty industry. Held annually at Olympia in London the show attracts salon and spa owners, make-up artists, nail technicians and students. There are numerous demonstrations taking place during the event including several student competitions. I painted model Laurence Caird with a 3-dimensional design inspired by the work of tattoo artist Jesse Rix. I also gave a talk during the show about ‘Commercial Body Painting as a Career’ and one of the prizes awarded by Mistair in the student body painting competition was an industry day with yours truly! The finished design on Laurence is one of my all-time favourites and was a huge hit on my Instagram page, where it’s racked up more than 1,000 ‘likes’.

Biffy Clyro ‘Machines’ 3 Dimensional Body Painting

Biffy Clyro 'Machines' body painting Carolyn Roper

Biffy Clyro ‘Machines’ illusional body painting. Photo: Rupert Truman

I’ve done quite a bit of body painting over the years for the late great Storm Thorgerson, the artistic genius behind numerous iconic album covers including Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin. One of the designs that I really enjoyed working on was back in 2007 and was for the 4th single from the album ‘Puzzle’ which was entitled ‘Machines’ by the Scottish rock band ‘Biffy Clyro’. There were a series of body painted images for the album and subsequent singles. For ‘Machines’ I painted the model with Storm’s design of a metallic torso showing beneath the model’s shirt. The photography is by Storm Studios photographer Rupert Truman.

 

'Terminator' style body painting Carolyn Roper

‘Terminator’ style body painting

Terminator Style Hand Painting

Another real favourite of mine is the hand that I painted with an illusional terminator style. Last year I started my own Youtube channel and made several time lapse videos featuring 3 dimensional body paintings, superheroes and various other designs. For this time lapse I painted my own hand and I think it worked out particularly well. I really like the end of the video where my hand takes on a creepy life of its own! This image has also been a big hit on my Instagram page with more than 800 ‘likes’.

Watch the time-lapse video here

 

3D chains body painting Carolyn Roper

3D chains body painting illusion

3 Dimensional Chains Body Painting

Another body painting that I designed for my Youtube channel was a 3 dimensional chain link that I painted on my friend and model Liam Boyle. I made a time lapse video that demonstrated the use of highlighting and shadows that really makes the chains stand out and look as if they’re literally hanging down the front of Liam’s torso. This was another Instagram favourite with more than a 1000 ‘likes’. I’m really looking forward to putting together more time lapse videos, but I’ve been so busy with commercial work recently that my filming fun has had to take a bit of a back seat for now.

Watch the time lapse video here

 

Metallic body painting illusion Carolyn Roper

Metallic body painting illusion

Metallic Neck Illusion Body Painting

Way back in 2007 I was asked to submit some images for an article on my body painting that ‘Illusion’ (the face and body art magazine) was putting together. They requested previously unpublished photos. Most of my work is commercial and has already been shown in either newspapers or magazines, or on bill boards around London. So I got together with my photographer friend Joseph Sinclair and designed some new images especially for the magazine. One of the new designs was the metallic neck effect that I painted on model Stephan D’Bart. This was my first illusional body painting and I think it worked out really well.

 

3D face Carolyn Roper

3D face illusion design

3 Dimensional Face Painting

Another design that I created back in 2007 for Illusion magazine was a 3 dimensional face painting. This was originally inspired by a piece of work that I found in one of my art books by the Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger. I made tiny shapes from liquid latex and attached them to the model Sam’s face with spirit gum. Then I painted him with black face paint before finally adding a touch of gold paint to bring out the detail on the latex pieces. The photography was by Hass Idriss.

 

 

Body painting illusion Carolyn Roper

Body painting illusion at IMATS London

3 Dimensional Body Painting at IMATS London

I also painted an illusional design at IMATS (International Make-up Artists Trade Show) held at Olympia Exhibition Centre in London in June. I was delighted to be commissioned to paint on the Screenface London stand. Screenface is an amazing supplier of all things make-up and body art related, and Screenface products have been used in numerous films over the last 30 years including Monty Python, Harry Potter and Indiana Jones. For the demonstration I painted my great model Kyle James, again using lots of highlights and shadows in my design to show metallic parts and torn flesh. Kyle had to step in at the last minute, but I think you’ll agree that he proved to be a marvellous living canvas for my design. You can read more about IMATS in general, in one of my earlier blogs.

3d body paint, 3d body painting, body painting, body painting career, body painting illusions, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup
Body Painting as a Career, Body Painting Marketing and PR |

September 2, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting in London for PR Campaigns and Publicity Stunts

I’ve done quite a lot of international work during my career which is always interesting when you get the chance to visit other parts of the world and see new cultures. But I’m based in London and so I’ve also worked on numerous advertising and PR campaigns in and around this beautiful city, including some fun publicity stunts.

These campaigns all used body painting as the method to deliver their message to the public in a unique and eye catching way. Whether it be for a light hearted PR campaign to advertise a business or possibly a product launch. Or maybe the client might want to highlight an important issue that would be of great interest to members of the general public. Whatever the reason, body painted models never fail to attract attention.

I’ve worked at several iconic London locations, and also on campaigns that made use of props such as the very famous London Red Buses and black cabs. Below are some of my favourite assignments from in and around the city.

Victoria Station – Human Billboard for CRUK

The CRUK Human Billboard at Victoria Station

The CRUK Human Billboard at Victoria Station

Back in 2013 I was very pleased to be commissioned to paint 4 models at Victoria Station in London. I had to camouflage them against a backdrop which was a billboard from the ‘Beat Cancer Sooner’ TV advertisement, encouraging the nation to come up with a million actions to fight cancer over a 6 week period. All of our amazing models were cancer survivors. Adam, Anna, Parminder and Linda were brilliant to work with, standing very still for several hours whilst me and my team completed the painting. This was a great campaign to be involved in. It generated a huge amount of interest at the station and was also featured on the ITV news.

Regent Street – ‘Bloom/LUSH ‘Save our Seas PR Campaign’

Carolyn Roper Lush promotion

Save our Seas’ PR Campaign in London

Bloom is a non- profit organisation whose wonderful work includes preserving the marine environment from unnecessary destruction. In September 2014 they teamed up with ‘LUSH’ an international cosmetics company who use only vegetarian or vegan recipes in their products. They hosted a campaign which included a ‘live’ performance of body painting involving 20 countries and 12 other body artists. The campaign highlighted the diversity of deep sea life and how easily it could be destroyed by deep sea bottom trawlers in remote waters in Europe. On the day of the campaign I was responsible for painting for the English location and painted my lovely model with an image of a squid at the ‘Lush’ cosmetics store in Regent St London. Whilst other artists painted various other deep sea creatures simultaneously at various flag ship LUSH stores around Europe including Spain, Italy, Finland and Croatia.

St Pancras Station – ‘International Tiger Day’

Painting for ‘Save Wild Tigers

Painting for ‘Save Wild Tigers

As a passionate lover of all animals and wildlife I was very pleased to be involved with a campaign to highlight the plight of the wild tiger. The 29th of July 2015 was ‘International Tiger Day’ and countries across the globe supported the campaign which raised awareness of the fact that there are only 3,200 tigers left in the wild which is a 97% decrease in the last century. Action must be taken now if these beautiful creatures are to be saved from extinction in the next 10 years. So I was commissioned to design a live art installation at St Pancras station in London as an eye catching way of promoting the campaign. It was a really early start with cabs at 3 am so that we could get our great models, Susie and Victoria, ready for the rush hour commuter traffic at 7am.

St Pancras Station – ‘NHS Blood Donor National Campaign’

NHS Blood Donor PR Campaign

NHS Blood Donor PR Campaign

Another very important campaign featuring St Pancras Station was for the NHS and the launch of their campaign to attract more blood donors to increase blood stocks to 30% above their usual level. This was to cope with the increase of visitors for the Olympic Games in 2012. Photographer Adrian Brooks from Imagewise was behind the body art-ery concept and I was then commissioned by Red Consultancy to design the body paint for the 8 models showing the 4 main blood groups. This was another incredibly early start with cabs booked for myself and my team to get us to the location for 4 am to start the painting. The models then went off to various London locations including St Pancras Station. All the models were very brave coping with the problems caused by the weather as they were only dressed in their underwear. But this was a hugely successful campaign for the NHS and Red Consultancy won an award for ‘Excellence in the Use of Innovative Media Outreach’

Sloane Square Tube Station – ‘X Men First Class Promotion’

 Mystique and Azazel at Sloane SquareIn 2011 I transformed 2 models into Mystique and Azazel for the release of ‘X Men First Class’ on DVD and Blu Ray. This included hand making all the latex pieces for Mystique which were then attached to her skin before we painted her body completely blue. Azazel was painted and adorned with his trade mark scar down his forehead to his cheek down across his left eye. There was a week of PR activity with the characters appearing at various locations around London, including a ‘pop up’ lounge at Victoria Station decorated in the style of the 1960’s. The lounge was opened by Jason Flemying who plays Azazel in the film. The models  also waited for the tube at Sloane Square and were also then photographed sitting on the busy train.      

 

Iconic Red London Bus – ‘A Suit That Fits’

A great publicity stunt on a London busBack in 2006 I was commissioned by the guys at the London based company ‘A Suit That Fits’ to paint a model so that he appeared to be wearing a full 3 piece suit. Once the painting was completed our great model went off around London basically posing in just his underpants. He was photographed in various iconic London locations and situations including St Paul’s Cathedral, The Houses of Parliament and he even hitched a lift on a London Bus and posed standing in a red telephone kiosk. This was a really fun campaign and I find it hard to believe that it was 10 years ago.

 

 

 

Knightsbridge Harvey Nichols – ‘Diet Coke’

Body painted models posing in the window at Harvey NicholsHarvey Nichols is a beautiful luxury department store located in Knightsbridge. In 2012 I was commissioned by Lexis Agency to paint 2 models with the new design of 2 limited edition Coke bottles ‘Night and Day’ designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. It was another very early start, I think we started painting around 3 am. Once the models were painted they posed in the store window where they attracted a huge amount of attention from passer’s by at the peak of the rush hour. Again this was a very successful campaign and generated 909 pieces of coverage across 33 national and consumer print titles.

London Black Cab – ‘Covert Affairs’ PR Campaign

Camouflage body painting for ‘Covert AffairsIn 2013 I really enjoyed working on the launch of the UK premiere of Really TV’s CIA drama ‘Covert Affairs’ I had to blend 3 models into 3 different locations to publicise the launch of the show. One model was painted into a fruit and vegetable stall in Portobello Market. Another model sat on the back seat of a London bus so that she virtually disappeared and took fellow passengers by surprise. But one of the trickiest locations was when we were blending a model into the side of a black cab. Camouflage body painting works best if there is an intricate background – all the details make it easier to make the model disappear. The side of the cab was quite plain and there were lots of reflections from the windows. But the end result worked out really well.

Houses of Parliament Westminster – ‘Royal British Legion’

 Royal British Legion ‘Count them In’ PR CampaigLast but by no means least, is the recent campaign for the Royal British Legion. The ‘Count Them In’ campaign highlighted the fact that veterans are not registered on the current census and are thus ‘invisible’. I camouflaged veteran Darren Fuller into the Houses of Parliament. This was a pretty difficult challenge as we started painting Darren at 5 in the morning, so the lighting was changing constantly as the sun rose. But we were all really pleased with the end results and Darren was an absolute star to work with. This was the final body paint in a series of 4, all set in various locations around the UK. The whole campaign was a huge hit with the media and was featured in numerous papers and online media. For me, it was an honour to meet and paint the models who were all veterans from the armed forces and an absolute joy to work with.

body painters, body painting, body painting artist, body painting for marketing, body painting for PR, body painting London, bodypainters, bodypainting, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup
Body Painting as a Career |

August 19, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

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

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

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

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?

Dumb and Dumber Two

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’

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’

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.

body paint, body painting, body painting career, body painting for advertising, bodypainting career, getmadeup
Body Painting as a Career |

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’

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

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

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

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

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.

body painting artist, body painting career, bodypainting career, Carolyn Roper, getmadeup, UK body painter
Body Painting as a Career, Latest News |

June 28, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

Suffolk New College Awards Ceremony

As a former student of Suffolk College I was delighted and very honoured to receive an invitation on behalf of the Principal Viv Gillespie to be the Guest of Honour at the ‘End of Year Celebration Event‘ on the 22nd of June.

Carolyn Roper Suffolk New College

Programme for the Awards Ceremony

So I made sure my diary was kept clear for that date and last Wednesday I set off on the train to Ipswich, back to where it all began for me as a Beauty Therapy student in 2000. It was whilst I was on the Beauty Therapy course that one of my tutors recognised my artistic talents and suggested a career as a make-up artist. Her encouragement spurred me on to research the industry and move to London to take up a place on the HND course for ‘Specialist Hair & Make-up’ at West Thames College in Isleworth. It was after graduating from West Thames in 2004 that I decided to start working as a freelance make-up and body painting artist and set up my business Getmadeup.com  

It was really nice to be back at the college again; I can’t believe it was my first visit after leaving in 2002. The old building where I trained is no longer there. It’s since been replaced with a beautiful new light filled building.    

I took along ‘the Mothership’ as she was the one who was gently coerced (forced) to volunteer her face and body on a regular basis so that my Beauty Therapy student friends could practice their skills on her! She had to endure false lashes being stuck on, sometimes upside down, sometimes back to front…..yes that is possible! And on more than one occasion when she stopped at the supermarket on the way home she looked a bit too much like ‘The Joker’ from Batman after some over enthusiastic application of lip liner and lipstick! We did have some giggles and she never complained. Everyone has to start somewhere and there’s really no substitute for practicing on a human face or body!  I’m still friends with some of the girls from my student days and they’ve gone on to achieve very successful careers in the beauty industry.

Once we arrived at the college everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming! I was given a quick run through of how the afternoon would pan out and then we went up to ‘Shelleys’ the college restaurant for a reception with the special awards winners, invited guests and sponsors.

Carolyn Roper Suffolk New College

On stage handing out the awards

Then it was off downstairs to the stage for the awards ceremony with the Principal and the Chair of Corporation. The ceremony started with some music from the Performing Arts students and the introductions.

Then it was my turn to step up to the microphone and give a short speech outlining my career since leaving the college, and finishing with what I hope were some inspirational and motivational words for the students about to embark on the next step in their chosen careers.   

The presentation of the awards began with students from the School of Business, Health and Childcare and School of Construction & Engineering Technologies coming up on stage to receive their awards. There was a lot of congratulatory hand clapping and a lot of hand shaking.

Finally we finished with more music from the talented performing arts students. I was then presented with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers which was really lovely.

Carolyn Roper Suffolk New College

My beautiful ‘thank you’ bouquet of flowers

Once the ceremony was over we went off to the marquee for some very nice refreshments all made by the catering students and had the chance to chat with more of the staff and students from the college. All in all it was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon.  

Note to self. When standing on the stage for 2 hours, even if you are the shortest person there, wear comfortable flat shoes! J  

Carolyn Roper, getmadeup
Camouflage, Film & TV, My Work Assignments |

April 16, 2016

| Carolyn Roper

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

Carolyn Roper body painting Ashley Lewis

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.

Carolyn Roper camouflage body painting

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

Carolyn Roper camouflage body painting

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.

Alison Ward, Ashley Lewis, body paint, body painting, bodypaint, bodypainting, camouflage body painting, Carolyn Roper, Channel 4 camouflage, getmadeup, getmadeup.com, Kate Austin, Matthew Morgan Fabulous, naked and invisible, Showem Entertainment

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