Body Painting as a Career |

January 4, 2016

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

Body Painting as a Career |

December 6, 2015

| Carolyn Roper

Body Painting, Make-Up and assorted mayhem with the late great Storm Thorgerson.

Gaining Work Experience with Storm

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I first started working with Storm Thorgerson and StormStudios back in 2004 when I was still a student. He was the artistic genius behind so many iconic album covers including Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Genesis, 10cc and later Muse and Biffy Clyro and is considered by some as ‘the best album designer in the world’. My father was a huge Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin fan so I had seen the album covers in his collection, but I never imagined I would get to work with the person who actually designed them.

With Storm and my body painted model at an exhibition of his work

A friend had passed on my details as Storm was looking for a model for a photographic shoot for an upcoming CD cover. However the model would be posing in a telephone kiosk and it soon became clear that although my face might fit the brief, my body certainly didn’t. Being quite short, the kiosk would really accentuate my height, or lack of it! So I asked if I could do some work experience and that was the beginning of an artistic relationship and friendship that lasted until Storm sadly passed away in April 2013.

Body painting with Storm was never boring!

Working with Storm was anything but boring. On an early shoot I ended up standing in for the model and posing on an old plane in a hangar in my underwear, which as you can imagine came as a bit of a surprise, particularly as I was only there to do the make-up.

Over the years, as well as the ‘normal’ studio shoots, I body painted in vans, in fields and on beaches. I painted for fine art prints, book covers, CD covers, posters and exhibitions including a really interesting live event with Storm on stage at BAFTA. I was painting eyes on a model’s back whilst Storm talked about his career. It was so fascinating that I actually forgot where I was and stopped painting, until Storm prodded me back into action. Then everyone in the audience was given a cabbage. Just like on a shoot, Storm directed the audience while Rupert Truman from StormStudios took a photo of everyone holding the cabbage in front of their face. So just a regular night out for the audience really!!!

Wave body painting for the cover of Biffy Clyro CD Folding Stars. Photo: Rupert Truman / StormStudios.

Storm really enjoyed using body painting for some of his work, including the CD cover for Biffy Clyro’s ‘Puzzle’. I love that design, it’s one of my particular favourites. Myself and Carly, a friend and fellow artist, painted a guy from head to toe with jigsaw puzzle pieces. The CD was a huge hit once it was released and was featured in numerous magazines. It was amazing to see the image on billboards around London. I was teaching body art out in Florida and went into a music store and there it was. It was great to see my work across the pond. We also painted a guy with a wave design for the single Folding Stars from the Puzzle album.

Painted suits on the cover of Mind Over Matter 4: The Images of Pink Floyd. Photo: Rupert Truman / StormStudios.

Flexibility and enthusiasm were key (and a sense of humour helped!)

My work with Storm wasn’t limited to body painting. I did hair and make-up if required, including the cover for American rock band ‘Umphrey’s Mcgee’ CD ‘The Bottom Half’. I also painted some coloured suits with designs from various Pink Floyd album covers. These were flown to the US and used in a shoot for the book cover of ‘Mind over Matter 4: The Images of Pink Floyd’.

We were out in the countryside on a shoot and I ended up strapped to the front of Dan, Storm’s designer and artist, who was wearing a harness. We were dangled out over a stream at an angle of around 45 degrees for a poster design! I seem to remember there were a few cow pats around too. Definitely not my normal day at the office. It was very funny!!

Carolyn Roper Beach Catalogue body painting

My body painting on Storm’s ‘Beach Catalogue’ fine art print. Photo: Rupert Truman / StormStudios.

When I won the World Bodypainting Championship in Austria for the first time in 2007 we were driving home through Germany when my phone rang. It was Storm. He didn’t realise where I was, but I said I was on my way home from the competition in Austria. He asked how I had done and when I said I had won he said he felt like a proud father and that he liked to think he had a little bit to do with my success. And there’s no doubt in my mind that he did.

In 2009 we had a memorable trip to South Africa. On the flight over Storm’s TV screen wasn’t working. I offered to swap seats but he just shared my screen instead. It was just as well that we had the same taste in films! During the 2 weeks in SA we worked on the ‘Outback’ and ‘Beach Catalogue’ fine art prints, with plenty of time for sightseeing and bobbing around in the pool in between the painting. It was a great experience.

‘Face the Facts’ CD cover for Octane OK. Me and Storm captured in the background! Photo: Rupert Truman / StormStudios.

Sadly the end of an era

The final shoot that I did with Storm was for the CD cover ‘Face the Facts’ for the Birmingham rock band ‘Octane Ok’. Once I had finished the painting Storm and I sat and chatted for ages. We got caught on camera and appear together in the background on the album cover. This is quite poignant as I knew Storm was very ill, but didn’t realise that this would be the last time that I would see him. He was hoping to make it to my wedding in March 2013 but sadly it was not to be.

I feel very privileged to have known Storm. As well as our working relationship he was also my friend and mentor and responsible for a really interesting and often very amusing chapter in my life. I knew that a shoot with Storm and the team would always be a memorable event. No one pushed me harder than he did, and he could be the most challenging of clients at times. But I don’t think I would be half the artist that I am today without having known him and worked for him. I still miss his dry wit and his wisdom, his crazy phone calls and even his shouting!

Storm’s lovely Testimonial

“We like creating custom images and are particularly fond of the illusory quality of body painting, not so much the decorative side as the odd or surreal side. The skills needed to execute these different qualities include dexterity, patience, speed and a particular visualising capacity – Carolyn has these skills in spades plus a sense of humour and a good nature, so vital in withstanding the pressures of the business and working with demanding clients….not me I hasten to add”.
Storm Thorgerson. Graphic Designer & Film Maker.

‘Taken by Storm’ DVD

Additional information about StormStudios.

StormStudios is a design company formed in the early 1990’s by Storm Thorgerson (ex Hipgnosis and Greenback Films) and Peter Curzon (designer), joined soon after by Rupert Truman (photographer) and later by Dan Abbott (designer and illustrator).

Together with a changing team of freelancers, we have created designs for many diverse projects including exhibitions, company logos, websites, typefaces, books and airships, but most notably we have designed album covers for bands such as Pink Floyd, Muse, Biffy Clyro, The Steve Miller Band, Ian Dury And The Blockheads, Pendulum, The Cranberries, The Mars Volta, Alan Parsons and many others. Storm sadly passed away in 2013 but the Studio remains busy creating ‘normal but not’ designs.

Visit their website at stormstudiosdesign.com and also the stormsight.co.uk website for beautiful fine art prints and also the recently released DVD ‘Taken by Storm’, a film by director Roddy Bogawa which is described as “an intimate portrait of Storm that reveals his character and gives a deep insight into how he worked”. This fascinating documentary is a must for all fans out there.

Body Painting as a Career |

November 29, 2015

| Carolyn Roper

My 1st ever Body Painting. And it’s at the World Body Painting Festival!

Seeboden. The beautiful location for the World Body Painting Festival in 2003.

In 2003 when I was still in college I saw an advertisement in a make-up magazine for what was then ‘The European Bodypainting Festival’ in Austria, which is now of course the very famous ‘World Bodypainting Festival’. It looked amazing so I made a few enquiries to see if I was eligible to enter, as I was a student and had never actually painted a body before. Alex Barendregt the organiser said I was very welcome, so I persuaded my sister Katie to be my guinea pig and model for me and we set off by train and plane for the lovely little town of Seeboden in Austria.

There were numerous large tents set up in a field and I was stunned by the size and professionalism of the festival, even all those years ago. Body painting on the continent was obviously a thriving industry and there were several independent body painting companies competing amongst the 84 other artists in my category. I must admit I was slightly worried that I might have bitten off more than I could chew. I had never painted a body before, I had no actual design planned, just a few ideas in my head, and just a small selection of paints and brushes.

My 1st ever body painting with futuristic hair and head-piece.

Was I a tiny bit mad?

Looking back I must have been a tiny bit mad!! But I could find very little information on the festival before we went and I literally had no idea what to expect. I didn’t know we would be in a tent in a field and even turned up on the first day ready to paint in my stilettos!!! Something that I’m still teased about to this day from some of the other artists.

I started painting, literally making my design up as I went along. I just hoped that I could finish in the 6 hours without shaming myself! We didn’t even know there was a catwalk for the models. When we saw the first model dance their way down the runway I think my sister wanted to stalk off into the hills and never come back. It was so funny! I got her finished in time and we wandered off to the dreaded judging tent!

But her humiliation wasn’t quite over. We then had the stage presentation. So there she was wearing just a thong, covered in silver paint, with her hair standing on end, a piece of plastic radio stuck to the side of her head and I forced her to walk like a robot on stage in front of hundreds of onlookers. I’m still not completely sure she’s forgiven me…. She’s moved to America!

We then had an anxious wait for the results. I was completely amazed to finish in 17^th place, not too many points behind many experienced artists and competitors.

Carolyn Roper's first ever body painting.

Katie braves the crowds and sets off down the catwalk.

I had made it through to Day Two!

As I had very unexpectedly qualified for the finals I had to paint on the second day! Again I had no planned design, in fact I hadn’t even thought about it, as I was sure I wouldn’t get high enough in the rankings to qualify. But we eventually came up with a design based on ‘The Wizard of Oz’ I put Katie’s hair in a messy bun on top of her head to represent the tornado complete with a little house that we cobbled together that morning out of a perfume box. Not my most sophisticated head-dress ever!

It was an incredibly hot day and Katie wasn’t feeling too great, and I think you could say that my painting had a strange naïve charm about it!! Apparently my tiny interpretation of Dorothy’s little dog Toto looked more like a caterpillar shuffling up the Yellow Brick Road. But in fairness it was only the second ever body painting that I had ever done, so I think it turned out as well as it could have. Finding myself in the judges tent again explaining the Flying Monkeys that I had painted on Katie’s back was just hilarious.

Carolyn Roper's Wizard of Oz body painting.

My Wizard of Oz body painting.

But there was far more laughter to come. We had no music with us for the stage presentation, so I asked the DJ if he had Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’. Unfortunately something got lost in translation and Katie popped onto the stage to ‘Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting’. We couldn’t believe it! We laughed so much afterwards until our ribs physically hurt!

What a fantastic experience.

But at this trip to my very first festival I met so many great people and was given such encouragement from other artists and photographers, many of whom are still friends today. I left Austria completely hooked on body painting having achieved 17th place on my first trip. In many ways I think it might have been my best experience at the body painting festival. I had no expectations, in fact all I wanted to do was get finished in the 6 hours. There wasn’t a lot of stress and there were so many times when we laughed until we cried.

Carolyn Roper at World Body Painting Festival

Flying the flag for the UK at my first Body Painting Festival.

Once you’ve poked your head above the parapet and you’re in the top 5 in the rankings the pressure is really on. You’re painting against the clock, against your peers and also quite often against the weather. Austria is a land-locked country and the summer temperatures can often reach 40 degrees. So all in all it’s an incredibly stressful experience.

But watching the stage presentations back in 2003 with the stunning body art, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would win once, let alone twice! Standing on the stage just 4 years later in 2007 and then again in 2009 as a World Champion Body Artist has got to be up there as two of the most incredibly proud moments in my career.

I’ll cover the 2007 and 2009 World Bodypainting Festival in more detail in future blogs.

Body Painting as a Career |

November 14, 2015

| Carolyn Roper

How did I get into body painting?

I get numerous emails from students looking for advice and enquiring about my background in the make-up and body painting industry. It’s really flattering and I do try to reply to as many requests as I can, but there are times when I’m incredibly busy and some emails do slip through the net. I always feel guilty if I haven’t managed to reply to someone, so I’ve decided to publish my experiences in my blog so that in future anyone wondering about how to get into body art or make-up might find the answers to their questions and also find it helpful and informative.

So one of the questions that I’m asked on a regular basis has to be ‘How did you get into body painting?’

Early days in College

I started my make-up and body painting career back in 2002 at West Thames College in London. I had previously studied at Suffolk College and after a foundation course in Art & Design I moved on to Beauty Therapy before deciding on a career in the make-up industry.

Carolyn Roper winning Suffolk College Make-up Competition

Winning the Suffolk College 2002 Make-up Competition

There weren’t too many make-up courses available back then. I applied to The London College of Fashion, Manchester and West Thames. The next step was to put together a portfolio. I forced my very patient fellow Beauty Therapy friends to model for me in their lunch hour. I stripped them of their beautiful make up and then made them up with various ‘looks’ and took ‘before and after’ photos on my father’s old Olympus SLR camera and had the photos enlarged.

We also had an end of term show/competition with the theme ‘Showgirls’. I decided to enter and based my design on ‘The Moulin Rouge’ and in particular Christina Aguilera’s make-up. My friend modelled for me and we made a great outfit complete with sequinned basque and large feathered head dress. On the day of the competition we only had around 30 minutes to do the full make-up before the show. When the results were announced I was very pleased and incredibly surprised to have won first place! It was a real boost for my CV and my portfolio.

After my interviews I was offered a place at Manchester and also West Thames where it was a brand new course for the college. I was very impressed with the tutors and facilities, so I was delighted to be offered a place on the HND for ‘Specialist Hair & Make-up’ and in 2002 I left home in Suffolk and moved to London.

My interest in body painting began

I suppose it was my love of art in general that sparked an interest in body painting. I had seen the very popular photo of Demi Moore in the body painted suit and was keen to try my hand at some body art. I was pleased that there was a body painting module on the course and once I picked up a brush I loved it! Something clicked and I just knew that this was something that I wanted to pursue.

Carolyn Roper entry at 2003 World Body Painting Festival

My first ever body paint was at the 2003 World Body Painting Festival.

Taking part in body painting competitions

In 2003 and whilst still a student I went to what was then ‘The European Bodypainting Festival’ now the massive ‘World Bodypainting Festival’ in Austria. I finished in 17^th place out of 84 competitors with my first ever body paint. I’ll be covering this amazing experience in more detail in a later blog.

In 2004 I entered the student make-up and body painting competition at Olympia representing West Thames College. The theme for the body painting category was ‘The Wizard of Oz’ so I decided to base my design on ‘The Scarecrow’ and persuaded a fellow make-up student Philip to model for me. We were allowed props, so I made a short denim skirt/tunic with a rope belt, which protected his modesty wonderfully. Philip also had a very fetching scarecrow hat and some straw stuffed cuffs and boots.

We only had 3 hours to complete the painting and as Philip was over 6 feet tall it was quite literally a tall order to get him finished in time. I do remember we were also being judged on how tidily we worked and I was a bit worried that I would be marked down as I kept getting straw everywhere from Philip’s ‘stuffing’. Plus the painting area was quite small and every time I moved I got hit on the head by the wings of the ‘Flying Monkey’ who was being painted and constructed next to me! When the time was up I was reasonably happy with my efforts and sent a slightly reluctant Philip out to dance around in front of the judges waving a bunch of silk poppies!

Carolyn Roper's winning 'Scarecrow' entry at Olympia Beauty Show 2004

My winning ‘Scarecrow’ entry at Olympia Beauty Show 2004

When the results were announced I could hardly believe my ears. I won first prize in the body painting category. Then I won the prize for the most points awarded in any category in the whole competition, and finally I won the college trophy for West Thames. I was rewarded with a cheque for £250 and also a weekend in Paris for two.

Coupled with my experience in Austria in 2003 I think Olympia was a defining moment in my life. It was when I knew that body painting was going to feature heavily in my career.

Work Experience

I was also given some good advice from an industry expert to try and get as much work experience as I could whilst I was in college. As well as giving me an idea of what my future career would entail, it would also improve my CV, and show that I had used my time in college wisely.

So whilst still a student I searched sites like UK Screen and Talent Circle for experience in the make-up world. I chased anything that moved – short films, music videos etc. I did quite a few low pay and no pay jobs which helped to build up contacts and give me some experience in the different sections of the industry.

Carolyn Roper's first photo-shoot with Storm Thorgerson

My first photo-shoot with Storm Thorgerson. Photo: Rupert Truman.

One of the best opportunities I had during this time was having the chance to do some work experience with the late, great, Storm Thorgerson, who was responsible for so many iconic album covers, including Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’. I was the make-up artist on Storm’s photo-shoot for an album cover for band ‘Jane’s Addiction’. We kept in touch and as Storm enjoyed using body art in his work, I was lucky enough to paint for him on numerous occasions over the following years. I will be covering my experiences with Storm in a separate blog in the next few weeks.

So not quite in a nutshell, but that is how I got into body painting. A lot of hard work combined with a few strokes of luck has led to a really interesting career. If you want to be successful you have to put the effort in to succeed. You have to be pro-active. Search out the make-up and body painting competitions and enter. Look for work experience. It’s a very competitive industry, so don’t expect anything to drop into your lap!