Painted Ladies


This witch makeup has flair. Professional face painter (also clown and balloon sculptor) Sharon Neilson shows how to achieve it on the dvd Create Faces: Face Painting Halloween Classics (Aesthetic Video Source, 2009). She also demonstrates makeup for a pirate, princess, devil, clown, monster, scarecrow, and unnamed but recognizable superhero. Neilson has lots of good advice, and the kids are cute.



This beldame is brought to you by kids’ show Activity TV, which seems to be defunct but lives on via dvd. The presenter uses glitter gel around the eyes but suggests substituting ordinary glitter if you don’t have the gel. I’m pretty sure that’s a terrible idea. Another segment shows how to make witch’s brew punch (see Oct. 11) with plastic spiders frozen in ice cubes. Um, choking hazard? Yet another segment shows how to whip up a mummy costume with cheese cloth, which sounds to me like a ticket to a Shriner’s burn unit. Children appear to be actors, so uncanny perkiness abounds. (Activity TV: Halloween, Vol. 1. Echo Bridge Home Entertainment, 2008)



This hag from Basic How-To Halloween Makeups (Tempe Video, 2005) is just a mess. Other faces on the dvd are more successful. Techniques are somewhat advanced and include putty and latex. (The “Evil Clown” is fantastic.)



Not much to say about this Miss Witch presented by Snazaroo, purveyor of “professional water-based make-up for face painting.” To be fair, their dvd is called Five Minute Faces. Aimed at parents who can never go the extra nine yards.



This classic crone comes to you from professional face and body painters Brian and Nick Wolfe. Their book Extreme Face Painting: 50 Friendly & Fiendish Step-by-Step Demos (Impact Books, 2010) is full of projects that will inspire any face artist to up their game.





 

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