Body painting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Body painting is a form of body art, considered by some as the most ancient form of art. Unlike tattoo and other forms of body art, body painting is temporary, painted onto the human skin, and lasts for only several hours, or at most (in the case of Mehndi or "henna tattoo") a couple of weeks. Painting of the face is known as face painting.
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[edit] Traditional body painting
Body painting with clay and other natural pigments existed in most, if not all, tribalist cultures, often worn during ceremonies; it still survives in this ancient form among the indigenous people of Australia, the Pacific islands and parts of Africa. A semi-permanent form of body painting known as Mehndi, using dyes made of henna (hence also known rather erroneously as "henna tattoo"), was and is still practised in India and the Middle East, especially on brides. Since the late 1990s, Mehndi has become popular amongst young women in the Western world.
Indigenous peoples of South America traditionally use annatto, huito, or wet charcoal to decorate their face and body. Huito is semi-permanent and it generally takes weeks for this black dye to fade.
Actors and clowns around the world have painted their faces and sometimes bodies for centuries, and continue to do so today. More subdued form of face paints for everyday occasions evolve into the cosmetics we know today.
[edit] Modern body painting
There has been a revival of body painting in the Western society since the 1960s, in part prompted by the liberalization of social mores regarding nudity. Even today there is a constant debate about the legitimacy of body painting as an art form. The current modern revival could be said to date back to the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago where Max Factor and his model were arrested for causing a public disturbance when he bodypainted her with his new make-up formulated for hollywood films.
The corporal art today evolves to the works more directed towards personal mythologies, as Jana Sterbak, Rebecca Horn, Youri Messen-Jaschin or Javier Perez.
Body painting is not always full nude bodies. Body painting includes smaller designs on one area on the body.
[edit] Body painting festivals
Today body painting is huge in both amateur and professional arenas. Body painting festivals happen annually across the world bringing together professional body painters as well as keen amateurs. Body paintings can also typically be seen at football matches, at rave parties, and at certain festivals. The World Bodypainting Festival in Seeboden in Austria is the biggest art event in the bodypainting theme and thousands of visitors admire the wonderful work of the participants.
Artists from over 40 nations worldwide come to this unique event and put body art into the mountain and lake scenery.
The Lake Millstätter See region's scenery is the stage, where bodies are boldly put on show, and each artist has the opportunity to show his/her own specialities - bodies painted with many different materials and techniques, and sometimes combined with the most fantastic costumes, masks and show effects.
The World Bodypainting Festival at Seeboden is the first of its kind in the world and has become the “Mecca of Bodypainting”. The world champions are chosen in the 3 main categories Brush/Sponge, Airbrush and Special Effects, as well as in one special category, the night contest for UV effects.
Because full body paintings usually involve nudity, most body painting artists would not paint persons under the age of majority. Some body painting models are unpaid, but are volunteers for the unique experience of transformation by the body painting artists.
[edit] Fine art body painting
1960s supermodel Veruschka is often cited as being many body painter's muse.[citation needed] Her images in the book Transfigurations with photographer Holger Trulzsch have frequently been emulated.[citation needed] Other well-known works include Serge Diakonoff's books A Fleur de Peau and Diakonoff and Joanne Gair's Paint a licious.
Since the early 1990s bodypainting has become more widely accepted in the United States, and more and more body artists are beginning to come onto the national community.
Starting In late 2006 Sacramento art galleries started to use fine art bodypainting as performance art to draw new patrons.
[edit] Body painting in the commercial arena
Many artists work professionally as body painters across the world. Their work is seen regularly in television commercials, such as the Natrel Plus campaign featuring models camouflaged as trees. Body painters also work frequently in the film arena especially in Science Fiction with more and more elaborate alien creations being body painted. Stills advertising also used body painting with hundreds of body painting looks on the pages of the world's glossy magazines every year.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, published annually, has in recent years featured a section of models that were body painted, attired in renditions of swimsuits or sports jerseys. Sometimes accessories are used such as bows or buttons. Some allege this allows SI to skirt their own no nudity guideline.[citation needed]
In the 2005 Playmates at Play at the Playboy Mansion calendar, all Playmates appeared in the calendar wearing bikinis, but Playmates Karen McDougal and Hiromi Oshima were actually appearing in painted on bikinis for their respective months. In October, 2005, the Playboy magazine cover featured a foldout of two models (Sara Jean Underwood and Victoria Thornton) wearing only body paint. These and other bodypaintings done for Hugh Hefner's parties at the Playboy Mansion are created for Playboy by artist Mark Frazier.
[edit] Face painting
Face paint is an artistic application of cosmetic "paint" to a person's face. There are special cosmetic "paints" made just for face painting; people should ask before having face paints applied what kind of paints are being used. "Craft" paints are not meant for use on skin and are not acceptable, nor are watercolor pencils or markers. These can cause staining and allergic reactions.
From ancient times, it has been used for hunting, religious reasons, and military reasons (such as camouflage and membership in a military unit).
Especially in modern times, it is a common entertainment at county fairs, large open-air markets (especially in Europe and the Americas), and other locations where children and adolescents are. Face painting is very popular among children at theme parks, parties and festivals throughout the Western world. Though the majority of face painting is geared towards children, many teenagers and adults enjoy being painted for special events, such as charity fund raisers e.g. Children in Need
There are many kinds of face paint, including:
- Designs that include the emblems of favorite sports teams, cartoon characters, and other designs that are "cute" or otherwise appealing to the young.
- Dramatic designs that appeal to all ages.
- Costuming designs which transform the wearer into someone/something completely different
- Designs that endeavor to color the face in such a way to indicate solidarity with a cause, usually the outcome of a sporting contest or membership in a group.
Most theme parks have booths scattered around where a person can have a design painted on their face. A similar activity is the application of "instant tattoos", which are paint or ink-based designs that are put on as one unit and removed by means of water, alcohol, soap, or another mild solvent.
[edit] How to face paint
When learning face painting, you must know about face paints, paint colors, brushes, hygiene and designs.
- Face Paints: Only buy/use face paint that's specially made for the face and body. The most important thing to look out for when buying face paint is whether or not they comply with various authorities in your country (e.g. U.S. FDA.) within the guidelines for use on the skin. Water based face paint is the most popular and easiest to wash off – It's used by people just starting to learn how to face paint and by professional face painters.
- Paint Colors: Start out with getting a palette that has black, white and the primary colors – red, blue and yellow. With these colors you can mix what ever color you need and this will you give you great practice if you have just started learning how to face paint. Then once you’ve started painting quite often you’ll start to notice that you’ll need certain colors more so than others. And you can buy these specific colors in addition to black, white, red, blue and yellow. E.g. You might find that green is a popular color so instead of constantly mixing blue and yellow together to make green you might want to buy a palette of green paint.
- Brushes: Use a thin brush for detail, a couple medium sized brushes for the body of the painting and a large brush for larger areas.
- Hygiene: Hygiene is extremely important in face painting and something you must be aware of when learning how to face paint. Never paint someone who has: any open cuts or sores on their face, a cold sore or conjunctivitis or any other known infectious skin condition, a food allergy or allergic reactions to soaps, skin creams, etc without a prior skin test.
- Designs: Designs to use can be found online and there are ebooks that have step-by-step face painting designs that reveal how to face paint popular designs.
[edit] Use in military
[edit] Famous people with facepaint
- David Bowie
- Blue Meanie
- The Insane Clown Posse
- KISS
- Keiji Mutoh
- Road Warrior Animal
- Road Warrior Hawk
- Sting (wrestler)
- Ultimate Warrior
- Leigh Bowery
- Alice Cooper
- The Misfits
[edit] Body paints
Modern face and body paints are made according to stringent guidelines, meaning these are non-toxic, non-allergenic, and can easily be washed away. These are either applied with hands, paint brush, and natural sea sponge, or alternatively with an airbrush. Contrary to the popular myth perpetuated by the James Bond movie Goldfinger, a person is not asphyxiated if their whole body is painted, although wearing body paint for a prolonged period may cause heat stroke by inhibiting perspiration.
As for Mehndi, natural brown henna dyes are safe to use; however, synthetic black dyes can cause serious skin allergies, and require patch tests before the actual paintings commence.
Whatever the type of body paint (the same is true for cosmetics), should the skin show any sign of allergy, one should immediately cease using it. Moreover, it should not be applied onto open wounds, nor should it be applied too close to the eyes. It is not advisable to use paints or products which have not been formulated for use on the body as these can result in serious allergic reactions.
[edit] Hand art
Hand art is the application of make-up or paint to a hand to make it appear like an animal or other object. Some hand artists, like Guido Daniele, produce images that are trompe l'oeil representations of wild animals painted on people's hands.
