Trials with body glitter and photography

Well it's been a great (and busy) week...kids back at school and two belly paints.

Today I painted a dragonfly and used LOTS of glitter...I recently found a Canadian glitter supplier (LIT Cosmetics from Calgary) at the Vancouver IMATS, that uses a clear base that is so safe you can use it on eyes It's like 'Eye Candy' but they don't use alcohol in the base. They were putting glitter eye liner on everyone that looked amazing. Of course I had to buy a lot because I love all things shiny. They have 2 types of base, one that washes off super easy and the other has better staying power but still washes of pretty good in my opinion. I don't think they're familiar with the adhesives we use on bodies that requires rubbing alcohol to remove!

I was going to paint this belly with latex to hold the glitter because I didn't want to commit the mom to having it on for a week. With my practicing I found the latex makes the glitter lie flat so it looks 'liquid smooth' and so loses a lot of sparkle. I'm also finding it doesn't hold the glitter very solidly either. So I tried it with the LIT base and it turned out pretty great I think. I still have more practicing to do, but it's a start




On labour day I painted a tree frog design I'd made up awhile back for a gal from South America, but went into labour before our appointment. So I finally got to paint it and learned how important it is to have a professional photographer! I have a great camera, and I've taken some lessons on how to use it, but I'm still useless. The photos were terrible! Argh!



Can you see how I used the belly button?

WOW that glitter def has the WOW factor!!! i love it.. and that tree frog is adorable, the photos had the potential to be great, i reckon the lighting was a fault for this one. do you have the photography lighting (umbrella)

gorgeous

both gorgeous! but really love, love the glitter rainbow and dragonfly!!

Just spoke to the Glitter dragonfly mom while dropping off kids this morning...she said she cried when she had to wash it off last night. Her husband wouldn't let her sleep on their white sheets with all that glitter and paint!

I also learned from her that the clearly liquid base was itchy and flaked off pretty good. So I guess it's best for small spaces like eyeliner, not the whole body...lesson learned. Back to the drawing board for effective body glitter adhesion that is easy to come off.

Those are awesome!

I love them both!

gorjessfaces wrote:WOW that glitter def has the WOW factor!!! i love it.. and that tree frog is adorable, the photos had the potential to be great, i reckon the lighting was a fault for this one. do you have the photography lighting (umbrella)

Yeah...love glitter! I have a backdrop and a good camera, but don't have good lighting yet. I was using one of those 'work lamps' you see on contruction sites. It was way too strong. I had the settings off on my camera too. I still need to learn better what they mean and how to know when to adjust them. I hired a professional for the glitter belly because I knew I'd screw it up on my own!

Love your avatar by the way! My daughter wants something 'creepy' for Halloween at school but they don't let you have anything too scary, so I think that would be good for her...especially since her name is 'CAT' Do you mind if I borrow the idea? It'll look different of course.

You can make one of those lights work much better w/ a few little tweaks- shine it through something sheer (like a curtain or thin white sheet. If you can place it up higher (on a shelf or ladder) so your shadows are down behind your model. Play with your camera- find the white balance adjust and set it so the images aren't quite so orange. It may take a little playing around but the results should be worth it.

They are both beautiful! I love the glitter and the dragon fly!

Beautiful Work Catz, & outstanding glitter! The tree frog's eyes almost look like add-on bling ones!

anniel wrote:Beautiful Work Catz, & outstanding glitter! The tree frog's eyes almost look like add-on bling ones!

Yeah, she had an 'outie' so I made it into the eye

Thanks for the 'love' folks...I've been needing some affirmation as I'd not been getting a lot of painting in recently and feeling like I was losing my touch

I just love these Catz...Wickedly well done..love the glitter!!!! and I adore your tree frog...

so beautiful, love them both

Magna, I find that the TYPE of glitter makes a HUGE difference with the adhesion with the latex.

I was doing tests for my project and found that the super fine metallic was AMAZING - the gold applied over a single layer of clear latex looked like gold fabric... gorgeous.

But some of the larger gold metallic was awful and didn't stick.

AND... I find clear regular latex works MUCH better for adhesion... the colours stuff does not work as well. So I'm doing a couple layers of white, then, clear for the top layer.

Thanks Shannon! I'm getting some clear latex right away! I'll do some practicing and post some photos next week. I'm getting ready to go to the convention in Kent, WA this week so no time to practice...I'll be practicing other techniques though

Here's a photo of glitter on the black latex. It does look liquid

I'm in love with the glittery rainbow! I also love the use of the belly button for the from(that belly button can be so awkward! Great stuff as always!

That is absolutley amazing i LOVE the dragonfly how in the world did you get the wings to be transparent like that?

Thanks! I just streaked the rainbow colours in the wing area lightly instead of solid. Then I did the wing outlining and detail over top. I added an irridescent glitter on top.

Glad you like it!

So nice, I love them both. The glitter is impressive but the tree frog has so much more detail and thought to it. Loved them!