The Bloody Zombie shoot..

I had a bit of trouble finding a model for the shoot as I was put off finding someone from model mayhem after I was let down last minute on my last shoot, and everyone has so much work on before their deadlines! Luckily I managed to get my friend Duncan to model.

The shoot went really well and I got a great photographer who was extremely professional.

I was happy to get the contact lenses in easily due to my constant practice, and I put charcoal used for burns on his teeth to make them really grubby. I tried to get fake teeth but they were too expensive, however this technique worked just as well!

The only thing I was disappointed in was that Duncan's face was all bloody and gored, and I wanted to continue it up into the hair, but he wouldn't let me as it would have mucked it up and he had to go out somewhere afterwards. It was a great shame as I felt it ruined it. Although as this is to be an editorial, it'll look more stylised as it is.

STEP 1

I started off by layering tissue mixed with heated up gelatine onto his forehead taking it slightly down his nose and side of his head. I did a few layers and waited for that to dry. Meanwhile I fixed in his contact lenses making sure his and my hands were COMPLETELY clean..the lenses had been soaking in the cleaning fluid over night so we just had to take them out, clean them again, and gently place them into his eyes. After a fair few attempts we managed to get them in - well I must say it was joint effort! I made sure that they were the first things to go in otherwise the eye make up could run, as a result of constant tears and rubbing/stretching of the eyes to get the damn things in!

I used a purple greasepaint under the eyes to achieve the look of redness and irritation. The purple also compliments the white contact lenses, I also darkened the outline under his eyes with black eyeliner so that it contrasts with the white of his eyes and stands out! I rubbed and blended underneath to create a more subtle affect and then gently powdered to stop any shine. I got inspiration from the vampire on 'True Blood' as I have noticed the make up he wears is subtle but draws attention to the fact he's a vampire, and I wanted to achieve this.

I added dark purple to his lips so that he looks less healthy, and with the same colour shaded his cheek bone to make him look gaunt. I started to create the first scar on his left cheek and I did this by pinching a bit of loose skin together and filling it with rigid collodion. When it dried I did another layer, then slowly and carefully let go to give a dried 'old scar' effect.

I did the same scar again but this one crosses over the first one, to look more realistic then painted them with a skin coloured concealer and a small brush.

I picked out some parts of the scar with a pair of tweezers to add texture, and make it look realistic. I have also paled his face down using mac full coverage in white, as it's a creamy make up it won't look greasy or melt under the lights. I then set it with translucent powder. I made sure that I took the foundation down the neck and round the ears so that it's even all over and looks like paled down zombie skin.

This is the final design. I coloured in the gelatine and tissue once it had dried with a light red greasepaint and added deeper tones such as dark red, purple, blue and green to create more depth. I picked up some of the tissue again with tweezers to look like broken skin/flesh. I finished by adding wound filler to the deeper parts, fresh scratch, and dabbed congealed blood all over so that it looked like a fresh wound. I added charcoal used for burns in some parts, to look like dirt had got into the wound.

I filled the scar on the left side of his face with dark red/ purple greasepaint and added wound filler with a small amount of congealed blood. I was going to use running blood but I thought it would look too messy in the shoot, as I would have to keep on re-touching. I also preferred it without because there is so much going on, and on his forehead it would look too much.

I added some fresh scratch to his lips and underneath, to look like cuts and as if he had been eating on something (or someone!), and the blood had dried.

I added bruising under his eye and around his lips using a bruise wheel. I would have powdered over but bruises are often shiny, and after the photographer showed me what it looked like on camera I decided not to powder.

Lastly, I brushed charcoal over his teeth to dirty them up and make them look grimy and horrible. I thought it looked really effective on camera!

The only thing I'd have done differently, is I'd have taken the blood into his hair more.