# Painted(cracked)Doll Makeup Help?



## GlamorxGhoul

I'm going to start working with this group that is going to do a shadowcast of The Devil's Carnival. 
And I was hoping to have at least a trial piece made up for this makeup to bring to them on sunday.

What I'm asking is does anyone have any good ideas for creating the look of The Painted Doll character from the movie? Basically a cracked face look.

I don't want to simply paint on cracks, I'd love to make a prosthetic that could be applied so itd be faster.

Any ideas short of making a whole mold of my face/building on it/ and all that jazz?

I'd love to make a latex piece but I don't have a mold of the persons face to build on.

Here's a pic of The Painted Doll.


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## fontgeek

You can go at it a couple of different ways, though if this is a costume you will have to use repeatedly, doing a life cast of the person's head and then creating a mask from a positive pulled from that casting would be the best way to do it.

You can use latex and bits of cut or torn paper (tissue, paper towel, news print, etc.), the difference between the pieces either being cut or torn is how the edges of those pieces would look. You can dip the pieces of paper into the liquid latex then apply them to the face with the desired gap between the pieces. If you want the cracks to be really deep, you may want to cut the paper several layers/sheets deep, soak them in the latex and let them dry a bit before you apply them to the face. Once you have the texture the way you want it on the actor's face, you can brush in the darker color into the cracks, then apply the solid flesh tone (whatever that may be) to the actor's entire face. You may find that using an adhesive to help the latex adhere to the flesh will help. Make sure that the actor's skin is very clean and dry before you go to apply the appliance(s) to their face. Oils, makeup, etc., can keep the makeup from adhering properly.

If you want the look but not the actual 3D aspect to this makeup, you might look at some of the "Grunge" stencils from companies like "Airsick" stencils, Artool, etc.
You can lay down a dark patch where you want the cracks to be, then hold the stencil over the area and spray the lighter flesh tone through the stencil. All of the tiny lines/cracks or bridges in the stencil will mask the dark areas of the cracks so that once the stencil is removed, it will appear that the actor's face will have the cracks. you can emphasize those cracks by going back with a fine/small brush and adding a black along the bottom edges of each of the "pieces" or surface areas of the "cracked" face. This will make it appear as though there are shadows being cast by those areas.
While those stencils were designed for use with an airbrush, they can be used with traditional "hairy" brushes, sponges, etc. too.
Clean your stencils thoroughly after each session. Clean stencils are easier to work with, and they tend to live a whole lot longer too.


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## nimblemonkey

I just stumbled upon something that may be quicker than latex, but I haven't tried this yet. I have polyethylene water tanks I use for a gravity-fed watering system in my garden and greenhouse. When they developed hairline cracks, I needed to fix them and in my search I came across a tube of aquarium sealer at the hardware store. The sealer works for a couple of years, then peels off. I am careful scrubbing out the tanks, but I can peel it off after it dries right away if that were my intent. It seems like you could mold your cracks (or a gash, or whatever) with this aquarium sealer onto a polyethylene surface (like a milk jug; something a bit rounded) let it dry, paint it, then peel it off. Not sure how you would affix it to your skin, though- don't know if spirit gum would dissolve the sealant. might be worth a few experiments- the tube of sealer costs about $7.


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## Wildcat

If this is a one time application Rigid Collodion would be a good way to go as well. It's great for creating a 3d effect.


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## Gorey Corey

I have some doll face silicone appliances for sale if you're interested. Just shoot me a message.


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