Taking a look back to April 2021, I wanted to revisit old techniques to inspire those looking to start prosthetic makeup.
This is a look based on the show 'Resident Alien'. This was a huge project I undertook, taking me over two weeks to create. This includes the mask, the chest piece and an alien hand. I used latex paste to create the pieces (a mixture of flour and. liquid latex), sculpting them on my face cast and block head. I started this process by creating the front face piece on my face cast. After this dried, I pinned it to my block head. I had to bulk out my block head with tissue paper and cling film, to help create the large alien head shape. I then extended the sculpt with more latex paste across the block head. For the jaw section I had to raise my face cast off the desk (as the head section was very large) to fit the piece back on the cast. I then continued using latex paste to create the jaw section. For the chest piece I ended up creating a full head and chest cast of myself to be able to accurately form the neck piece. I also used latex paste for this.
To paint all of the pieces I used a combination of acrylic paints, alcohol activated paints and eyeshadows/ pressed pigments.
For the eyes, I popped the lenses out of a pair of sunglasses and used hot glue to glue them into the mask. This created an effective black tint, which was difficult to look into from outside the mask, but very easy to see out of when wearing it.
I finally finished off the makeup with a costume from the TV show!
This shows that all you need to create show stopping prosthetic makeups is time, creativty and enginuity! Sure, money products and tools can help this process, but shouldn't be a reason not to try!
Keep creating,
Poppy
