Want to take a little bite out of the competition this Halloween at the costume contest? Want to creep out your roommate? Do you have a love for the undead?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this makeup tutorial is for you! Makeup By Jamie, run by Jamie Gasper not only has talent in Special Effect makeup, but she also loves to share her expertise around this spooky season.
Jamie took former EMU Student Eric Vincent under her makeup brushes and cream paints to create a hollowed out wound for a great prosthetic bitten cheek.
To create this look you will need the following items:
- 1 to 2 cotton balls (or more depending on how many wounds you look to create)
- Liquid latex makeup (this can be found at Party USA and some local stores such as Walmart, Target, CVS Pharmacy or Walgreens).
- Cream or grease based paints in colors of black, deep red, purple, white and yellow
- Flesh colored grease paint or cosmetic skin tone face makeup (one to two shades lighter than your skin)
- Stage Blood
- Paint brushes or Q-Tips
The first step is to gauge how you want the wound to look. Jamie suggests holding the unwoven cotton ball to your face to get the shape you are looking for. Once you've decided how you want this hole to be shaped, you saturate the cotton ball in the liquid latex, and then apply to the cheek. Be careful not to get it on your lip but get it as close as you can to it so you can still talk, move, and eat comfortably. Once applied, wait for the liquid latex to dry and adhere to your face.
Once the skin is dry, take your black grease paint and stroke it into the open area of your cheek, in between the cotton and latex. Once this area is filled, begin to stipple the flesh color into the cotton prosthetic. Using a stippling or dotted effect adds to the realism. Once the flesh color is painted over the entire section of cotton, you can pull and shape the prosthetic and add some black in the exposed white parts. Once this is complete, you can begin to add your deep reds or purples. Jamie uses Graftobian makeup or Ben Nye makeup, but you can obtain any type of grease paint or cream makeup at any drug store or Party City.
Adding the bruising at the flesh wound is up to your design, but Jamie said to think of how bruises look and use the darks in the deepest zone and the light colors in the outer edges. Once you’ve done this, you have the option to add teeth or not. If you choose to add the teeth, you paint them in on the deepest black part using the white paints. Once this is complete you can add your blood. “You can cheapen your work by adding too much blood,” said Gasper.
Once this is complete, you have your final wound and you can now “zombify” the rest of the face. Add bruising and dark circles around the eye, and consider using the lighter version of the makeup on the cheeks and face to create a pale look to finalize the realism of the zombie.
Now you're ready to go scare some townsfolk or bay for brains! Follow Makeup by Jamie on Facebook at Facebook.com/MakeupJamie for more special effect work, as she completes these looks and others all year round.
To follow this tutorial, visit Jamie’s YouTube Channel called “Makeup by Jamie,” search “Halloween Tutorial: Zombie Look,” or go to http://youtu.be/Uu4AOL2YXZ4.
