Face Off

I must admit, I haven't been a regular watcher of this SyFy series.  I did watch the first season pretty avidly, and I've seen a few episodes this season.  Don't get me wrong, I like the show.  But I'm so much more interested in watching the F/X techniques than the drama between the competittors that the personal stuff kind of annoys me.  I'd rather watch some Tom Savini DVDs to get the real technique without the bull.

When I heard last week's challenge was straight-out body painting, though, I had to watch.  While these are all professsional makeup artists, each has his or her own specialty, and only Athena of Brooklyn is an actual body painter.

This was pretty darned evident when the artists giggled, tittered, hid their eyes, and generally acted like 11-year-old boys upon seeing nude models.  Get real.  Those of us who do this on a fairly regular basis don't act like children.  We're not weirded out by nudity.  We don't freak.

Because it's not sexual.

Yes, really.  When I'm body painting, I see canvas.  Maybe it sounds cold or mean, but seriously, that skin is canvas, just more canvas than a face, which is pretty nifty.  And you can do more with it.  I actually have to remember to let my model rest, take a drink, and stretch his or her legs once in a while.  Human?  What human?  Yeah, I'm terrible.  But at least I'm not leering at my model like a letch or running away like a skittish rabbit.  This is art, and should be taken seriously.  And while yes, you will run across the occasional perv who makes us all look bad, every single one of the professional body painters I know feels the same way I do (although perhaps being better about making sure their models are comfy).

So, now that that PSA is out of the way, on to the body painting they accomplished.  The assignment was pretty nifty, really.  They were divided into teams of two, with two models per team, and choice of backgrounds.  The theory was to design a painting with one model blending into the background and the other as a character in the scene... a painting that would be album-cover-worthy for a rapper of whom I'd admittedly never heard.  Seems like a nice enough guy, though.  So...

This

and this

were exactly as bad as the judges said, though the roller skating chick's clothes were done pretty well.  It just made no sense and had no real concept.

On the other hand, I loved this

and thought it might actually win.  I got the whole orange/chakra thing, maybe because my friend Kerry is a reiki master.  I also loved this

and this.

And I think they picked the right winner.  Let me tell you, every single artist was terrified of those sneakers, and the winner, the guy who painted that model, just nailed it.  Good for him!