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Although an extensive burn makeup can be achieved with prosthetics, there is a great deal which can be done with directly applied effects materials and colour, removing the need to sculpt and make moulds.
This is great if you are doing it for a one-off such as for a low budget movie, a makeup test, building a portfolio or simply to create effective makeups without using a lot of expensive kit. This tutorial covers a simple approach to creating a burn injury using silk, gelatine and colour.
As always, getting the right reference material will always be the most important first step to creating realism. There are books on burn injuries and wound care, but try the internet for free images. Add words such as 'care of..', 'treatment of..' or 'types of..' before 'burn injury', and you will be more likely to get pictures and articles of the real thing rather than reams of makeup attempts on photo share sites such as flickr-although there are also good images of the real thing there too!
Incidentally, if you like this kind of thing why not check out the free mini ecourse on my site-sign up quick and easy at LearnProstheticMakeup.com!
This is great if you are doing it for a one-off such as for a low budget movie, a makeup test, building a portfolio or simply to create effective makeups without using a lot of expensive kit. This tutorial covers a simple approach to creating a burn injury using silk, gelatine and colour.
As always, getting the right reference material will always be the most important first step to creating realism. There are books on burn injuries and wound care, but try the internet for free images. Add words such as 'care of..', 'treatment of..' or 'types of..' before 'burn injury', and you will be more likely to get pictures and articles of the real thing rather than reams of makeup attempts on photo share sites such as flickr-although there are also good images of the real thing there too!
Incidentally, if you like this kind of thing why not check out the free mini ecourse on my site-sign up quick and easy at LearnProstheticMakeup.com!
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Signing UpStep 1A note about burns for makeup
From a makeup point of view, burns are a huge area as there are so many variables. Consider the extent of the burn as well as the type, whether clothing was involved, the age of the burn and whether healing has begun, or was complicated by infection.
If the burn is serious enough, might it have been treated surgically with skin grafts-and what would that look like? Also the burn may cause other complications such as shock and swelling, which in turn can affect circulation and offer further opportunity to enhance your makeup design.
There are many different kinds of burn. Exposure to heat is what most people think of but burns can result also from extreme cold, sunlight, chemicals, friction, radiation and scalds from hot liquids.
Here I have chosen to create a thermal burn on the side of the face. What often happens as the tissues of the body are subjected to extreme heat is that it contracts and distorts the undamaged skin around it. If you’ve ever seen a thin piece of meat in a hot pan, you’ll know what I mean. This is an interesting aspect from a makeup point of view, and one which we will use in the design.
Remember that heat rises, and fire loves to climb. Because of this, it is likely that the hair will have been affected along with the eyebrow, going up like a tinder box. I wanted to use this in the makeup, as the absence of hair on one side and the resulting asymmetry will enhance the effect.
If the burn is serious enough, might it have been treated surgically with skin grafts-and what would that look like? Also the burn may cause other complications such as shock and swelling, which in turn can affect circulation and offer further opportunity to enhance your makeup design.
There are many different kinds of burn. Exposure to heat is what most people think of but burns can result also from extreme cold, sunlight, chemicals, friction, radiation and scalds from hot liquids.
Here I have chosen to create a thermal burn on the side of the face. What often happens as the tissues of the body are subjected to extreme heat is that it contracts and distorts the undamaged skin around it. If you’ve ever seen a thin piece of meat in a hot pan, you’ll know what I mean. This is an interesting aspect from a makeup point of view, and one which we will use in the design.
Remember that heat rises, and fire loves to climb. Because of this, it is likely that the hair will have been affected along with the eyebrow, going up like a tinder box. I wanted to use this in the makeup, as the absence of hair on one side and the resulting asymmetry will enhance the effect.
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You are quite right, gelatine is derived usually from pig proteins.
Yes, you could use SculptGel or Third Degree which are silicone pastes and behave in a very similar fashion to gelatine with the added benefit of being far more durable.
I have an instructable on that very material here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-Silicone-based-pastes-to-create-quick-makeup/
Regards
Stuart
Knox gelatine or similar is not really strong enough to do this kind of work. It melts very easily and would fall off and split easily if you used that kind of food gelatine.
You can buy premade blocks or mix it up yourself with glycerine, sorbitol and zinc oxide powder to raise the melting temperature. Melt it all in a microwave and mix it up, ensuring everything is well mixed and pour it into ice cube trays to cool. Then, you can pull chunks out and melt them as you need them.
Unless you are going to do this a lot, it may be cheaper to simply buy some premade blocks or something such as 'Gelefex' which is a precoloured gelatine makeup.
Here is some great information which goes into more depth:
http://www.halloweenfear.com/GelatineProsthetics1.html
-Stuart
It will stick to skin and solidify while remaining flexible as it cools. It will inevitably lift and peel at the edges and areas of most movement eventually.
To maintain this, you can either use more gelatine or an adhesive such as Pros Aide. Spirit gum is not great, and tends to be less flexible than both the skin and gelatine.
Saline (sweat, tears and snot) will break down the gelatine, so prep the skin with astringent and clean off any makeup and natural skin oils prior to application to help the gelatine stick.
You can also use an antiperspirant to help reduce sweat getting the the gelatine...it all depends on how long the makeup is going to be on, the environment you are in and how sweaty the person will get (are they jumping around outside in a Texan July, for example?).
The context in which you are doing all this will naturally dictate how much time and cost you can justify for it.
-Stuart
Ziet er erg eng/natuurlijk uit.
Heel goed gemaakt
Dus, waarom een tweetalige comment? Tell me that.
It's mainly for people who want to do realistic makeup effects for lowbudget films/makeup tests etc.
But a valid point, duly noted.
But I must say that you make helluva make up-artist. That 'burn' is really realistic. Good job on it
Fantastic work !!
THANK YOU !!!!