Create a REALISTIC BURN using makeup

Step 5 Prep brushes etc, ready to paint

Once you have finished building up your three dimensional aspect, it’s time for the paint party. The key with burns is to choose the right colours and apply them in a fairly random fashion. It’s all too easy to place colour neatly and symmetrically, so in order to loosen up, there are a couple of things we can use to help.

The first thing is to get a cheap bristle brush from a hardware store, sometimes known as a chipwood or ‘chip’ brushes.

Cut the bristles shorter by about a third, and this will give you a stiffer brush which is excellent for flicking washes of colour on.

The density of colour can be affected by adding more solvent to the pigment (water for water based makeup, 99% alcohol (aka 'IPA') for oil, crème or Skin Illustrator colours).

Round artists brushes can be bashed and curled to form these bushy brushes which apply colour in random specks. Stamping the brush down onto a hard surface helps fan the bristles out.

Backcomb the bristles using a pet-hair or wire brush. Scraping the hairs on a hard surface using a sharp blade such as a scalpel or razor blade will cause them to curl back on themselves. No need to use the finest or expensive brushes such as sable-any bristle material will work such as synthetic/acrylic brushes.