Here you shall learn the art of blood splatter! P.S. - Dexter, I love you.

This is a very simple technique, but you have to know when to stop. How the application goes, and how to repair your screw-ups if you've crossed over into finger-painting land. :D

Step 1: Bloody Necessities

Blood - fake, preferably - available at local halloween stores now, or online (jug of blood, not tube)
Clothes - try to use something you don't wear anymore, to help with NOT buying something new
Scissors - tear and cut and rip as needed
Cup
Paintbrush - 2" - dollar store
Hanger if needed

Step 2: Clothing Prep

In order to prep your clothes - you may want to make them look old, worn, used (if you're going for a zombie look), you should realize your character and what they've been through - translate that into the clothing. The clothing prep will give you the finished look for your makeup application, and show what you've been through in the process.

If I am dressing as a zombie and I have dirty fingers, I just wipe them on my zombie shirt lol. Make cuts, holes, shreds if you'd like. But don't make them look intentional. Rough up the edges by tugging on them, aging them, wrinkle your clothes, etc.

I have 2 bloody shirts in this instructable, one is just fresh blood, the other has some dirt.

I like to take my items out on a hanger and hang them from the tree to work on.

Step 3: Blood Art

In order to get the "track marks" which is represented by each individual bristle grouping - throwing blood onto the shirt in a parallel line, you dip the entire brush, then flick it hard onto the clothing. This isn't a very organic way of blood disperse-ment but it gives a unique effect.

To do the same thing but with a single line of blood, use the other end of the brush. If the blood has a single point to LEAVE when being flicked off, you will have a single blood-action on the shirt. This is a great way for laying your effects.

To spray blood onto something, whether it be makeup or clothing, you want to trim the bristles on your brush and run your finger across it. As if to flick the blood off of it, but onto your subject. For best results, make sure your brush has rigid bristles. (Synthetic.)

By this time, if you have been using both sides of the brush, you're messy. So, take that bloody hand of yours and smear it onto your clothing item. This will create the classic "psycho" hand streak, famous for a bloody, stricken victim.

Lastly, to layer your small blood-actions with a bulk of blood, use the bristle-end of the brush, dip in blood, have it LOADED and then place it onto the subject. This will let the blood flow organically, or if you do a very short-distance flick, you will have a big blood spot, which is organic in shape.

Step 4: Careful!

At the end of working your item, you want to make sure you've done the following:

You want to come at the shirt from different angles. This shows more than one situation, you don't want uniformity.
You want to come at the shirt from different DISTANCES. Impact doesn't always occur from the same point. (Blood patterns differ.)
You want to make sure that it doesn't become an art project - exactly. Don't over-think anything.
You want to make sure that you're not covering the ENTIRE piece, you don't want it to look intentional.
You want to make sure to evenly disperse blood, and DIRT, if needed, so you don't have a "clean" item.
You want to VARY your patterns, techniques and LAYER them, so your clothing is convincing.

When it's all said and done, you should have something that is unlike any other.

Tip: if you use too much of one technique, or if you don't like the way a certain part looks, add more blood to cover it up. Use the close-blob technique to distract from it. If needed, layer the blobs to make a bigger action point for covering bigger mistakes. :)

Step 5: Finishing Touch!

Your clothing should compliment your makeup. The clothing is your finishing touch. Just make sure to do your makeup in something easily - change - out - of - able. That way you can ease your way into your "costume". Picture is of a 3rd bloody shirt, where I actually did some cutting, pulling, shaping.

Enjoy!! :D

Participated in the
Halloween Props Contest

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12 Comments

LetsGoWVPower

8 years ago

By the way, the blood used in these photographs looks way too bright red. When blood dries on clothing, it looks much darker. She may want to look online atbphotos of dried blood, or dried blood that maybe on closing of your own, and see. Experiment with different paint, to get it just right.

If you wish to address is a killer, like I do on Hell-oween; I might suggest that you wear the article of clothing Hold the paintbrush filled w blood and then swing it towards yourself. That way this blood spattter pattern looks like you were knifing the person. Or throw a balloon filled w blood at a tree. Splashback looks like a gernade went off. Have a buddy squitgun you, looks like an arterial bleed. Etc.

DiMaio & DiMaio is the standard forensic textbook. Available at any medical library. You can study blood spatter patterns and do this up right! (I am a sports medicine doc.)

SUGGESTION: place blood on your HOCKEY JERSEY. It looks way cooler and hyper-realistic that way! (Nosrbleeds from fighting) or on your football jerseys. Not baseball, they never get more than grad stains, lol.