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  • 1.  air brush makeup

    Posted 09-12-2013 12:56
    Okay, more advice, pretty please!?

    We are considering purchasing an air brush machine for makeup, but I know nothing about them.  Does anyone use them for your program?  If so, any advice on where to go and what to buy? 

    We are producing a new show, "Cobweb Dreams" by Lindsay Price and we need fantasy make up (LOTS of fairies) and my thought process led me to the idea of air brushing, so I could use all the assistance I can get!

    Thanks, all! 

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    Carolyn Greer

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  • 2.  RE:air brush makeup

    Posted 09-18-2013 15:56
    I don't know too much about air brushing, but I did learn a fun fantasy make up trick in college from one of my teachers, Bob Haven. You know those little stickers they put on patients in the hospital to monitor heart rate? I think they are called ECG electrodes, they look like this:


    You can get them online or at a medical supply store, they are relatively inexpensive. The middle is a little metal button that Bob figured out fits into a snap (brilliant!!!):



    You stick the ECG onto your face, cover it with make up, and anything you can glue/sew the other end of a snap button to you can snap right onto your face! One our assignments was to use this technique and people came up with amazing ideas like horns, flowers, solar systems, etc.

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    Ginny Butsch
    Community Manager
    Educational Theatre Association


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  • 3.  RE:air brush makeup

    Posted 09-25-2013 16:34
    Ok we LOVE airbrushing, and you are considering using it the right way in my opinion. We haven't found and easy and resourceful/cost effective way to use it yet for general stage makeup but I've done two shows with fantasy characters and used it awesomely. First was CATS, yes that's right we did CATS and we are as nuts as that sounds, but it was an amzing show and the kids loved it. We airbrushed the costumes (full body unitards) ourselves and everyone learned a bit as each character designed and then helped paint their own costumes. We used the same strokes and techniques when it came time to do faces and hair, so you couldn't tell where the costume ended and skin or hair began, it was really cool. For foundations we used cake makeup, student did their own eyes, and then we added airbrushed elements on top of the foundation colors and in hair, and this seemed to work a lot beter then trying to airbrush everything on everyone. We were all beginners when it started but by the end myself and fellow director as well as a handful of students really took to it. The second show was A Midsummer Night's Dream, and we used airbrushing only on the fairies. This was an outdoor production and we wanted them to look dark, creepy and woodsy (not all pink and glitter), so we collected stencils, and faux leaves and branches that mirrored the woods in our outdoor performance environments to use for stenciling and painted right onto their bodies layering elements to get unique textures for each one. Doing this show we found the first person to be sensitive to the makeup and air application, and made modifications to her design so she could use another method for her makeup. Always do test spots fist on like the back of a hand and then later a small sensitive area just to double check that it doesn't irritate the skin. The actors wore about as much covering as a bathing suit and for his show the airbrushing looked awesome and went on easily anywhere on their bodies, and stayed on for the most part in the Florida summer time heat outdoors so you know that's pretty good! We are about to do Animal Farm and will be using airbrush makeup again for this show, and we're upgrading to more and nicer equipment; however, our $90 cheapest guns we could find with a borrowed air compressor with a splitter on the nozzle that we made ourselves has worked just fine too. Someone probably has a big compressor you can borrow and put a splitter on, or you can find pro small ones online. Some small compressors the tank goes down too fast and takes too long to fill back up, which can slow the process. We use Ben Nye cake and airbrush makeup (Magicolor I think it's called) and for the outdoor show we used their setting spray before and after application on most actors. Hope this helps! ------------------------------------------- Kathleen McNulty Theatre Teacher/Director Arnold High School -------------------------------------------
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