Years ago, when the TV show Face Off premiered, Dawn and I started watching it but didn’t get past a few episodes because of the fake drama present in these “reality” shows. We just wanted to see the talent and the creative process, not some feud that was created by editing and pushed by the show. Same goes with the Skin Wars. If they would take all that crap out of there and just spotlight the talent, I’d be watching every week. Anyway…throughout the weekend, there were always someone getting put into makeup, usually pretty elaborate too, not just the makeup, but full costumes as well. Each day, these poor models would be sitting in the chair first thing in the morning to have this work done on them, some of it taking most of the day. Then they would parade around through the vendor room for a bit, only then to sit back down and have it all removed! And they did this each of the three days. Such troopers! But it gave fans attending something to stop and watch for a while, getting to watch some incredible talent on display.

While Scott and I were walking around on Sunday, we stopped by a body paint job that was going on. What stopped us was the face of the model was made up like Elsa Lanchester from The Bride of Frankenstein, but in black and white. The likeness was absolutely stunning and spot on. The model said that she looks nothing like Lanchester and that was all from the paint. The man behind the airbrush was Nix Herrera. But it didn’t stop with her face. When we first stopped, he had sprayed some stencils on her chest and stomach of the movie title and the characters of the Bride and Dr. Frankenstein. We were entranced, seeing this transformation taking place in front of us. So we stood there. Taking pictures and watching Nix work. Granted, it probably did seem a little creepy for the model wearing very little, having these two guys standing 6 feet away with their phones out taking a picture every time he added another detail. Lucky for us, we weren’t the only ones standing there, gazing at this. I also felt so sorry for the model because she was freezing. Wearing nothing but some tiny underwear and her breasts covered up, she was otherwise naked. You could see her teeth chattering and the goosebumps on her arm as he sprayed her. But she is obviously a professional and worked through it. Got to give her kudos for that!

We must have stood there for close to an hour and the final product was mind-blowing. From making it look like she was wearing the dress the Bride is wearing, to all the little characters and titles on her body, it was just an incredible job, and even more so that we go to see it being done right in front of us.

Next up: Monsteraplooza – Part 4: Vendors