Author: Breanna

Breanna Cooke is a Dallas-based graphic designer known for her award-winning body paint and costume creations.

Avatar Costume: Dr. Grace Augustine with Body Paint

Dr. Grace Augustine costume with body paint

Who could resist dressing up when going to “Avatar: The Exhibition“! Since it was December, dressing up as Dr. Grace Augustine (Na’vi version) seemed like a more practical option in order to stay warm.  Here are some tips for doing this costume:

Paints used:

I used the paints that come in the Silly Farm Pandora kit.

  • 1 Kryolan Light Blue
  • 1 Silly Farm Avatar Rainbow Cake
  • 1 Wolfe White
  • Fixative Spray

Clothes:

  • Maroon or red tank top
  • Tan safari shirt
  • Tan Cargo Shorts
  • Brown hiking boots
  • Dark calf height socks
  • hemp necklace
  • Headband (long strip of light colored fabric)

Steps:

1. Get dressed in your tank top and pants. If you’re planning to wear shorts and paint your legs, leave your shorts off and just carefully pull them on at the end.

2. Paint a layer of light blue all over the exposed areas. Don’t paint your hands yet.

3. Using the dark blue side of the combo cake, paint stripes on your face and arms. Allow the stripes to be a bit uneven and jagged, they’ll look more realistic this way.

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4. Using the light blue side of the combo cake, paint a thin stripe down the center of each dark blue stripe. This will help give it more dimension and depth.

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5. Using the white cake, paint small white dots while following the edges of the blue stripes.

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6. Put on your wig, necklaces, and remaining clothes.

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7. Paint your hands. Then spray yourself with fixative spray to help seal in the paint.

8. Have fun!!

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Fiery Phoenix Costume

BCooke_10-2012_BreannaThePhoenix_10022

My Halloween costume was a mythological phoenix, the colorful red and gold bird that bursts into flames and is reborn from its own ashes. This costume consumed all my free time in September and October, but I’m really pleased with the result! I’ve posted these instructions on Instructables.com too!

Bodysuit:

– 1 white full body unitard (Bal Togs brand)
– Jaquard brand fabric paints – 2.25fl oz size
– Lumiere line (2 crimson, 2 gold, 2 burgundy, 1 burnt orange)
– Neopaque line (2 yellow, 2 gold yellow, 2 red, 1 black)
– paint brushes
– 1 iron (for heat setting)
– 1 mannequin to hold your bodysuit’s shape

How-to Paint the Body Suit:

Plan out your design, then start painting! This design took me at least 40 hours to complete. Having a mannequin is crucial for holding the body suit in the stretched position. The body suit is made primarily from nylon, so I chose Jaquard paints because they were one of the few that list nylon as a suitable base. If your body suit is made from a different fabric, you may want to investigate a different brand of paint or do a test sample. After the body suit is dry, flip it all inside out and iron it with the correct setting for the fabric. I placed towels in the legs and arms so the designs weren’t pressed together under the heat.

Bird Feet Boots:


– 1 pair of boots
– 1 inch thick green high-density foam (sold a fabric stores for seat cushions)
– white craft glue
– scissors
– 6 fake bear claws
– black or brown acrylic paint
– 16oz liquid latex
– foam brushes
– fabric paints for painting the boots to match (leftover from body suit)
– paint brushes
– Hot glue and gun OR Liquid Nails perfect glue

How-to Create Bird Feet Boots:

Using craft glue, stick together pieces of foam so that they are wide enough for a toe (about 3 inches wide). Shape the foam with scissors so that it is rounded and toe-like (repeat 5 more times). Cut out an insert for the claw, but don’t glue the claw in yet. Paint the green foam with acrylic paint so it matches the boots. Using the foam brushes, paint the toes and boots with liquid latex. Be sure to follow the instructions on the liquid latex. Once the latex is dry, glue in the claws. Then paint the boots to match your costume. I used fabric paints since they would match the body suit even though they’re not the perfect paint for sticking to latex (and I’m not sure what is).

Headpiece:


– 2 4’x4′ pieces of polyethylene foam
– hot glue and gun
– 1 red and 1 gold spray paint
– 2-3 sheets of kids thin craft foam
– acrylic and fabric paints (leftover from body suit)
– paint brushes

How to Create Foam Headpiece:

Create paper patterns of each spiral piece and cut them out of polyethylene foam. Glue the pieces together with hot glue so that the flat sides are together and there’s a space for your head. It’s almost like making a helmet. Cut out pieces of the thin craft foam for the beak and side “feathers” and glue on with hot glue. Give the entire headpiece a base coat with spray paint, then add accents of color with acrylic paint and any leftover fabric paint.

Wings:

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– 1 pair of Isis belly dance wings (available online)

Face:

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– Face and body paint – Paradise, FAB, and Kryolan water-based cakes
– paint brushes

How-to:

With water-based face/body paints, dip your brush in water and rub it on the surface of the dry cake until the paint is a smooth and creamy consistency. Now paint your face however you wish! I don’t have any process photos of this part, so you get to be creative!

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How To Seal Water-Based Body Paint

One of the common questions with body paint is: Will it rub off?  

And in general, the answer is: Yes, it will eventually rub off.  BUT, that said, there are some products available to help seal on your paint and make it last longer.

Products to Seal Water-Based Body Paints

Below are some of the products I use. There are other products out there, these are just ones that I have experience with. All are available at SillyFarm.com:

Ben Nye LiquiSet – Use it instead of water to activate the paints and it will help seal on the paint. I’ve found this to be slightly sticky/tacky when it’s dry…which I guess is why it helps “stick” the paint on.

Ben Nye Final Set – Put it in a spritzing bottle and spray yourself when you’re all done painting. Let it dry before you touch it!!

Kryolan Fixer Spray – Looks like a bottle of hairspray and it essentially works the same way. Just spray all over the paint when you’re done.

Some Lessons I’ve Learned…

  1. Once the paint is dry and sealed, you can touch it with dry hands.  It’s not the kind of thing where it will come off as soon as you touch it; it requires some friction.
  2. Don’t sit directly on someone else’s fabric furniture. Sitting on furniture won’t rub off the paint completely, but you’ll likely leave mark. Even though the paints are water-based, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
  3. Use an old sheet to cover things you sit on. I often have to drive while painted, so I cover my seat and seat belt with sheets and towels.
  4. If you sweat a lot (especially on your face) consider using grease paint instead of water-based body paints.
  5. If someone touches you with wet hands, it will smear the paint.  Sometimes at parties, people just can’t resist touching you, so be prepared for your creation to get a little messed up.

Happy Painting!

Egyptian and Mehndi-Inspired Body Painting

I had my paints out at an “Arabian Nights”-themed party and painted the night away! I painted 22 people over the course of the evening, but as usual, I started forgetting to snap photos of each one. I’m glad I created the boards of design options, it really helped give people direction. All of the designs done with brush and sponge.

Design Board. Offering limited options is a great way to manage your time with a large group of people.
Design Board (I added more options after taking this photo).

Harpy Costume with Body Paint and Wings

Harpy Costume | By Breanna Cooke

HARPY: Classical Mythology . a ravenous, filthy monster having a woman’s head and a bird’s body.

Below are some instructions on what I did to accomplish this harpy costume for Halloween 2011.

Step 1: Plan It Out

I first started out with a sketch based on some good ol’ Googling of harpies.  I particularly liked the ones in World of Warcraft.  As you can see, my final product evolved a bit differently from the sketch (colored wings became a bit too time consuming):

Harpy Costume Sketch | Breanna Cooke
Harpy Costume Sketch | Breanna Cooke

Step 2: Make Giant Wings

The frame is the most critical part to having awesome wings.  I commissioned the help of an expert in wing-making, Danielle Hurley.  Her craftsmanship is top-notch and the frame fit me perfectly.  I’d highly recommend contacting her if you’d like some wings.  Check out more of her work on her website or her blog.

To support the feathers, I made a frame from chicken wire and glued it onto some black canvas.

Harpy Wings: Chicken wire frame on black canvas.Harpy Wings: Gluing chicken wire on with hot glue.

I used black turkey quills and started applying from the bottom up.  I ordered 500 feathers (250 of each wing side) and probably used about 300-350.  I also used bits of black down from a feather boa to mask the transition of quills at the top of the wings.

Harpy Wings: Adding feathersHarpy Wings: Finished Feathers

Step 3: Make Bird Feet

I built my bird feet on top of an existing pair of boots that I knew were comfortable.  It helped that they already had pointed toes.  I used green craft foam to shape the toes and hot-glued them on.  The talons are fake bear claws. The bear claws were more proportional to my body than fake eagle talons.

Harpy Feet: Craft foam toesHarpy Feet: Toes and talons glued on

I painted the green foam with brown paint so it would all match. Then I covered the boots in tan liquid latex.  In hindsight, this may not have been the best material, but it gave it the rubbery skin-like texture I wanted.

   

I painted the final boots with acrylic paints (again, maybe not the best type of paint since it kept cracking).

Step 4: Paint Yourself

I painted myself with professional grade body paint using a sponge and brush.  I usually use the water activated cakes from the Paradise line by Mehron since I can buy them locally at Norcosto in Dallas. I also order online from Silly Farm when I have more time to spare.

The fangs were from a Halloween shop. I recommend going for the most realistic ones, even if they cost more. The nails were also from the costume shop and glued on with nail glue.

Step 5: Go Scare Small Children or Become an Object of Envy at a ComicCon

Neytiri from Avatar Costume with Body Paint

Apparently blue is my color!

This year’s costume was Neytiri from Avatar.  I decided to use body paint instead of liquid latex like my Mystique costume last year.   I did the majority of painting myself, though I needed help with my back.  Here is the final result, but keep scrolling down if you’d like to see more photos of the process.  The professional photos are courtesy of T.J. Hall Photography.

Breanna Cooke as Neytiri from Avatar with full body paint. Photo by TJ Hall
Photo by TJ Hall Photography
Full body paint costume for Neytiri from Avatar. Photo from T.J. Hall Photography | www.tjhallphotography.com
Neytiri from Avatar with body paint
Backside of body paint.

Body Paint

I purchased a “Pandora Kit” from SillyFarm.com.  The kit included all the blues I needed, and it worked perfectly for painting a full body.  I also purchased some glow-in-the-dark body paint so that the white dots would glow.

1. Apply the light blue all over your body with a sponge. 

Starting out the painting

2. Use the 2-blue combo cake (it should be shimmery) for the stripes. Start by painting stripes with the dark blue, then add a highlight with the light blue right on top of the dark one.

Painting Progress

3. Use white is for adding the dots, then go over them again with glow paint (optional).

Closeup of arm details.

UPDATE 10/10/2012: Check out my tips on how to seal water-based body paint.  This will help prevent your paint from rubbing off on everything.

Costume

I made the beaded arm bands by painting Mardi Gras beads and sewing them onto  elastic bands.

Painting Mardi Gras beads with acrylic paint
Closeup of arm bands.

I purchased the wig online.  If you search for “Deluxe Neytiri wig with ears” you’ll find the same wig from various vendors.  I also glued some feathers into the braids to make it fuller and match Neytiri.

Feathers added to the braids of the wig.

I made the outfit from scraps of fabric and a bikini bra top from the fabric store.  I made the straps by braiding fabric and I stitched fabric on to the front of the bra cups by hand.  The loincloth (not pictured) was  two rectangles of fabric sewn on to a pair of black underwear.

Bra top from fabric store.
Straps made of braided fabric.
Top with fabric attached.