[insert vaguely/not particularly witty title referencing 3/4/16 here]

Hello! Another week has passed, and though I still don't have much to say about the theater, I do have a few more things to post. I've decided I'm going to try for at least two effects a week- one more complicated one, and one faster, simpler one that can be made in about 10 minutes or less.

Things in the theater haven't changed much since last week. We've been working more on organizing the prop rooms, which means a lot of moving things back and forth between the big prop room, the smaller one, and the little hall between them. Back to the 80s and Brighton Beach, the two shows that have been on since I first started at Desert Stages, are still going, but they both seem to be on their ways to winding down- the next two shows are already in rehearsals, and we've been finding props for them both. Most of the rest of my time is spent in the back office, observing the goings-on of the theater.

As for makeup, I decided to revisit an old project with some new techniques. A while back, I tried a missing eye effect, and while it turned out fairly well, there were some flaws. I can't get a picture here, but it's on my website. The biggest problem I found was that liquid latex isn't meant for application near eyes, so I tried using another adhesive- specifically, fake eyelash glue- for sticking down the construction paper that covered my eye to cover and protect it, then used wax to cover the edges and make the shape of the eye. There are still some flaws in this one, but here's a few pictures of the final product, with and without blood.

I took some pictures along the way like last time, so I'll put those below.
I started by cutting out a circle of black construction paper big enough to cover my eye and eyelids and glued down the edges with eyelash glue.

Once that was down, I covered the edges with wax and began making the shape of the eyelids- mostly the top one.

Once I had it cleaned up some, I began adding colour- black and red in the center, and red and dark red around the edges, to simulate depth. I also added some shading to the wax forming the upper eyelid, to try to make it more similar to the other eye. Because I was having some trouble with the lower lid, I decided to try to make it look like it had been torn away, instead. Once the colours were done, I added gel fake blood and red around, for inflammation.


The last step, as with last time, was the blood- as seen above, but I'll add one more picture:

For a simpler effect, I made one I've used before a few times- a bandaged wound effect. All it takes is some kind of gauze and fake blood, and there are only two steps: wrapping the bandage (or bandages, for a larger area) around what will be the wound site, and pouring the fake blood on the dressing over wherever you want the deep part of the wound to be. I went with a stomach wound, for the sample one I made, but it honestly works just about anywhere.

It takes all of five minutes, so it's a great thing to add to a zombie or zombie-survivor kind of costume or to add a little drama to something without having to take the two-to-three hours to make something more 3D.

That's all I have for this week, but I hope it was interesting. I'll be back the week after next, if I haven't made anything in the next week!