leBrush Artistry

NABPC North American Body Painting Champtionships

2010-02-17T17:18:00.001-08:00

This year was the first annual year of the NABPC. We were extremely honored to be a part of a such a huge championship which ties off from the World Body Painting Championship that is held in Austria every year.

I always wanted to be a part of this amazing event, but with it being in Austria, never knew how I would get there.

Luckily they branched off and created NABPC and came to Vegas! I only found out about the competition a few weeks ago and unfortunately had to sign up as an airbrush artist as all the sponge/brush slots were full. I do airbrush, but not to the extent of a full body with no hand details allowed. I'm a very hands on artist, and have only been airbrush a few years. These talented airbrush artist have been doing it 10+ years, compared to me. So with a few short weeks, no ideas as to what to do and rules and regulations, I was extremely nervous.

Four days before the event I scratched my original idea and came up with a new one which I had only 2 days to complete. I went in with very little info and immediately realized how little I was prepared once I saw all my competitors. People like Alex Hansen, Nick Herrerah, Mark Reid, the Wolfe brothers! Ahhhhh!!!! These are some huge body paint idols for me!

None the less, I made it through the event, with the help of my amazing model encouraging me the whole time. Next was the judging, then the stage presentation. Wait, judging and stage presentation??? Why didn't I think about any of that? Like I said, not prepared at all.

Everyone was super helpful, and kind and sweet to me the entire day. I believe they all sensed I was the newbie here.

After that long stressful day on little sleep and no food, I made it to the finals! It was the best day of my life and the craziest, but I would never change a thing! Next year I go to OWN, prepared to the fullest!!! Here is a little video I made of the day:

2010 Bridal Spectacular (convention #2)

2010-02-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

Another successful year at the Bridal Spectacular. Although we didn't get to spruce our booth up quite a nicely as we would have wanted, we gained tons of attention with our amazing model and body painting!

We decided to keep it simply with the design and go for a more viewer friendly approach. Cupid it was! But a sexy, manly cupid, with muscles and flesh and shiny gold! Sounds delicious huh? Check him out!

We met so many amazing vendors and so many beautiful people and look forward to all our weddings and photoshoots we booked with them all! If you mention you saw us we will hold up to our discount, but you gotta know what it was we offered at the show ;)

Hello kitty, kitty

2009-09-10T14:52:00.001-07:00

Meow, was what we were doing all day on this shoot. A Private solicitation that turned into a pretty wet kitty.

Katie, our model, was down for anything. So as I have been having a fascination with neck collars lately, I decided this would be perfect for one!

I hand painted the stripes and stenciled on a Hello Kitty drawing I sketched up. Filled it in with Silver metal pigment and alcohol to give it that extreme shine. Added finishing touches with contours and wha-la!

The milk shots where probably my favorite to do as the model HATES milk! So it was so funny to watch her faces after every shot as she pulled the jug away from her mouth. The pouring of the milk was hilarious too! There is pink milk splatter all over our photographer Talia's walls.

I also to mention, made the glittery cat ears from scratch. I hope this inspires you to be a bad kitty, and rock a sick costume for halloween! Can't wait!!!

concealing the devil

2009-09-02T15:59:00.001-07:00

You have got to own this!

I stumbled upon this amazing little invention at the past IMATS '09 show in LA. It's by Make Up For Ever's new HD line. I bought a couple various shades for myself to give them a test run before I bought the lot for my kit

Holy shit!

That's what I think every time I put this bad boy on. This was invented for makeup artist everywhere, or anyone who wants to look flawless with minimal effort.

The slim silicone flexible tip is ideal for sanitizing between clients. It mimics the application of a finger as well! Cuz I love to use my fingers for concealer!

Now I really put this guy to the test after my recent trip to Atlanta. With all the rain, humid heat, and indulgence in southern food, my skin turned on me.

My rare occational breakout, turned into freak out mode with huge blemishes all over! Yikes! Shit! Help me! But have no fear, this little puppy saved me from complete humility in public, and has been gentle during the healing process which has speed up quite quickly since I've been back in the dry desert.

Do yourself a favor, go get one of these at your local Sephora, you'll be thanking me ;)

We're all mad here...

2009-08-31T12:37:00.000-07:00

It's safe to say that we are all anxiously awaiting Tim Burton's next genius creation and retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Well with all the hype, it has inspired many to take their own twist of the iconic tale of a lost girl down a rabbit hole. We are taking that, and rolling with it.

Please hold to your panties as we unravel our next big adventure.

We will be exhibiting some amazingly crazy body painting down town in the Arts District in December. We will be posting more information as it is available. We hope you can't wait, cuz we sure can't!

A Mad Hatter

2009-08-31T12:06:00.000-07:00

So it's safe to say it's been a while since I've posted. Fear not, more juicy images are coming your way...

So what have we been up to? Well we just finished our first convention, granted it was a bridal convention, we still made amazing contacts and shocked a lot of people. I don't think any booth before has done body painting, so when our model walked out shirtless and dropped his drawers down to his briefs, people just stopped and stared. It took a little to warm all the ladies up to the idea of what we were demonstrating, but the attraction and buzz that was spreading like wild fire was priceless.

In the craziness and confusion of setting up the booth, we forgot our camera, and instead were only able to capture a few images on our phone, check out some of the pictures:

pooparazzi

2009-06-02T00:05:00.000-07:00

I would just absolutely hate to have to deal with this all the time. And frankly, I'm sick of seeing interviews and videos of Rob Pattinson talk about the crazy fans stalking him, and how insane it all is. Well shit, it is insane. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of him and Twilight, but I'm a grown human, and know how to act descent and not like a complete idiot. People talk it up a lot how they wish they were famous, or were in a huge band, blah blah...but really? Would you really want to deal with all these pathetic people who spend everyday chasing down people to catch a $10,000 shot. No matter if the shot is flattering or worse, unforgiving. It's like they can't even go to the drug store to buy condoms without making the cover of US Weekly 'confirming' rumors of affairs, or hot lovers secretly meeting. I mean really? Do I need to know what Rob Pattinson did and wore in line at the airport? NO! Leave him the fuck alone, leave them all alone. Cause what's going to end up being shitty, these pathetic stalker fans, and paparazzi are going to drive one or some of them into Lindsey and Britney tantrums and the fourth Twilight movie will feature replacement shit actors and it will end awful...

So please, for the sake of your few remaining brain cells and dignity, get a real life, and a real job and piss of wanker!!! There, I'm done.

Avant et apres

2009-05-26T00:44:00.000-07:00

Before and after of my sister(the other half of LBA). Amazing huh? Although, I think she is beautiful everyday, with our without makeup. It's always our beauty inside, not our beasts. She on the other hand has no beast, unlike most of us. Anyways, just check it out:

7 hours, two shoots, Venom and Marilyn

2009-05-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

Whew! Am I beat or what! Today was a long day working on my family. I didn't have all the supplies I needed to make Gage's Venom fully come to life, but the basics are there. All you need is a good eye, and steady hand, and a patient model. I luckily had all three today. So without my bald cap, and latex appliance, I had to roll on and just do my best. So here he is in all his glory:

Next, was my gorgeous sister. I had the picture that I love and wanted to try and implicate. So it began with prepping a corset a week ago. After that, then it was hair extension time. After applying all of those and setting the hair into curls, it was time for makeup. Mind you, my sister decided to watch Trauma, Life in the ER the whole time I was working, so I was very distracted. I finally finished the face and now had to suit her up and style her hair. Next was time to shoot. We were going strong, then, BAM! Light bulb exploded, and sliced my hand. Nearly stabbing me in the chest with a shattered piece. HA! It was insanity! So after a few "holy shit I could have died" laughs, we went back to shooting. So now is the final image:

We will be posting some before and afters with this set, so stay tuned. Amazing what a good skeletal system can do with a little hair and makeup. ;)

Prego painting!!!

2009-05-15T00:44:00.000-07:00

Here is my lovely friend Keely at 8 months pregnant with her little girl. We had so many different ideas for this shoot. We narrowed it down to this look with a starburt lily, glittering skull and wings, a moon and night sky with butterflies all over. I have a ton more to edit, but am too tired from painting for 4.5 hours then shooting, then cleaning up...whew! What a life, but I loves it! :) Stay tuned for more to come!

Body paint sesh tomorrow...

2009-05-13T21:27:00.001-07:00

Preview for tomorrow...

That's all I'm given ya...

So hot, so sweet

2009-05-06T23:41:00.001-07:00

Could you image a hot day in the middle of Nevada and California. It's dry, extremely windy, scaulding hot, and covered in a sticky shimmery gold goo? Well Jade did, she trooped it out, and damn she looks good. We got video footage of the whole process coming at ya! So stay tuned.

Meanwhile, check out my official launched site:

Diamonds in her eyes

2009-05-04T21:40:00.000-07:00

So me a my 'Dream Team' Talia did a little fun fotoshoot today. She is a close friend who shares my passion for makeup artistry and photography. We are inspired by many of the same things, so today we went downtown LV and shot some cool edgy styles in some tagged up spots. Here is a snap shot of todays work.

I made the eye patch, covered in swarovski crystals. Bling bling baby! I love this look. The painting in the background really pops against her style. You think this is something? Wait for tomorrow! I'll give you a hint, shark teeth and honey...

You can check out my girls work here.

Oh how my eyes don't deceive me

2009-05-03T01:32:00.000-07:00

So they say we will enter a time where our past will be erased before it's even been written. It's no surprise that technology is advancing rapidly. One thing that bugs me most about technology advancing is this little thing called CGI. Now don't get me wrong, it has some good uses, but for me and all of those other makeup artist out there, whom have worked or are working towards film artistry, know what I mean. It means the possibility of not have a job in the future. Will it be in our time? Possibly. But this is one reason we can thank the economy for being so shitty. It's allowed more makeup artist to be hired over expensive computer geeks. I do also know, if I want to get ahead, this is a trade I'm going to need to learn if I want to have a shot at showing them what I've got. So, here's the the future.

Although, I do have a point here. If anyone knows me well, they know my direct inspiration and passion from the classic horror films of the 20's, 30's, and 40's. One of those being "The Wolf Man" (1941). I was enthralled and suspicious when I heard the remake of this movie was near. Then I found out the talented Rick Baker was to be the head special effects makeup artist, and my hair stood on end. This meant the possibility of a realistically scary new-age version of The Wolf Man, created by someone who undoubtedly understood the background and importance of staying true to originality. I was stoked needless to say!

Then I saw this video from Comic Con, and was brought right back down. In it he reveals the hardships of Hollywood and the pressure to use CGI. He definitely doesn't hide his somewhat dislike for Hollywood's 'quick fix'. But that doesn't come without a price.

Even though technology may be advanced in our day and age, realism, and pure talent is not deceived by the naked eye. The slip of a pixel, and the blur of a photoshop, won't stop my eyes from seeing the computer construction. Take for instance in the Wolverine movie I saw tonight. Sure, there were dazzling stunts, and amazing backdrops, and even unbelievable mutant abilities displayed. But these eyes don't lie. I sat there scrutinizing every chance Wolverine released his shiny blades, laughing inside to the shade of steel they chose to shade them. When the addition of a prosthetic piece painted in silver metal could have made a less expensive and more believable transgression. So, until the computer can be undetectable (which it probably is after these 10 minutes of typing) I will not stop supporting those out there who work blood, sweat and tears into their tangible work. Nor will I stop striving to be better than technology.

Shark bait ew ha ha!

2009-05-01T01:01:00.000-07:00

Who the hell asks me to do something relating to sharks? Oh yeah, that would be one of my best friends. I mean, it's a cool idea, bodypaint a chunk taken out of someones hip, but serious, I have to do research on this now. So, I type in what would you think? "shark bites" and then click images, and what do you know, I throw my laptop across my bed nearly falling to the floor and probably breaking. Lets not forget how I screamed into my boyfriends ear on the phone, because of course I couldn't do it alone, I had to call someone up to 'hear' me look at these pictures. It's not the gore, please believe, it's the underwater creatures. I hate, I hate, I hate!!! It just scares the shit out of me. But I can handle cartoon versions. Ahhh hell....stay tuned for some hopefully cool pictures, if I ever get some real research done, or just close my eyes and hope for the best!

Welcome welcome, one and all!

2009-04-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

Hello, and welcome to our new blog for leBrush Artistry. We will feature images, inspiration, videos, and how to's as current as PC computers. Everything we feature is either our passion, our obsession, or our opinion. So don't fret, or hesitate to join in our sarcasm. We love to have fun, and spread fun. We hope we can fill you with something new to take with you, or a simple smile. So sit back, relax, and enjoy what we have to offer.

Jasmine