Body Painting Festival for Women

Bodypainting is all about embellishing the beauty and mystery of the human form in a provocative, competitive and we've got to admit, a titillating environment using paints, props, music, and above all imagination.

"Body Gras!™", the host of the Canadian Bodypainting Championships, was set in motion in the summer of 2002 when its founders convinced nearly 20 artists, and just as many models and stylists, to compete in a new body painting competition staged in Nanaimo, B.C. – a tough, yet artsy former coal town graced with one of the most amazing harbours on the entire West Coast of North America.

During the debut competition, nearly a thousand people over the span of three nights took in the spectacle! Three evenings filled with rousing, often boisterous entertainment, artistic fineness - and certainly the most provocative feature of this extravaganza - body painting teams competing for prize money and the chance to be in the well-covered spotlight.

We invite you to enjoy some of the unique creations we have had the privilege to showcase in our "Body Gras!™" shows since 2002.

This week-long festival is a mixture of live bands, DJs, dance and the art of body painting. With five or six live acts on during the day, a Ministry Of Sound tent and acts in the Red Bull Academy there should be plenty to choose from before a two hour presentation of some of the best body art in the world.

There are also musical workshops that can teach festival-goers percussion, didgeridoo, how to DJ and much more.

The main days of the festival are from Friday to Sunday, 16-18 July, daily from 10.30 am in the "Bodypaint City". The artists start painting in the public park and later in the day the artwork is judged by a professional jury. The models are then presented to the audience on the main stage. During the day lots of music and show acts are presented. There are music concerts on program till late...

Panting Steps

With the recent photos of Michael Phelps’ girlfriend Caroline “Caz” Pal hitting the Internet, I am reminded of the allure of body art on women. In this case I’m not talking so much about permanent body art like tattoos (which also can be nice), but instead the use of body paint. It’s so versatile. You can use it to dress up like your favorite character, pretend like you’re wearing a swimsuit, support the local sports team, advertise, or simply go artistic. There are even competitions around the globe where people compete for prizes.

To the right I picked out one of my favorites, The Invisible Girl. For your viewing pleasure, here are some examples of women of all ages that you might enjoy...

The Steps

1. Buy paints from Mehron, Inc., 45 E. Route 303, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, (914) 268-4106. They have a semi-reasonable brochure and provide some technical support. They can also direct you to dealers.
2. Mehron's "liquid makeup" is water-based and comes off easily, although red stains skin a bit. Plan on using three 4oz. bottles to completely cover a 5'7" tall, 120 lb woman. This stuff tends to be streaky and cracks a bit when it dries. It is also not good if your model sweats. However, if you want a "non-slick" look, it can be pretty effective. Best of all, you can shower it off.
3. The most convenient grease-based makeup from Mehron comes in 0.75oz sticks in dozens of colors (mostly slightly varied flesh tones unfortunately, but also plenty of colors). To use this you first apply it, smooth with a damp sponge, then put on translucent powder with a powder puff, then brush the excess powder off with a powder brush. Mehron sells sponges, powder, and powder puffs. Also, many women use grease-based makeup on their faces and understand this procedure.

Although the powder is supposed to "set" the makeup, I've found that the stuff still tends to rub off. So be careful if the model touches bare skin with painted skin -- you'll get a smudge.

You can take off grease-based makeup with baby oil rubbed into the skin then paper-toweled off (plan on using 1/2 bottle of cheap baby oil plus a whole roll of towels to do an entire body). This is the cheapest method. Also, Mehron sells makeup remover lotion that works a little more easily (use this if you just want to wipe off a smudge or work on the model's face). Finally, you can use some cold cream-type cleanser then regular soap and water. Once again, red stains just a bit. The stain should fade in time, however.

Allegedly, a person will die if his skin is completedly unable to breathe. However, a spot the size of a quarter left unpainted in the small of his back is allegedly enough to prevent this undesirable event in the photo studio. Caveat paintor.
4. If there is a lot of unpainted Caucasian flesh in the picture, stay away from Fujichrome Velvia. I've had good results with EPX (Ektachrome 64X "warmer"). As far as negative film goes, Reala is pretty nice, although Gold 100 and Ektar 25 are probably better (punchier). I've had bad luck scanning Reala onto PhotoCD.

Painting Nude Females - A Perspective With Natural Beauty

Painting the human body, especially female nudes, has remained a favourite model for the artists since the primitive age. While choosing a model for the art, the artist of various fields do it for many purposes. The painters choosing human bodies as their models keep certain theories in their minds. Take the case of the radiating paintings of Venus. The nude paintings of Venus, the Goddess of love, personify love and harmony. In many a paintings she is shown with Mars, the God of war. The idea behind such depiction is to show the effort of love and the sense of harmony to restraint the impulse leading us to war. The purpose of the artist here is to pacify the warmonger living within us.

By selecting the female nude as model for their art-pieces, the artists desire to connect themselves with the viewers emotionally. The painters wish convey the exact feeling they encounter while looking at the nude object. During the ancient time, whether it may be the paintings of Venus or work done on the alters of churches, the artists' primary motive remained the adoration of the beauty of human body, especially of the female body.

But by selecting the body of, mostly as the base for depiction of their art, the painters always encounter difficulties attached with the complexity and stigma attached with figurative painting in general and painting women in particular.

The master painter have tried depicting stories, mainly mythological through such paintings. Once we know the story depicted through the painting, the imagination that a painter had in mind becomes identified or clearer to our minds. After that the details of a paintings function as written words in a book.

The artists of the western countries, mainly European, seem unusually preoccupied with the painting of nude persons, women and men alike. They have made the human body an important, a key building block of their art. In Eastern countries, barring India, the nude paintings are still a taboo.

In modern time, the subject of 'Painting The Nude' has undergone a gradual liberation from academic constraints. However there were master painters in past, too, who painted both male and female nude figures and adorned the beauty of the human bodies.

Western Painting - Body Painting - A Contemporary Yet Ancient Style of Being a Canvas

Body Painting - The Intricacies

The origin of body painting is unknown, but its use has been widespread - sometimes as an art form, sometimes as a part of tradition, and the other times, as a necessity. The evidence of body painting is found in ancient practices across various cultures and remains a popular fashion statement in the present times. There is no set style or technique for body painting. It can be a localized design or a fuller one, covering the entire body in some cases. The color pigments used can be natural or synthetic. Similarly, it can be a work of an expert or an amateurish hand of a novice. However, unlike permanent tattoos, body paints are temporary or semi-permanent in nature.

The Geographical Spread
Painting the body was prevalent in ancient Egyptian civilization, where Pharaohs and high-class individuals painted their faces in red ochre & white pigments, and eyes in kohl. The Himba group of Namibia also generously uses red ochre. These people paint their entire bodies in the uniform pigment, as a traditional practice. In India, body painting is an elaborate work of expertise, which requires training and a lot of experience. One of the best examples of this art is the make-up of Kathakali dancers that involves the use of white, red, black, and yellow colors against a base of bottle green color, on face.

The use of 'henna,' a natural plant extract, is very popular among the Indian women across the country and is again, done by trained experts. Henna is used for decorating the hands and feet in beautiful, complex designs. Native Americans use streaks, concentric circles, and other patterns of colors, which include red, white, yellow, blue, and black. The indigenous Yolngu people of Australia use detailed and painstaking technique to embellish their bodies. It is an inspiration for many other art forms and a job that only the experts can do.

Painted faces have been a trademark of comedians and mimics, throughout the history of performing arts. Body painting has found as much use in military operations, as in local communities. Facial colors, particularly in nature tones are heavily employed as camouflage by almost all armies in the world. Now days, this art has become a fad, especially among the youth and is treated more as an avant-garde fashion accessory, rather than as a religious belief. Across the US and Europe, body painting is used in theatre, cinema, fashion, carnivals, and body painting festivals. Despite facing criticism and rejection from various corners, this art continued to grow and is still evolving!

Body Art Around the World

Body adornment has always included body painting, tattooing, and other kinds of body art, this has been the case over the ages; but in recent times, body art has become more varied and endlessly creative. It now includes variations such as, Face Painting & Body Art, Gestational Painting (or Pregnant Belly Art), and Temporary Tattoos: Glitter, Henna & Body Illustration. It is now so popular that it is common practice for a body artist or a face painter to be invited to a social gathering like a party or a wedding, corporate events and promotions, so that the guests can take home a unique memento to remember the party by.

Body art is that art which is made on, with, or consisting of, the human body. It also includes scarification, branding, scalpelling, shaping (for example tight-lacing of corsets), full body tattoo and body painting.

Primitive and tribal societies have some marvellous (if painful looking) examples of body art, such as earlobe stretching among many African tribes, and many other kinds of piercings.

Tattooing was a method of identification for old timers in India, when illiterate people would typically have their own name tattooed on a visible part of the body such at the back of the hand or the forearm.

The significance of henna at wedding ceremonies in India is now well known, with one entire pre-wedding event dedicated to what is known as the 'mehndi ceremony'. All the females in the bride's entourage would typically gather to have henna artist make intricate, elaborate and beautiful henna patterns in the hands, arms and feet as part of the wedding celebraions.

The World Body Painting Festival is held in Austria in the third week of July, which is the biggest festival of its kind. There are different categories of competitions, brush and sponge, airbrush, and special effects. A UV effects contest is also part of this festival. All models must be wearing underpants while painted, but female models can go topless if they want. It is a singular experience to be used as an artists' canvas, so many participants of the festival offer themselves as models without any charge.

The Australian Body Art Carnivale is an event that celebrates the creative genius involved in body art and body painting and will be held this year over the coming weekend in September in Edmundi. "This "Festival of Colour" drawing together cutting-edge artists from around the globe, who will create masterpieces before your eyes using the human body as their inspiration - and canvas!Aside from the spectacular full body art and some serious face painting, the Carnivale will also include traditional Aboriginal body painting, pavement art, a wearable art competition and parade, photographic competitions and a visual art exhibition called "Art of the Body" as well as life drawing and sculpting workshops."

Body art as a method of beatification has been around literally for millennia and will doubtless be around for centuries more; what form it will take; well that is your guess being as good as mine.