Ex tourism management student dropped out of college and within 8 months she decided to pursue her dream in makeup. She practiced in a local academy before going overseas to further her studies in a different makeup route. Today, she is an accomplished and creative makeup artiste.
Jynn Looi, a former alumni from the Makeup Technicians in Sydney, Australia first got into body painting unintentionally because it was a requirement in the makeup course she enrolled for.
It was one of the many criteria where makeup artists are tested on in order to obtain their certificates.
“In the course that I learn, you kind of learn how to be creative in your own imagination”, Looi said.
On the contrary to many beliefs, body painting is not only limited to faces and children.
Eventually, she chose to continue painting bodies as she feels that it gives so much more expression.
The amount of time needed for one body could take up to 4-6 hours depending on the art itself, or at the very least 2 hours.
Some of the equipment she has in her kit includes the airbrush, body paint and brushes. However, she emphasized on how there is no specific tools required and you can create looks out of just about anything.
Furthermore, she mentioned that using an airbrush can be quite challenging even though it is a faster alternative to using an ordinary brush.
The distance of where the airbrush is held away from the surface gives a different outcome of the colour’s pigment, the closer it is, the darker the colour would appear.
There are a huge variety of paint available from the market; ranging from creams, water paints and even alcohol activated paints. Paints made specifically for special effects makeup could cost a lot, one of the famous brands is called illustrator and it costs up to RM800 for a set.
“Cream base is very good if you want a thicker finish and long lasting paint but it also takes up a lot of time because you have to keep blending them” she said.
Other than that, there are other brands for body painting such as Kryolan where its well-known for its ability to last long. Unfortunately, out of the two brands mentioned earlier they are harder to find here in Malaysia whereas Meh Ron is much more accessible.
The most impressive thing about body painting is that other than covering stretch marks, veins, blemishes you can even create them, anything is possible.
In terms of maintenance, humidity and perspiration play a huge part in the paints’ ability to stay on and look good. Although the longest it stays on is half a day it is highly encouraged not to leave it on for that long.
To remove them, all you have to do is soak in lukewarm water. If all else fails, baby oil is the secret solution to removing stubborn pigments.
Before booking an appointment, clients should bare in mind and search for model who are patient. Not everyone can sit or even stand still for long hours. Models who move excessively might irritate the makeup artist as it gives them a difficult time to get into detail.
At the beginning of each session, Looi makes sure that all her equipment are available to her and that she briefed her assistant thoroughly.
“The atmosphere is full of newspapers! Stools will be used so models won’t lean, and the room has to be pretty bright; cool white lights would be ideal and most importantly air conditioner” she added.
Her favorite part of the job as a body painter would be the end of the whole process. When she is able to see her masterpiece. The satisfaction of successfully executing what she had in mind is priceless.
Whenever she faces a slump she would draw inspiration from horror movies, games and other beauty youtubers.
Sometimes she would bring along a reference picture but she believes that imitation limits imagination.
“Basically everything is played by ear, it’s really all about the instinct. For me, I let my creativity flow so if I wanted to do something I will start somewhere first without any idea and later on the idea will just come” she said.
Looi would describe her style to be gory, tidy, sequenced and extremely anal retentive about detailing.
Just like every other job, she too faces critics. Her rule of thumb in dealing with them is to acknowledge their opinion, thank them for it and improve in the future.
In the near future, Looi hopes to be able to organize an event where she can open the floor to body painters from all over to go all out and broadcast their work on social media. Specifically she aims to make body painting more known in the southeast asian countries.
Contact
Jynn Looi
Tel : +6011-23588812
Email : jynnlooitv@gmail.com
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