The Body As A Canvas: Body Art

The human body is the tool through which somebody experiences life and his surroundings as well as interacts and communicates with others. To some people, however, the body is another piece of canvas through which they could express themselves, their beliefs and their traditions.

Drawing a Picture, Telling a Message

Just as paintings hanging on walls make a room more beautiful, body art can enhance a person’s good physical attributes. Some ladies have a sunflower tattooed on their backs so that they can wear backless dresses that will reveal their flawless skin adorned by the tattooed flower. In this sense, body art is worn the way diamond necklaces are – it is meant to adorn and enhance the wearer’s beauty. However, there are other much more complex reasons for the proliferation and practice of body art. These reasons can be cultural, political, or spiritual.

Body art is extremely common in jails. Tattooing and branding are some of the most common rites of passage for inmates who wish to be part of certain groups. Body art can also be used to declare personal beliefs and political stand. In this case, body art can be compared to graffiti on the wall; it declares what the person wearing the art believes. People in ethnic groups also used tattooing extensively as a form of ornamentation. In some cases, tattoos were used to mark how many people a warrior has killed in battle.

Body Art Types

Widely known types of body art are body painting, tattoos, shaping, scarification, branding and body piercing. Body painting is usually done by painting on the body, usually covering the whole body completely with water-soluble makeup or paints. Body painting is very similar to painting on canvas, however, it can be more difficult to accomplish as the body has contours that makes painting pictures and scenes on the body more complicated.

Tattoos, probably known by all, are permanent decorations on the body applied through the use of an electrically ran needle. Body tattoos usually cover a relatively small portion of the body. Favorite places for body tattoos are the chest, the upper arms, and the back of the shoulders. Body tattoos are relatively permanent, too, as the picture or the letters are etched onto the skin.

Body piercing is accomplished through the use of materials such as beads and precious stones and metals. Ear piercing is probably the most practiced by women and some men for accessorizing. Today, piercing is performed on almost all parts of the body such as the nose, the lips, the tongue, the eyebrows, the bellybutton, the nipples, and others. Shaping, on the other hand, is done to permanently shape the body according to a person’s preference. Methods of this type of body art are foot binding – common among Chinese women.

Scarifications are more unconventional methods of body art. There are religious groups that deliberately scar their body (usually with pointed objects like knives) using a prescribed pattern. Somewhat similar to scarification, branding is another type of body art that involves a whole lot of pain. This was originally done to farm animals (cows and horses) and originally used for identification purposes. This is accomplished through placing an extremely hot piece of metal with a certain design on the body until it burns the skin and leaves a mark that may last forever.

Whatever form of body art is practiced, it is certain to elicit varying reactions. Body art can be beautiful, captivating, or disturbing depending on the beholder’s point of view and set of values.

How To Get Started With Face Painting

So you’ve decided you would like to learn how to paint faces. You want to see your painting bringing joy and delight to young children, maybe at your child’s birthday party. Or maybe you want to be a professional face painter.

Face painting really can be a very fun and fulfilling job, but it can also be a lot of hard work.

But if you’re a beginner, how do you get started? This is what I’m going to answer for you in this article.

One of the best ways of learning is to take a face painting class. It’s hard to say where to find a face painting class near you. Sometimes you can take face and body painting classes at college. Sometimes you can get free face painting classes at certain events. If you were to search Google for “face painting class + your area” you may be able to find someone who can give you some tuition.

If you want to learn advanced face painting techniques, classes are one of the best ways of learning, especially if you want to improve your painting skills quickly.

If you can’t find face painting classes in your area (they aren’t always many around, so it’s certainly no crime if you can’t fine one) then you may like to learn from face painting instructional books.

If you search a popular book site like Amazon, you’ll be able to find a whole host of books to do with face painting. Read the reviews to find out which is best suited for you.

Another good way for a beginner to learn face painting, is with instructional videos. The obvious benefit over books is that you can actually see how something is done in a video, as apposed to just reading about it.

But sometimes, if you’ve already got some face painting skills, all you need is a little experience to help you build your confidence.

Would you like to know the quickest way to get lots of practice?

It’s simply this: Contact your local children’s school and offer to do free face painting for an afternoon. Now you may get turned down… but most likely, they will be very keen to let you do this if you aren’t charging anything. This is a powerful way to gain experience fast.

Body Painting

With the World Body Painting Festival (and of course the Body Painting Award) coming up on the 17th of July, it's about time to get you all fired up in your body painting know-how.

More about this festival coming soon, but first a short introduction in the art of body painting.

Body painting is a form of body art, and has probably been around since the beginning of civilization. In almost every tribalist culture, body painting was performed during ceremonies or merely just for the beauty of it. Back then they used clay and other natural pigments.
Body painting still survives in parts of the world, and especially 'Mehndi', the form of body painting that uses henna dyes, is now very popular in the western world. The henna tattoo is semi-permanent.

Since the 1960's, body painting emerged as an actual art form. However, there is the never-ending discussion about it's social acceptability because body painting practically always involves nudity.

But no art without paint of course, and you'll be happy to know that the paint is restricted to guidelines: the body paint has to be non-toxic and non-allergenic. The paint easily washes of with water and soap.

As for the henna dyes, which Mehndi uses, there's a difference between the synthetic black henna, and the natural brown henna. The natural henna dye is completely safe when body painting, but the synthetic black henna dye could cause allergic reactions. You should have yourself patch tested before using these at body painting.

This should get you started, next time, more about the festival!

Body Art

There are several forms of body art. Body art can be temporary, for example, body painting, or permanent, such as shaping, dyeing, and scarification, tattooing, and piercing. This article will provide some insight into body art.

Body art painting and shaping

Body painting transforms a person into a spirit or work of art; this can include another gender or a sacred place. Emphasizing on the visual appeal of the subject, the protective body paint is what gives it the appeal.

Body shaping is a technique in which to sculpt the body. Culturally defined ideals of beauty have caused people to bind the soft bones of children's skulls and feet, stretched necks with rings, and removed ribs to make their waist smaller. The most common method today of body sculpting is plastic surgery. Plastic surgery can sculpt and define almost any part of the body.

Skin Dyeing

Henna, is used as a temporary skin dye, in which different patterns and designs are applied to the body. The crushed leaves of the henna plant, when mixed with other natural ingredients, provides a thick, aromatic paste used for painting hands and feet. The olive green, dried out henna powder, mixed with such ingredients as black tea and coffee turns dark. When applied to the skin and left on overnight, it will harden and when pealed leaves a red tone to the skin.

Body art piercing, tattooing, and scarification

Piercing is ornamental as it allows the body to hold certain kinds of ornaments, which are inserted through the skin. The most common parts of the body that are pierced is the face although you will often find ear, nose and lip ornaments. Piercing is often part of a ceremony marking the coming of age. Ornaments might be limited to certain people or worn only on certain occasions

Tattoos are intended to be permanent and the patterns and techniques have varied over the years. The effects of tattooing depend on the country you live in. As an example, in the United States, tattooing is typically looked upon as being rebellious. Tattooing, in the last decade, has become a very popular form of body art throughout the world.

Scarification is much like tattooing, instead of placing a color into the skin with a tattoo needle, the color, or substance is placed into the wound or cut. Once the wound has healed, a permanent mark will remain on the skin

All of the forms of body art listed above can have adverse effects on individuals. There are health concerns with types of body art. If you are contemplating any of the above procedures, be sure to consider all the risks and facts before making any commitments.

Girl on The Body Painting Design Contest

A girl was showing body painting designs on the body paint contest. Girls who use bird images for the body paint design eventually became the first winner in the contest.

Girl on The Body Painting Design Contest

A girl was showing body painting designs on the body paint contest. Girls who use bird images for the body paint design eventually became the first winner in the contest.

Wield Japanese body painting

Wield Japanese body painting