I think that overall the look was successful. I think the hair was curled really well and keeping the clips in while I worked on the body paint and makeup helped the curls keep their shape a lot better. I think the pattern going up and round the back worked well. I think everything looked vehy cohesive.
One problem I had was the foundation wasn’t applying or blending properly. Whenever I tried blending it out with my brush the product kept separating or completely coming off. I tried mixing it with moisturiser to blend better, and spraying a hydrating setting spray but it still didn’t work. Another problem I had was the paint not being as opaque as I wanted, especially on the edges of the diamonds. I tried to layer it in some parts but then it started cracking as it dried. I also had too much negative space at points so I added more gold onto the arms and more diamonds spreading out on the back. My tutor said to try bring the swirls and diamonds up to the face to connect to the body paint. I did bring the gold partially up the face which I think worked but I thought there would be too much going on if the diamonds were on the face and I stand by that because in my design the diamonds are supposed to slope over the shoulder and round the back, and putting them on the face would mess with the shape of them smoothly going round. I also added more diamonds spreading out on the back but I think the angle made some of them just look like squares. My model did get cold while I was working so we used a portable heater near my station but I think she was still quite cold even though she didn’t tell me. I did suggest putting something over her arms since the gold pigment is fairly smudge proof but she said she was fine. When I spoke to her after she did say she was still really cold. The gold shimmer on the lips had also come off so I should have re-applied it before going for photos or in between photos.
If I was going to do this again in the future, I’d practice more with the stencils and putting them over curved surfaces. I’d also make the stencils differently so it wasn’t just a square on an angle but I’ve not had any prior experience with Adobe Illustrator so I didn’t know how else I could’ve done it. I’ll practice and look at tutorials for Illustrator because even if I don’t need diamond stencils again, I probably will use stencils again for face and body painting looks. I’ll also look for what I was doing wrong when using the foundations or I’ll have more variety of foundations instead of just creams. I’d also tell my model to bring tights so her legs aren’t as cold because when looking at the final photos I saw that they’re very blue.