Using Moulds

Now this lesson came a little to late for my liking as I could've used it for my continuity assessment, however the outcome of my practice is horrific so I am kind of glad that I didn't use this technique. We were using pre made gelatine moulds and learning how to apply them.

If you want to make your own moulds obviously you are going to need the mould of your choice and then gelatine to fill. Spray a thin layer of Petrolease which is a release spray to help get the gelatine out of the mould once it is dry. Using moulds is really good for continuity as you will constantly get the same shape cut it will all depend on the colouring. If you have made a batch of moulds and want to use only a few at one time, cover the rest in talcum powder and the place them in a sealed tub, this way they won't stick together. 

To stick the mould onto your skin you will need to pros-aide (which is a form of glue) on back of the mould and the area of the skin where the mould will go. The good thing about pros-aide is that it is pliable and can be moved around on the skin until positioned in the correct place. Pros-aide is a contact glue so will only stick if there is glue on both sides of the surfaces. You need to wait till the glue goes a clear colour on your skin and on the mould before you place the two surfaces in contact. This way the mould will definitely stay in place. Depending on how you have made the mould some edges may need to be blended away so that it looks slightly more realistic. You can use witch hazel to do this. Now this sounds pretty easy to do, however I think i nearly cried trying to do this as it was an incredibly frustrating step as I wasn't able to get the edges blended out. I thought that it would be a quick and simple step however it made me realise that a lot of time would have to go into it to make sure that it turns out well. The last step is to add colour. Using my Supracolour pallet I started to build up the colour however I did have to use either some moisturiser or brush cleaner to thin out the colour. I then added some wound filler and some blood to make it look slightly more realistic. To get the mould off you will need to use Pro-Clean which is a type of oil. If you have left the glue to dry properly there won't be any other way to get it off.

I would have to try this technique quite a few times before I got the hang of it without getting frustrated throughout the whole process. 

As you can see the edges aren't that blended out and it looks really fake. Trying to blend out was incredibly difficult and I actually ended up giving up which you might of noticed. Also trying to get colour on it was difficult because I ended up accidentally lifting up the mould meaning there were pieces flying all over the place.