Ascent: Testing

The second concept within the 'Ascent' chapter has been a great learning curve for my technical skill and ability with airbrushing as a make-up artist. I knew that it was an ambitious task to take on as I don't have a lot of experience with an airbrush but I found the challenge exciting. These images from Nick Knight have been inspirational to the process of designing as I want to continue with the theme of growth  and the progressive mind complex. It becomes increasingly difficult to define black as an aesthetic, with fashion and beauty moving at such a fast pace. It could be analysed instead as a ‘feeling’ (Maclagan). This helps to create a universal understanding about the way in which black filters into daily life, space and time. Black links to the psychological perception of the physical and emotional self which is the reason why I have decided to create a body paint that creeps onto the skin without control.

Nick Knight's series in Dazed&Confused has been a strong point of reference for my ideas as it expresses a sense of internal power yet still remains elegant and delicate.

I have been testing with the airbrush and have come across difficulties with the components becoming blocked due to the consistency of the paint. It has taken a few attempts to improve with my application of the product however I feel more confident now for the final shoot.

I have been experimenting with layering colour to create a deeper and stronger pigment of black, so have used green and blue underneath the black. When analysing the test images, I feel that the result is looking quite 'fantasy' inspired as appose to following the element of realism within the chapter which is something I need to change and develop. I also feel that a full body paint isn't necessary to portray the idea of the ascent of the self into the dream state. I think that by using black to creep from the contours of the shoulder blades down onto the arm and extending right into the finger tips, it would portray a more concise and perfected vision.
I am going to design and create the nails to extenuate from the hands as if they are growing away from the body. I want to give each nail a slanted curve to mirror the body's silhouette and will create opposite curves for each hand (i.e left hand having a slant to the right and the right hand with a left slant) so that the nails are perfectly symmetrical.