Where should I start? My name is Leslie Haynes and I was born and raised in Williamsburg, VA. I recently moved about 2 miles down the road from my parents house into a cute little condo with my fiance, Ian. Moving a week before finals? Talk about difficult. Along with slowly getting our place painted, I work at Busch Gardens as a lead in the body art department. We are responsible for face painting, temporary tattooing, hair wrapping, and now lets add feather/synthetic extensions to the list. This is my 6th season working for the park, and my boss, lives across the street from me!
I am a transfer from Thomas Nelson Community College, where I spent two years and earned an Associates Degree in Social Science. I am very happy to be apart of the CNU family. I am a studio art major and can't wait to graduate in Spring 2013.
My fiance Ian, is not artsy at all. He graduated from ODU with a major in psychology and a minor in sociology. He now works down the street from our condo as a security officer at a time share complex. He inspires me in my artwork and deserves a shout out because he is allowing me to use our 2nd bedroom as an art studio for senior sem (thanks love!). I can't wait to get it all set up with all of my art supplies.
My inspiration comes from my work as a face painter. A year ago we were still using brushes and paint, but now we have switched over to airbrush face painting. One Fall, I worked as a special fx make-up artist and applied make up to performers at Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens. I love to switch media, but my passion is in painting. Most of my inspiration comes from video games. Ian and I are huge nerds and I love putting my skills to the test by making us costumes of our favorite video game characters that we wear at anime conventions around the area. So I'm really hoping this will be an opportunity to showcase my nerd art in blog form.
The Wolfe Brothers: Brian and Nick Wolfe
Twins, Brian and Nick, are the owners of Wolfe Brothers FX. They are my inspiration as a face painter as they are artists currently operating in the field. They were born in raised in Florida where they began face painting at Universal Studios in 1998. The quickly received attention while working in the special fx department at the park. In 2004, they decided to leave the park and create the Wolfe Brothers FX company. They supply face paint, airbrush makeup, and step-by-step make up guides.
They have made it big in the world of fx makeup for their vibrant use of color and shading to create 3-d effects. Recently, in 2011, they competed against 42 other countries to win the World Champion title at the World body painting Festival. Today they make appearances at conventions and continue to write step-by-step face painting guides. They own and operate www.wolfefx.com and are known as the "evil twins" at www.eviltwinfx.com.
Their creation of the hyrdo color face painting cakes has made a big impression on face painting. Their formula is made up of traditional face paint and theatrical make up, all in a water based formula. It is by far, my favorite paint to use (seeing that a face paint can last throughout the day on a small child without fading just goes to show the quality of their paint). When I first started at Busch Gardens, we were using a brand called Snazaroo. When we found the Wolfe Brothers paint, we quickly switched out the old paint for theirs.
They impress me by their ability to change theme. They can go from creepy to pretty with just a swish of a brush. One of the hardest parts of painting faces, is the ability to use the face. Everyone has a different face structure. Some have tall foreheads, when some have none. When a person has little surface area to paint, you have to altar your design to fit their face. The Wolfe Brothers always do a wonderful job in understanding the face and body.
Time to break out the face paints and borrow Ian's face... after I finish painting the downstairs bathroom. May the force be with you...
Leslie
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