Dia De Los Muertos

When talking to  Photographer Dana Rogers about doing a tintype photo shoot with makeup I knew I wanted to do something fitting with the look and style that would fit. I wanted to do something timeless, something that looked like it existed when the camera was made back in the 1870's. It didn't take us long to land on Dia De Los Muertos or Day of the Dead.

I knew straight away that I wanted to use a Mexican model to keep things as authentic as possible. With my good friend and model Casandre Elyse Medel coming in town from Colorado we had one day to get it right. The weather was perfect and watching Dana work was like magic. Tintype photography is such an interesting and beautiful process. This image are scans of the original because the original is one of a kind.

I did this really pretty DOTD makeup with a color pallet I loved using lime greens, yellow, greys, black and white knowing it would be lost in black and white. At first I was a bit disappointed that no one would see that pallet but after I saw the first image processed I could not have been happier. It was like taking a trip in a time machine. I hope you enjoy.

Devil's Attic Haunt Makeups 2016

All Photos By Antonio Pantoja

This isn't just a makeup but a full body suit. Our actress Alicia Carper had to come in before the season started so I could paint the suit and what not. With altering the suit with the help of Kelsey Eisenhut. Then adding latex pieces waiting for those to dry and then painting the entire thing it was at least a two hour process. I'm pretty happy with how it all came out and how well it has held up.

I have of course seen the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies but I will admit to not knowing a ton about the character of Chop Top. With that said I love the way he looks. With his exposed metal plate on his head he's gets a lot of comments on the makeup.

This is my second year as the makeup manager for the Devil's Attic. When I took over the makeup room the characters we had were pretty much already set. We were able to tweak a lot of the looks and put our own spin on them which was a lot of fun. When we were brain storming ideas for the new rooms for the 2016 season I wanted to do a Bloody Mary room. Bloody Mary is a character we all know but no one has a clear idea of what she should really looks like. This meant I could make her look however I wanted. With an enchanted upside down five pointed star on her face, just say her name in the mirror three times and vengeance will be hers. Then she will mark your place on her body in your blood.

when I started at the Devil's Attic back in 2013 I wan't even in the makeup room. I was a midseason replacement for the priest character. With that said it's always been near and dear to me. when i started in the makeup room in 2014 not only was I not good at airbrush but I hated using it. With that said doing airbrush makeup on myself (something I do a lot now) was out of the question. Even last season I was still using grease paint on the priest. This year I upgraded the makeup room to all European Body Art alcohol based products and upgraded all of the makeups as well. I am very happy with how all of our monsters look and now our priest looks just as possessed as our Regan.

The Exorcist is one of my favorite scary movies. It is so well acted and the cinematography is amazing. Not to mention Dick Smith did an amazing job on the make up. If I can even come close to a fraction of what he did I'll be happy. With all of that said I am pretty happy with this makeup and Sydni Whitman wears it well.

Cotton Candy Zombie

Photographer Danny Alexander approached me about assembling a group of makeup artist for a kind of Halloween makeup shoot. I thought, what better time to get "Team Demon Fabulous", my makeup team at The Devils Attic together and we could each do a makeup for him.
I didn't want it to be as straightforward as that though, I wanted us to add something to the idea and make everything a bit pretty, or fabulous as our name suggests. I went with the idea of a cotton candy zombie. 

My model was Katya Estes and I love what her and I were able to create together. She had a hard time getting the contacts in but she was a trooper. Team Demon Fabulous consists of Kelsey Eisenhut, Mary Proctor, and Lauren Bradley. I could not be happier to work alongside this team of talented individuals.

Louisville Zombie Walk 2016

I am the makeup and special effects manager at The Devil's Attic haunted house in Louisville, KY. ThIS year we host the 2016 Louisville Zombie Walk. My makeup team (Team Demon Fabulous) and I set up at Highland Taproom which was ground zero for the the Zombie party. We were doing zombie makeup for an extremely reasonable price. With and estimated 42,000 people in attendance we were quite busy. 

The amazing Jacob Roberts set up next to us and took zombie portraits of some of the makeups we were doing. it was fantastic to have him involved and the images he captured are so cool. This is one of the images.

The Touch

Love is closely entangled with pain. When you love someone you let them touch part of your heart. When that love is betrayed that touch that was once beautiful and comforting quickly leaves that spot tainted. The part of your heart you thought you could trust is poisoned.

The question is if you can move past that do you try again? You can guard yourself and never let anyone get close again. That or you can learn to trust someone and risk the pain all over again. More times than not, pain is the price we pay for Love.

Photo: Gabrielle Colton
Model: Katya Estes
Makeup by me.