Body Painting is a unique and powerful personal expression. It has been popular in our Boudoir photography mix for several decades. Back in the 1980s I got an accreditation in body painting photography.
Showing is always best. Here are some stories to go with some of our more interesting body paint sessions.
She loved Steampunk. She had a few accessories, such as goggles and gloves, but she wanted to be “dressed” in a steampunk outfit. Once painted, she easily slipped into character and had a blast!
Our superheroine was not interested in body painting at first. As we explored what she wanted to highlight in her session, we determined that her chest scar was important to her. She had had open heart surgery twice, as a child and then later in her teens. That she had survived was miraculous. That scar became her badge of honour, her superpower.
I suggested a 1950s-style superhero body paint with the scar as the focal point. She loved it and became that superhero. A large wall print of her paint hangs in her home.
Terry was so excited about her session. She has ALS, so our session would be slower. When she discovered we did body painting, she was thrilled by the idea. She had two abstract flower designs painted on her, one on the front and the other on her back. The colours had a huge personal significance to her, representing her life and her loss.
Jessie thought it would be fun to recreate their company logo with a bit of an abstract flair. Her partner thought it was perfect. I think they actually did a bit of marketing with the images. It is a bit of a tribal mix; more on that style later.
Theresa could not decide. She loved the idea of a skintight dress—blues and greens were her colours—and she also liked the idea of wings, a purple phoenix style. Lucie, our painter, solved the problem by turning the dress into her wings on her back.
Kim loved the ocean. She struggled with deciding on having a seascape or something under the waves done as her art. Our painter’s solution was to show both! Her art went from the ocean floor to the sunrise, complete with a lighthouse.
Jerry was a huge Stamps fan, so naturally, her “outfit” was the team’s jersey. We got a stock image of stands to blend her into. You can imagine how thrilled she was.
April was a huge fan of the Pixar movie Cars. Her husband ran a tow truck service, so Mater had to be incorporated. The canyon rocks of the Car’s hometown are in the background. The owl is her spirit animal, so she was thrilled that it was worked in.
Katy went another way. Charmed by Disney’s Frozen, she decided to become a snow princess. Our artist really got into it, bringing along headpieces to elevate the look.
Then, there was the night we had zombies in the studio. A bunch of friends thought it would be a blast. Our artist, Melody, worked up ideas for the art with her daughter. We created a whole storyline to go with it. They were fantastic Zombies!
Jenny was pretty ambitious. She had seen some of our black light work with body painting. Her personality was attracted to strong abstracts. It made for a powerful mix.
Blacklight is popular because it creates such a cool effect. Tracy became a Skelton woman. It was wild to watch her move under the blacklight’s glow.
For some, like Bobby, a simple, elegant design worked. It’s not quite an outfit, and it’s not really abstract. The joy of body painting is creating this unique blend.
Of course, it is perfect for prenatal, with the wonderful pregnancy curves, but it can be a bit trying with babies. Mellisa showed off her expecting tummy as a Sea Horse, which she adored. I love this high-key art look. We also photoshopped her underwater; it was very cool.
When little Steele came along, her idea was to have Steele in a bumble bee outfit and her painted as sunflowers. The idea was she would lay quietly on her mom’s tummy for the shot. She squirmed a lot, as babies do. We got the shots, though.
One of our most requested designs is the Tribal. Each woman has a personal take on it; it is always powerful. Mandy was our first request. Melody did incredible work. Although the colours are simple, the design eats up time. This full-body one took four hours to complete.
Of course, body painting boudoir photography is not just for women; men do it too, and couples are even more fun. The only catch for guys is the body has to be fairly hairless for the paint to stick, so it’s a long shave job for most men. In this image, they both have underwear on, and the shoes are real, along with their headbands. Body painters get clever by adding some 3D bits to the painting. The male model, Jay, has a scrap of cloth holding on the cigarette box. The rest is all body painting
These are just some of the beautiful, artistic and unique body paintings we have done over the years. We would love to bring your fantasy vision to life!