Digital Makeup

For several years I have been experimenting with a variety of techniques to apply “digital makeup” to photographs of faces and bodies.

The process involved creating a library of different elements, texture and effects then using Photoshop to composite all the different elements.

The current library consists of about 5,000 different elements such as skin textures, hair, blisters, boils, wrinkles, drips, splatters, teeth, etc.

The following photos are some test composites I have completed. Each of these samples started by taking a high resolution photo of my head and shoulders in front of a green screen, I shot many different poses and many different expressions. The green screen allows me to remove the background and work with a very clean “cut-out” of just my face.

One of my thoughts is that these “characters” would work well for haunted portraits. Any other ideas?