Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2010 - 31

stage

a product survey

Famous good-guy actors such as George Clooney (From Dusk
Till Dawn), vin diesel (xXx), Angelina Jolie (Wanted), and
Wesley Snipes (the Blade films) have played characters sporting extensive tattoos. body art is also high fashion. Vogue had
a pictorial essay in the March 2010 issue, "The Warrior Way,"
in which model daria Werbowy is covered in tribal body art.
For Spring 2010 Fashion Week, the makeup and temporary
tattoo company, TEMPTU, created body art designs featured
in shows by Wayne lee and others. (TEMPTU now sells a Tribal Chic Kit with temporary tattoos inspired by the show.)
Costumers often have to worry about disguising or cover up tattoos on actors. For a production of A Midsummer
Night's Dream at Western Carolina University our problem
was adding more tattoos. The actor cast as Oberon had substantial tattoos on his back in a primitive, tribal style. Everyone agreed that his tattoos were appropriate for his character
but he needed more on his arms and torso. Titania needed
some too.
the problem: to find a temporary tattoo product and
technique which would emulate the blue/black of the actor's
real tattoos, be safe and easy enough for student crews to apply,
require minimal effort to maintain during the week long run of
the show, and fit within our budget.
Students seemed eager to participate in this cool project and it was expanded beyond just the narrow needs of one
production. To evaluate a wide range of skill levels and skin
types, students in beginning makeup classes participated in
product testing. Rebecca White, as part of an Honors Project,
researched traditional skin coloring techniques using henna
and indigo and was responsible for evaluating temporary tattoo products in terms of how accurately they replicated these
traditional looks.

Our research included the history of tattoos and the types or
styles of tattoos associated with specific cultures or groups. When it
came to researching techniques for creating temporary tattoos, we
found that a discussion with a local tattoo artist was invaluable.

General Application Instructions
Historically, tattoos are predominantly black. All tattoo designs start
with outlining and shading in black and grey after which color is
added. Shading is typically darkest at the outline. Color is added
moving from the lighter areas towards the outline. Traditional tattoo
ink colors used in the 1900s and into the 1950s were red, yellow,
green, and black. Today, tattoo inks come in over 100 different colors including ultra-violet (black-light) reactive inks.
Skin preparation: Remove makeup and clean and
exfoliate the skin thoroughly. If skin is oily, use an astringent.
Read all product information and do a skin test to check for
sensitivity prior to using any of these products.
transfer of design to skin: Print or draw design on
inexpensive copy paper, then trace the design using old fashioned carbon paper behind the original design so that the carbon appears on the back of the original, rub alcohol on the
skin and place the carbon side of the design on slightly damp
skin and press it firmly to transfer the carbon image to the skin.
An alternate method, useful when repeating images, is to use a
thin piece of acetate to create the design, trace the design with
a ball point pen to create an embossed image of the tattoo lines
in the acetate. These lines can then be filled with graphite or
powdered chalk and pressed against the skin to transfer the
design. Tattoo artists often use a green soap product on the skin
to help in the design transfer, but it keeps the temporary tattoo
products from adhering to the skin.

2010

theatre

design

technology

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Theatre Design & Technology - Fall 2010