kikuyu whitch doctors

Whilst looking through an african travel book i came across a fabulous image of an african whitch doctor.I loved the makeup and the head piece.

Feather and fur inspiration

More oranges

I like the markings on his arm

Styling


Fur prints.

Vivienne Westwood

Love the yellow in the brows and the yellow detail around the eyes

Love the pastels mixed with the glitter..

I love the warmth that comes from the oranges and reds and golds.

wow!

 I like the shape if the hair like piece he has on his head,also the clothing is good inspiration.

Creating the hair


Inspired by images of African tribes women carrying pots on their heads i want to recreate this shape using hair.

I want to experiment with wire to create the frame for my hair to be wound around.

creating the shape using wire 

Once I created the shape i then wound hair around the structure to create a mass of hair.

Design idea

Experimenting with scarification and felt eyebrows.

Today i wanted to experiment.The colours are very much inspired by African sunsets the beautiful pinks glowing from the skin and merging into the yellows of the sun.I really like the warmth that comes from the skin.

For this look i began by sketching out where i wanted my brows to go.I wanted the look to be very avant garde so decided on felt eyebrows.after looking back on this now i'm thinking the look could work better without the brows and just by using scarification instead.

I am very happy with how the look turned out and am happy to now do my final look.

The colours for this look are strongly influenced by an image i found early on in my research of some pots.I loved the vibrant reds and oranges.Also a strong influence came from African sunsets.

African sunset.beautiful oranges!!!

I love the oranges and the yellows together!!! really a warm feeling!!

.

some African pots

                                                                      Face template

Creating the hair-the hair is an African wig.I wound thread around the hair and added feathers to create more interest.Tribes people love putting things in the hair and i really enjoyed experimenting in this way.

                                                       Creating the brows and scarification

                                                                      Adding texture

When i removed the beans from the models face i was left with a rather interesting pattern.Maybe a look i could use in my final piece.Its very effective and can be made to look like scarification.

African tribes man

I really liked the scars around the eyes,and for my model this look would work really well as she has striking eyes .

 lack of eyebrows.also i really like the hair.

the detail of the eyebrows is beautiful

                                                                     Kathakali performers
                                     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H56FtV7aXh4

I am now wanting to look at more theatrical makeup for my Editorial look.The brighter the better!

I like the way the makeup is almost mask like with the way it doesn't go down the neck.

Hair and costume trials

Editorial

This look has been inspired by the zulu tribe,with its vast array of feathers and  threads and dreads.

                                    
                                                                     Catwalk

  This look is again inspired by the Zulu tribe with the shape  of the hair and the fur.

I like the look of the hair however i feel like it would not really work for catwalk as i fear it may collapse as when i tried to shake the hair it didn't feel too stable.

                                                              Makeup and hair trials

     I wanted to put these two looks i created together to compare visually what look works best.I like the hair of the top image but i would like to work on the net of the hair maybe add some more hay bursting out of it.

The scars i feel work better on the image below.I used string for the bottom image and tissue for the top imgage. I really like the way the strings been placed on the bottom image.I think this will be the look i would like to acheive for one of my final looks.

I like the shape of the scarification on the back.i could do a similar shape but on to the front of the chest instead of the string look i have done on the image above.

Accessories???

Alexander Mcqueen

Wire Necklaces

silver and golds

bones and feathers

Love the feathers!!!

                               
                                                       A workshop with Seema Chopra

      http://seemachopra.com/

Today was a very productive day.We got to really experiment with ideas and textures.Seema Chopra came in today to help us with our ideas for 'Wild Kingdom'.Here are a few of her work and a few of mine from today.

 This look is fab!!and really inspirational for a tribal look.the wig looks like its been made from felt and glued onto a hair band around the head.

I also really enjoy the paint on the body the way it looks more like pottery than a body.

Another fabulous look by Seema. Im really enjoying the feel of a larger than life hair style.

 
This is what i created at the Seema Chopra workshop.Feeling inspired by the works of Seema i wanted to created something big!I started by wooding out the hair and gradually adding more and more wading the hair was just getting bigger and bigger!!
I really like the look of this but my model began to feel uncomfortable as the weight was so heavy.
However the shape is something i do like i just need to work on the comfort of the model.
My model had shorter pieces of hair at the front so i decided to braid them to one side which worked out rather nice as the model had blonde bits and black bits working through her hair which actually worked out really pretty.

my original idea came from this image of a zulu tribes woman.I liked the idea that u could make the round pot like shape out of hair.After speeking to Seema i feel this could be acomplished if i used wire to create the round shape then gradually adding the hair.

Here is the process of creating the big hair!!

face Templates

I am feeling very inspired by animal skins from looking at the Zulu tribe.I like the idea of having the hair wild like fur and then having a headband made from animal skin.It makes me think of something a tribes man would wear for a dance,I can imagine them with a stick and a woven skirt.

 Zulu tribes man

Zulu tribe

The Zulu Tribe are known across South Africa as a tribe of warriors with strond fighting spirit, but are just as famous for their beautiful beaded crafts.

Zulu leadership has four Heirachy levels,The king,The chiefs or amakosi, who report to the king. The headman, known as induna who is elected by the village elders, acts as the village arbitrator on village issues, allocates land and reports to the inkosi (chief).The homestead heads, known as umunumzane, resolve domestic disputes and local issues.

I really like this head piece.it has been made from ostridge feathers.

This look has been created by pace chen.i liked the shape of the ahir it reminded me of the zulu tribe above.

Zulu dress is only worn in rural areas or at cultural celebrations.

Men's clothing is generally made from cow hide and includes:

• Isinene - front apron which covers the privates.

• Ibheshu - rear apron, knee length for young men and ankle length for older men.

• Umqhele - headband worn by married men.

• Amashoba - cow-tails bands worn on upper arms and below knees.

To round of traditional dress, the zulu man would normally add his isihlangu (cow-hide shield), and umkhonto (stabbing spear).

To the Zulu, leopard is considered king of the predators, and only inportant people can wear its skin. An induna or a sangoma (diviner) may wear a headband, but the king may wear as much as he wishes.

Woman's clothing is dependant on marital status:

An unmarried, single girl, would wear a short beaded grass skirt.

An unmarried, but engaged girl, would cover her breasts and let her hair grow.

A married woman covers her entire body and wears an isicholo (a woven grass hat that is sewn into her hair.)

Zulu beadwork is used to convey messages. Color, pattern, order, and relative amounts of color all have meaning. The exact meaning depends on where the item originated, but certain meanings are shared by all Zulus:

• white - purity of love

• pink - poverty

• yellow - wealth

• blue - dove

• black beads in quantity - widowhood

Widows use beads to show thier interest in remarrying. Married women wear a beaded cover over their breasts with a message understood only by their husbands.

Zulu art was for many years overlooked as the Zulu people did not make art in the form of sculptures and paintings. Rather, the art was seen in the embellishment of utensils used in the home such as carved wooden meatplatters, milkpails, spoons, walking sticks and headrests.

Feathers feathers feathers!!!

A zulu tribe headdress.

I would like to make a feather headdres.