to be so lonely • hs

ten

"Do you have a favourite colour?" I asked, selecting a wider paint brush as I scanned the table before me. There were about 8 large paint tubes, 6 brushes, a few towels, and various colours of glitter.

"I like blue." My model answered, observing the table as well.

"Good choice. Maybe white to go with it. I think they'd work well with your skin tone." I approved, setting the wide brush down as I squeezed out some of the blue paint onto a paper plate, as well as a good amount of the white. "I'll get set up if you wouldn't mind going and changing." I pointed to the bathroom of the studio space, he nodded and walked over towards it, picking up the nude spandex shorts I'd handed him earlier.

I had decided to spend my Friday off at work, ironically. The building my job occupied had an empty floor we used as a makeshift studio, which was quite nice, but hardly ever available, so when I noticed it was free the day before, I took it upon myself to book the space and call up any of my models that might've been willing to shoot.

I moved toward the white backdrop I'd set up earlier, and laid out a plastic tarp on the ground in front of it to avoid any paint spill. Staring at the white backdrop, I contemplated for a moment adding colour, but ultimately decided it would take away from the subject himself.

Daniel was a model i've worked with only twice, but he was a really lovely subject, and his fun personality made it so easy to make my wild ideas a reality.

The door from the bathroom opened and I stood away from the backdrop, walking again to the table to grab the paint and brushes. Daniel walked out in only his nude spandex, which caught me off guard for just a moment, before remembering it was what i'd told him to wear.

"Perfect, are you ready?" I asked, we both made our way back to the backdrop and I set the plate and brush down on a stool.

"Definitely." He nodded, taking his position in the middle of the framing.

"And you promise you don't mind me painting on you?" I made sure, he held two thumbs up.

So then we begun, and I dipped the brush into the light blue paint, and took it over to his skin. He was really well tanned, his skin the color of honey, his hair jet black. I thought the light colours would contrast really well.

I traced along his collarbones, as well as the outlines of his muscles, then moved along to his chest and stomach. Next I took the white paint and added highlights to all the areas I'd painted in blue, then took the brush to his neck and face, outlining his jaw and chin in that same white, as well as the bridge of his nose, the outline of his ear, and traced along the shape of his lower lip. I switched over and dipped the same brush in the light blue, and had him shut his eyes as I added a stripe along his lash-line, similar to winged eyeliner, only much more dramatic.

"It's different, but I think I like it." I commented as I stood back to observe him completely. "I'll take a few headshots first, so just stay still there for a few moments." I instructed, reaching for my camera.

I took about 10 headshots and then began adjusting his pose, trying out a few different positions and taking different shots in each one.

Eventually I added even more paint, a little on his hands and fingers, and did a similar shading on his back, but decided I'd leave his lower body out of frame.

"Turn your body to the left and keep your head forward, but look at the ground."

He shifted to the position and I took a couple more pictures, "Extend your neck a bit, and pull your shoulders back."