It seems there's always a new art form to discover, which is helpful when each new day brings something new for fans to nerd out over. Fans might as well keep their ideas fresh in order to stay in step with the things they love. Granted, this particular art form is by no means new. But it's definitely one of those that people tend to forget about until a particularly crafty creator uses it to create something remarkable. This is one of those moments.
While similar to the often incredible art of cosplay, body paint is its own beast. It requires a mastery of color and shading in order to essentially make the viewer see something that isn't there. In this case, that something is a superhero outfit worn by fan-favorite character Atom Eve from the meme-ably gory Amazon Prime series Invincible. But while a single glance might inspire a nod of approval from the viewer, a closer look will reveal just how intricate this and the rest of the artist's projects truly are.
UK body paint artist Charr managed to recreate an outfit that admittedly seems like a perfect fit for the body paint medium. Atom Eve, a powerful hero who hails from several super teams in the Invincible series, sports a fashionable and mostly practical skintight super-suit during her heroic exploits. As such, a body painter wouldn't have to worry as much about shading as they otherwise might. One of the really cool things about body painting is how the artist utilizes shading techniques to trick the eye into seeing depth, often giving the illusion of layered clothing where there is simply a layer of intricately placed colors. This is seen in one of Charr's other body paint projects, which shows off an expert recreation of Ciri's outfit from The Witcher III.
The effect is completed by a flash of pink to signify Atom Eve's powers of matter manipulation. "Please forgive my poor editing," Charr said in the caption, "I wanted to add her powers from the series but I'm really not very good with photoshop." The funny thing is, the rather 2D-looking splash sort of brings the whole thing together beautifully, looking like something straight out of the show itself (or even the comic). Combined with the subtle lines on her face to give off a sort of cartoony look in the style of Borderlands, it elevates the whole cosplay into a whole different level.
It's definitely an art form that's comparatively underutilized next to more popular styles like digital art and cosplay. But as seen with Charr's excellent use of color and shading, body paint is just as worthy of mainstream attention as any other medium. After all, it's just another form of expression, and in the end, isn't that what everybody needs more of?
Sure, some might argue about the tastefulness of the practice, even going as far as to ban a Twitch streamer for body painting. But the fact is that in most cases, it's no more revealing than countless cosplays seen at any given con scene. Besides, it fools the eye into seeing an outfit that isn't there. So on top of everything else, all body paint is technically an Emperor's New Clothes cosplay.
Source: charrar.b/Instagram