I was fortunate enough to be given a second chance to demo for the wonderful gang at The Makeup Armoury at IMATS London on Sunday May 19th 2019.
A couple of years ago I met Ed Yates while doing the Don Lanning sculpting course and we became good friends. Ed is an incredible artist and is infectiously upbeat and enthusiastic. We talked loosely about one day working together but it seemed unlikely as he lives in Melbourne, Australia!
But 20,000km barely seems like good reason to scupper an idea so we set to work and arranged to demo in London (I got the better part of the deal!).
We settled on the idea of a Rhino hybrid which gently evolved into Rhino Cop. The excellent Paul Ewen came on board as our willing model and we set to work.
First up I lifecast Paul and sent a fibreglass core of his head and shoulders to Australia. Ed then sculpted the cowl and neck and sent a snap of the face back to me to ensure my facial appliance would match up.
We ran all the pieces in encapsulated silicone with Ed doing some intrinsic painting in his to make life easier as it also had to be punched with bright white yak hair.
Being a glutton for punishment I decided to fabricate body armour with flashing lights to give him more of a SWAT look and also fabricated foam arms to bulk out his silhouette.
The first time we saw each others completed pieces was on the stand. We had run out a lot of blenders in case there were issues but not a single one was used and the application went flawlessly.
It was perhaps the best experience of my life and I could ask for a better partner to tackle it with or a better support network in Natalie, Alice, Paul and Chris Lyons at Fangs FX who custom-made truly unique teeth to complete the look.
You can read more about James and Ed’s Excellent adventure at https://www.themakeuparmoury.com/blogs/news/behind-the-makeup-james-and-eds-excellent-adventure
And please check out Ed’s work at:
http://www.edwardyatesmakeupeffects.com/
and
https://www.instagram.com/edyatesmufx/