Gelatin Direct to Skin Burn. #moulagemonday

Gelatin is a product that like anything comes with both it’s pros and its cons. It is highly versatile with uses ranging from direct application to prosthetics and when mastered it can be used to create some incredible things.

If you want to see an excellent example of gelatin being used to its fullest potential then I would recommend having a look at Stuart coraline inspired look on his YouTube channel;

https://youtu.be/YD084NS5VBo

This was one of the first examples I ever came across of gelatin being used within special effects makeup and it definitely opened my eyes as to how this product could be manipulated to create seamless effects.

Now I have to be completely honest with you I have not mastered gelatin as a product by any stretch of the imagination. I definitely still have a lot to learn, however there are certain things that I use it for on a regular basis; burns being one of them.

This burn is the result of experiment. I have been playing around recently with some different ways to create burns, especially over a larger area quickly. Gelatin is a product that can do this for me. I use Titanic FX prosthetics gelatin as this is my favourite out of the ones that I have tried.

I have been looking for a way to heat my gelatin that is safe, portable and able to keep the gelatin at a consistent temperature for the entire time that am using it. Then the other day I had a brainwave.

Now I am but no means claiming that this is an original idea but I was wondering to myself whether a wax melter, like the ones used by beauticians could do this for me. I found a cheap one online and picked out up to try out and honestly I will never look back! This device had given me the ability to melt my geletin really without the risk of over heating or boiling it and then keep it at a consistent temperature for as long as I need. I can also ensure that it is not too hot for direct to skin application making the whole process of this wound much safer.

This full arm burn took me under 10 minutes to complete once the gelatin had melted and because I used a pre coloured gelatin it took less time to complete the overall colour as the base layer was already covered. This is great because it allows me to focus more on the details and avoids ‘blank canvas syndrome’

Overall for a quick test makeup I am really pleased with how this turned out. The other difference from what I usually do was instead of using a charcoal powder I used a product called ‘charred’ from Makeup for Film and Television. This is a product that I have only recently discovered so I can't comment on it too much yet but I am really please with how it works so far.

This burn was really fun to create and I will definately be using the wax melter for a long time as I love how safe and predictable it makes my melted gelatin.

What do you use to melt your gelatin? Let me know!!

Thanks for reading and I hope you have fun with whatever is keeping you creative these days.

If you fancy, let me know what you have been working on recently, weather it’s special effects makeup or something else.

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