First up!

“Genie of the Lamp”

Photo: Thomas Ledford
Body paint and retouching: WISER
Models: Sean Jones, Kristen Lee, Nick Place
Assisted by: Lea Selley, Georgette Pressler

Straight out of a storybook this illusion was inspired by one of my favorite tales as a child! It was crazy to transform Sean into the Genie as he is being awkoen by Aladdin! Sean truly embodies the angry genie!
To help complete the illusion i had the lovely Kristen as my lamp!

On day two I had the pleasure of working with my good homie Magic Mike Dardant (the magician not the stripper lol). Mike is a champion magician so nothing less than the best when working with him, especially if the concept is 5 magic tricks going on at the same time!! Remember…everyone in this picture is TOPLESS! lol!                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

“Magic Hands”

Photo: Thomas Ledford
Concept: Magic Mike & WISER
Bodypaint: WISER
Models: Magic Mike, Michelle Pimentel, Isabelle Scott

Michael Dardant is one of the best magicians in the world so it was crazy fun to create this illusionary masterpiece on a true master of illusion and his two lovely assistants!
I cant wait to continue this series of magic with Mike in the future and see what other tricks we can pull out of our sleeves!

The biggest masterpiece of them all however was getting married to my beautiful wife Léa Selly in a Day of the Dead themed wedding on the opening night of the convention! Thank you to all who were there and made it happen especially Marcela Murad, The Queen of Everything! lol

During my Graffiti Down Under Tour’s first stop in Auckland, New Zealand I had an amazing opportunity to paint a climbing wall on the playground for the kids at Sylvia Park School! These kids have an awesome energy they shared with me while I wrote them the message “Love Life”. Thank you Sylvia Park School and Julian & Yolanda Bartram for hooking it up!

Feb 22, 2013 - Denver, CO 10-4pm @ Fusion Factory -
Register by email w/Paypal deposit to wiser153@gmail.com

Feb 25, 2013 - Madison CT 10-4pm@ “Z”s  -(2 spaces left)
Register by email w/Paypal deposit to wiser153@gmail.com

Feb 27, 2013 – Philadelphia, PA  10-4pm@ Gallery ML -
Register by email w/Paypal deposit to wiser153@gmail.com

Feb 28, 2013 – Howell, MI  10-4pm @ Skincognito -
Register with payment @ www.SkincognitoStudio.com

 Spaces are LIMITED!!!

Cost: $125

 Graffiti has become a universal way of sending a bold colourful message that is loved and can be understood by kids, teens and adults worldwide. In this workshop learn basic and advanced style techniques for graffiti arm designs, eye splashes and impossible imagery that will explode off your canvas.

We Will focus on some of the foundations of graffiti: letter form, composition and flow. From simple tags to  wildstyle letters you will learn how to structure letters, put together words and names, and use the best colour combinations for the maximum wow factor. 

We will also focus on some different letter effects and imagery that will take your body graffiti to the next level!  Learn how to give your graffiti different themes, FX, and awesome imagery that will give your pieces an urban edge!  After this workshop you will be able to “tag” your name or anyone’s elses with confidence

 As a bonus you will also learn 5 new Masquerade Mask styles in the workshop!

What to Bring:
Your paint kit, favorite brushes a model (if possible) and your imagination!

With face and body painting appearing more and more in TV, movies, magazines and music videos and the fusion of fashion make-up and special fx make-up into the scene, the face and body painting industry is growing by leaps and bounds and more people than ever are seriously falling in love this this art form and career path. Sometimes I’ll be at a fair or festival and there are 3 or 4 face painting booths, each with different levels of presentation and it’s always the booths that have the best presentation that also have the longest lines.

Since last summer I have had the privilege of designing a few face/body painting booths with astounding results! Mixing digital graphic design, photos of clients work and my signature graffiti flava I have been able to create some amazing visual presentation materials for the modern face and body painter! now its time to show them off!

Mark Reid’s world famous Texas State Fair Face Painting Booth in Dallas, TX

Mark’s 2012 Team.

Every year Mark Reid assembles a team of the best face painters in the world to paint thousands of children at the biggest State fair in the U.S.

In 2011 Mark hired me to create some simple banner, table skirt, menu and t-shirt presentation materials. As you can see in the video, with some photos of his work,  I was able to create an eye-popping yet super clean and professional looking atmosphere fit for world class face painters!

The Tattooed Lady’s 2012 Face Painting and Tattoo Booths for Calgary Comic Expo, AB Canada

Comic  Cons (or conventions) are popping up all over the world. These awesome events of comic book, Sci-fi, and video game cultures allow fans of all ages to express themselves in brave and creative ways. The Tattooed Lady has had a presence at this indoor event for the last 4 years and went all out this year with two unique experiences, each of which targeted a different demographic.

She knocked em dead with her setups which included custom tailored banners, signs, menus, table cloths and fabric backdrops!
Using the newest technology in digital backdrop printing and some photos of her work, I was able to create some amazing, fun and unique atmospheres for each of her Comic Con booths. When kids saw the giant painted faces they made a bee line to the booth with their parents to pick their favorite one!  There was no doubt this appearance attracted more customers than ever before!

Wanting to attract more adults to her Weekend Ink booth, The Tattooed Lady used brick themed fabric backdrops to imitate a real tattoo studio.  She successfully stopped people dead in their tracks, evolving customers airbrush tattoo experience into the unexpected.  The dramatic change in atmosphere that the backdrops provided allowed clients to play into their own fantasies of getting a real tattoo!

With such great back drops, every picture taken in either booth had an amazing colorful background complete with branding and logos. Both setups were home run hits at the Comic Con drawing crowds and dropping jaws. Not only did she have a record customer turnout in the midst of 2 other face painting booths and 2 other airbrush tattoo booths (one of which was situated immediately behind her), she also wowed scouts from 2 different corporate clients who later hired her for events!
She definitely caused a memorable impression on everyone that saw her booths.

Backdrops for Body Painting booth at Full Throttle Saloon, Sturgis Motorcycle Rally  2012!

Every year since 2009 I’ve been in Sturgis, South Dakota for the world’s largest biker rally body painting up a storm with my expert team of painters and models! This year i wanted to bring the heat and add background themes to my planned body paintings and I did so with explosive results!

A perfect example is the “She Devil” piece we created to go with a super hot fire backdrop which transformed her from just a She Devil body paint into a fiery hot She Devil rising from the flames of Hell!!!

The backdrop really created the perfect atmosphere to compliment the amazing paint job we put on her and completed the final picture for an ultra-hot body painting presentation! Not only did my professional photos come out fantastic but it also made souvenir photos taken by guests on their phones extra cool and memorable. Add an evil leprechaun and its real magic! I cant wait to do it again!

Fierce Faces Colorado State Fair Booth

When Andrea Gomez approached me saying she wanted to level-up her image and presentation, I knew I could provide her with something awesome! With the help of her son she came up with the name Fierce Faces and let me go to work on some killer banner and business card designs.
She then set out traveling to fairs and festivals state-to-state  in the south-western U.S. turning the heads of crowds and catching the focus of news reporters along the way!

Here she is getting interviewed by an NBC reporter at the Colorado State Fair.  Face painting has become a standard service at almost every fair and festival world-wide employing thousands of face painters, but a truly remarkable appearance will make people stop in their tracks and want to be a part of it.

I have always loved a challenge and I really had a ton of fun working on these projects and pushing the standards of face and body painting presentation to the next level of excellence! What type of atmosphere do you want for your face and body painting presentation?

For details on pricing and packages please email inquiries to wiser@ynig.com

Graffiti expert Wiser will be offering 3 days of workshops in your area! A MUST for the ever growing modern face and body painter!

2 days Wildstyle Graffiti Madness $300
1 day Fine art Body Painting  $250
Or
All 3 days $450 ($100 discount)

WILDSTYLE GRAFFITI MADNESS
Graffiti has become a universal way of sending a bold colourful message that is loved and can be understood by kids, teens and adults worldwide. In this 2-day workshop learn basic and
advanced style techniques for graffiti arm designs, crazy colour combos, bold compositions and impossible imagery that will explode off your canvas.

Day 1 :
Will focus on the foundations of graffiti: letter form, color, composition and flow. From simple tags to complex wildstyle letters you will learn how to structure letters, put together words and names, and use the best colourcombinations for the maximum wow factor.

Day 2:
Will focus on several different letter effects and imagery that will take your body graffiti to the next level adding new dimensions to your artistic ability!  Learn how to give your graffiti different themes, special FX, and imagery  that will give your pieces an urban edge!  After this workshop you will be able to flawlessly “tag” your name or anyone’s elses with confidence!

 WILDSTYLE FINE ART
Wiser’s fine art masterpieces have been acclaimed and featured in  galleries, websites and magazines worldwide due to his bold compisitions, eye popping visuals and splashes of illusionary magic!

This 1 day  intermediate to advanced workshop dives deep into creating masterpieces filled with illusion and wonder!Learn to trick the eye by wittingly using parts of the body  along with some realism techniques to achieve optical illusions that will leave viewers in awe.
Learn how to focus your skills on creating single-pose works with a pre planned shot in mind to be a final piece hanging
on a gallery wall or in a private art collection!
Learn how you can think outside the box and use elements of graffiti art to add a bit more pop to your masterpeices! This workshop will spark your creativity in new ways!

Spaces are limited and 50% deposits are required to attend. If you are interested in these workshops and for payment info please contact Beth : gymhk74@bigpond.net.au

Once again we’ve smashed it at the Full Throttle Saloon!

In my fourth year of Bringin’ out the Badness with my team of body painters, we let the paint fly at the 72nd annual Sturgis Black Hills Motorcycle Rally.   Body painting artists Lawren Alice (Philadelphia) and Georgette Pressler (West Palm Beach FL) along with photographer Noah Musher (Gallery ML) and model Lisa Greenberg (NY) and myself created magic last week, pulling together to create some timeless artwork and classic Sturgis masterpieces.

My top notch team of artists flew into Denver  and after the always necessary last minute supply run, we were ready for the 6 hour drive and a week of getting dirty!  When we first got to our cabins we realized that we were at the 72nd annual Sturgis Rally and we were bunking in cabin #72!  A good omen for the crazy week ahead of us.  We endured a dust storm, a hail storm and a thunderstorm but it only added to the shit storm of fun that we had at the Full Throttle!

This year our host, The Full Throttle Saloon, was full of the unexpected high jinx that we were all looking forward to.  The unique combination of the classic Sturgis crowd, the camera crew of Tru TV and all the people hoping they would make it on TV for their 15 minutes of fame were all out, making it for crazy people watching!

Travelers who come to Sturgis are definitely the element that makes our experience unique, people just being real and there to have fun and share a passion for biker life.  Our old friend “One Tooth Paul” visited us again to get another nice pair of boobies painted on his chest and we were happy to see our various awesome freak show friends!  We also made some new freinds this year like “Skulls” a true bad ass biker adorned with a multitude of skulls.  We also met “Aflac” the goose who would waddle around the Throttle in his awesome Goose biker vest dragging his leash behind him.

The Body Painting

The experience that we create in Sturgis at the Full Throttle Saloon comes in two forms body painting the crowd and painting a full body masterpiece…. every day.  Having a crew that is comfortable and talented enough to be able paint whatever is requested on demand from anybody that walks up is key!

Women of Sturgis especially love to take off their top and rock out with a badass piece of artwork to ride out into the day and wear for the night!  We did some awesome corsets and a ton of custom designs for people like this biker mama that had her crew “The Dungrollers” logo painted on her to show her dedication to the crew she rides with!

Those on the shy side go for painted tattoo designs on their arm or shoulder but still walk away feeling fantastic about their artwork.  Of course I had an opportunity to practice my chrome lettering when a lady told me she wanted an HD for Harley-Davidson to match her baby blue bike.  Framing the piece with tribal pin-striping was an addition she loved!

The Masterpieces

The other way we enjoy our artwork at the Full Throttle Saloon everyday is by creating an absolute scene by painting a full body masterpeice with a custom backdrop and a great prop like a sick bike.  As a crew, this is our opportunity to allow our imaginations run free and let our art add some atmosphere to the awesomeness of the Sturgis experience.

This year we produced two collaboration pieces and a solo masterpiece of my own that follows with my continued interest in disusing the human figure into my fine art.  I wanted to take advantage of custom chopper builders Led Sled allowing me to rock out a design with one of their bikes creating a seamless piece titled “Impaler” where the human body emerges as she is part of the bike right down to the pin striping.

My favorite collaboration pieces were “She Devil”  as she definitely warmed up the rain storming day we had while painting her!  Our She Devil turned up the heat in her demon armor corset  posing with a custom bike - definitely was a crowd pleaser.

Equally impressive was our “Day of the Dead” full body painting where we all took the opportunity to play with the traditional elements of the classic theme and add fun twists to the design.  The corset and nylons offered a fun surprise twist to the traditional style of art, creating a stunning collaborative piece that definitely popped for the crowd and the camera!

Cleaning the dust, smoke and dirt of Sturgis bike week off ourselves and our kits is a whole other adventure!  Every year this event bring new artists, new challenges and brilliant works of art into my life, I am looking forward to what the future brings!

Enjoy my short video compilation for additional behind the scenes footage!

I had so much fun with this piece trying my best to fool the eye.

 Fascinated with cinemagraphs for some time now, I’ve been seeing them pop up all over the internet. Inspired by the thought of mixing a little  technology with my art, I have learned how to accomplish this amazing visual effect adding slight motion to a still image and making it come alive!

Focusing on the eye and cheek  this butterfly extends up and over my models ear onto the  side of her shaved head. This adds to the optical illusion making it difficult to tell what part of the body its painted on, until it is revealed to you!

I cant wait to see what kind of works this piece inspires in the body painting world!

]]> http://www.wiserbodygraffiti.com/blog/butterfly/feed 2 http://www.wiserbodygraffiti.com/blog/sturgis-search http://www.wiserbodygraffiti.com/blog/sturgis-search#comments Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:53:13 +0000 Wiser http://www.wiserbodygraffiti.com/?p=1466

Wiser Body Graffiti is now accepting photo submissions of the hottest custom bikes that will be at the Sturgis 2012 Motorcycle Rally to be part of the most amazing body painting showcase Sturgis has ever seen!!

Featured at the Full Throttle Saloon, Wiser and  his dream team of bodypainters have been tearin’ it up for the last 3 years producing the illest Motorcycle/Model mash-ups on the planet!!  This year is no exception and they are going to go over the top to present a never seen before showcase at the Full Throttle Saloon featuring YOUR BIKE!!

If your bike is chosen here’s what you’ll  get:
-A smoking hot model painted by the best team of body painters in the Sturgis to match your bike!
-A Professional photo shoot including backdrops also custom designed and tailored to match your bike!
-Hi-quality digital images of the best shots from the photo shoot!
-Your bike would be showcased with the painted model in front of major crowds!!
-A one of a kind Sturgis experience!
This is a $1500 value which you will get for FREE!!*

*Bike must be available all day during scheduled day of painting at the Full Throttle Saloon in Sturgis,SD during the 2012 Rally.

Private owners only please.

Please submit Name, Phone number, email address and photo of your custom bike to wiser153@gmail.com to enter!! Entries must be received by July 18^th 2012. Winners will be announced July 20^th!

If your bike is chosen for the showcase you will receive notification from Wiser with info on your package and details about the showcase.

This year’s line up of amazing artists will be:  Wiser (Denver,CO), Lawren Alice (Philadelphia, PA), Georgette Pressler (West Palm Beach,FL), along with Noah Musher of Gallery ML (Philadelphia,PA).

See you in Sturgis!

Out of all the works they chose to feature one of my favorites the “Hummingbird” (painted on Alayna) in 2011 at Gallery ML during one of the most energetic jams I’ve ever taken part in!  After teaching late at a nearby body painting convention,  everyone else got a head start down at the gallery so when I arrived all the art that was happening was amazing!

I walked in to find the Wolfe Bros, Sean Avram, Lucie Bouillard,  Lawren Alice,  Adam Ray, and Mr. Amsterdam from the Netherlands getting down with some of the sickest art I had seen all year!  I only had half the time everyone else did, so I knew I could only do a torso piece, and I knew I wanted to paint a hummingbird because I had recently been inspired by a documentary showcasing how amazing they were!

I wanted to capture that MAGIC!  Since a one pose, fine-art piece was in mind, my model started playing with different poses then BAM, she threw her elbow up in the air and knew it was the pose and placement for this one!  With all the intense creative energy swirling about the room I didn’t realize I was painting as fast as a hummingbirds wings flap, and in a little over an hour and a half  this masterpiece was created!

I will always remember that jam at the Gallery ML and I can’t wait to make it back to Philadelphia to paint some masterpieces at the gallery’s new diggs!!

Check out my body painting article on ILoveBodyArt.com