#58 - HORNS

Hey!

At some point during September or October, I read a novel called Horns by one Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King. The book was one of the best I've ever read. I think I've mentioned it here before, as well? At any rate, if you're interested in a book that's a combination of crime thriller, dark fantasy and theological philosophising, try that one. I literally read it in under 7 hours. People say certain books "can't be put down" - that was actually true for this one.

Anyway, since it was close to Halloween - although we don't really celebrate it here in Finland - I got the inspiration to do a costume centered around some latex horns. Petrilude has a really good tutorial on how to make these in general and what you need, and I've pretty much done the same. Anyway, here's a pretty thorough run-through of what I did before Halloween.

Firstly, you need some equipment for this. Clay or something close to it is good for building a model/base for your latex prosthetic. Then you're going to need some liquid latex - I bought mine at Punanaamio and used a transparent one. I bought a 500ml bottle, which is definitely enough - even 100ml could work if you were making a rather small prosthetic. The Grimas Liquid Latex is available in a skin-tinted formula as well. I haven't tried it, but I imagine it would be easier to mask. In addition to these, you're going to need cheap, single-use sponges. Latex is pretty much going to ruin anything you use to apply it, so you might want to try and find cheap art brushes or even a 20-pack of grocery store brand makeup sponges, whatever suits you. 

What I did was creating clay models of what I basically wanted my horns to look like.

I used the back of a small art brush to create some texture
on the surface of the clay.

Created a horn shape out of clay.

My hand and the A4 cardboard for size reference.

Making two symmetrical horns was pretty difficult!
One of them was a bit thicker than the other.

I left my clay forms to dry for a day or so - if you make thinner ones just leaving them overnight should be fine. 

Here's me trying the model on my head:

I don't know if you can tell, but this is a bit too
big for my forehead. Looks rad though!

After the clay models were dry, it was time to start painting layers of latex on top. To make your prosthetic thick enough to stick out of your face, you need a thicker layer of latex in comparison to, say, scar prosthetics or textured skin. It took me the better part of a week to do enough latex layers. 

Cue picspam of latex application.

My workspace! I used a smooth metal lid to hold the latex.
It's very easy to clean up - you can roll the latex off things
after it's dry.

One horn after a couple of latex layers.

The other horn.

I switched to a plastic base to avoid my latex pieces
sticking to the cardboard I was using before.

This liquid latex is white when it's wet, but turns into
yellow-tinted transparent, sticky rubber when dry.

Also as an FYI, there's going to be some leftover latex from whatever container you use to hold it while you paint. You can just roll it off and throw it out, it's rather low-maintenance. The smell can be very unpleasant though, so if you can, try to make your latex prosthetics in a well-ventilated area!

A mess.

And this is why you don't want
to use expensive tools to apply it.

Wet latex.

On the day (October 31st) I was done with my prosthetics, and did the rest of my "costume". I also utilised some elf ear tips from Punanaamio. These are also by Grimas, although they're foam latex. The model is number 32, in case you want to get the same ones elsewhere.

I'm painting them with Grimas' skin paint,
which is appropriate for use on latex.

The ear tips are still skin-shade, but both of the
horns have been pretty much shaded in.

Here's me in the middle of makeup. I also covered my eyebrows, painted the ear tips grey and put them on, and did some cartoony face decorations for a kind of gargoyle/demon look. Inspiration for the makeup also came from a look done by Petrilude. 

Totally appropriate for use in the daytime as well!

Here I've already added some shading around the horn,
my eye and the contours of my face.

 For hair, I just decided to tease my hair to turn it into a "mane" of sorts. One of the horns ended up drooping a little - I think the prosthetics were a bit too big or I overstuffed them with filling. Anyway, it was pretty cool. Random people commented as we went by like "Shit, it's Satan!". Hashtag life goals. My two friends had on skull-inspired makeup as well. We went clubbing and then home. The meagre amount of people in actual costumes was kind of saddening, but at least we had fun!

The club lighting really did me justice, huh?

I carried a cheap sceptre from Punanaamio.

Anyway, Halloween was a lot of fun even though one of my horns kept almost falling off, and dancing while wearing a pair of wings in a crowded club was kind of a pain. I'd definitely suggest trying to make shorter / skinnier horns if you ever decide to utilise latex prosthetics!

Bye.