UV Body Paint Shoot with JW Creative Networker

Photo by Dave Roberts Photography

Photos by Darren McGinn Photography

So how does an erotic romance author end up on a UV Body Paint shoot? Well the answer is Jay of course. Jay JW Creative Networker  is very well known for taking me to places I’ve never been before like Club Lash and Twisted Sin and the ever awesome Dr Sketchy’s. When he asked me if I fancied checking out one of the shoots he was busy organizing I happily said yes because I knew it’d be something excellent to write about on my blog. And it was!

I turned up at Airborne Studios in Manchester to a wonderful warm welcome. It felt a little strange at first, I must admit. Everyone else was busy doing something and I…was hanging around trying not to get in the way. I naturally gravitated to the changing room where the artists were painting their canvasses – in this case the models.

I was completely intrigued by this process. The Make Up Artists  Em Jay Cutler, Clare Mayo and Jon Tolly were completely absorbed in their work. I had a lovely conversation with Em Jay about how much we love pinterest. She’d looked for inspiration there but the phoenix she was painting on Tanja was free hand and in her head – Amazing.

Photos by Dave Roberts Photography

I was completely captivated by the growing works of art and that was just in regular light. The artwork took on a completely new light (ha, nice pun there) when we went off into the blacked out studio. With a UV strip light and some hand held torches the assembled photographers took the glowing art that was physically there in the room and turned it into something even more beautiful.

Photos by Gary Longstaff Photography 

It’s a strange juxtaposition between the photographers all talking, ducking, diving, positioning, grabbing chairs and flashes and talking in what sounds like English but filled with lots of words and numbers that make no sense whatsoever to a non- photographer and the model, patiently staying very still in weird and wonderful positions.

The energy was palpable, the excitement and the creativity just flowed the whole day. I was buzzing with it and all I did was keep an eye on the time (so all the photographers got an equal amount of time with the models) and occasionally hold a light.

Photos by James Bissett Photography

The time flew by, the models had multiple designs in some cases even the intricate Phoenix and Tiger paint of Tanja May and Bea Noir was changed out for other looks. Each one took lots of time from about 45 minutes up to a couple of hours. I admired how the artwork was sculpted to the model’s body, enhancing each’s beauty and turning them from beautiful humans into stunning works of art.  Taniel Van Der Made’s flowering vines were delightful and Jack Cutler‘s first all angular orange pattern reminded me of tron.

Photos from Joshua Leo Dorfman Photography and Film 

And then Dave made me join in. I have to thank him, I was only planning to watch but he suggested I get painted up myself to grab a picture or two for this here blog. So Jon painted me up with an awesome burlesque/superhero mask and I jumped in for a few photographs. I was expecting just to grab a couple of pics on my own but then somehow I ended up in shots with Jack Cutler and Bea Noir.  I was like a fish out of water but I gave it a good go. I especially love the nose to nose shots of me and Bea. It’s a good job we get on well because we were stood like that for a reaaaalllllllllllllly long time. Most of that time I was trying not to giggle. It was hilarious.

It was a fab, fun day with lots of inspiration and creativity. Got  an idea for a shoot or something else crazy, geeky, cool and/or creative then drop Jay a message. He’s the man who can!

With thanks to Dave Roberts for the pics and inspiration

Photo by Gary Longstaff