INTRO . SKIN COLOUR . SHRUNKEN HEADS . GLUES

This is a two part piece! First is how to create 'brains' texture, and the second is how to create a brains prop! Be warned that the first one could take as long as two or three days to complete.

(Wearable) Brains

INVOLVING:

LIQUID LATEX
CABBAGE LEAVES
OLD, UNWANTED PAINTBRUSH
TALCUM POWDER
A NEEDLE


First I took a leaf of cabbage and put it on my head. Not because I stick weird things to my face, but because I was seeing if it was the right size. It fit snugly, and if necessary I can cut away bits if it is too large!



I tried three different methods for covering my leaf with liquid latex. I used my finger on one leaf, I tried using an old paintbrush on a second leaf, and I dipped the third leaf. I found that it was better to use an old paintbrush to cover the leaves properly. Do NOT use a beloved paintbrush. You will never be able to use this paint brush again properly after this. Once you've applied the first coat, you need to pop the air bubbles (I used a needle) to make sure that the whole leaf is covered on one side!



After the first coat was dry (I left it a day as I didn't want the cabbage to shrivel and die in the airing cupboard) I applied a second. You can see in my pictures that I wasn't very careful and this meant that part of the leaf had a thicker covering. I would advise that you try 3 or 4 leaves – this way you can try some with one coat and some with two, and experiment which you'd prefer AND you'll leave room for mistakes.



Once dried, apply talc to stop the latex from sticking to itself.



Peel apart from the leaf whilst still talc'ing the newly revealed side.  You may find that the latex that was on the veins of the leaf is very thin or it may even break – you can usually work with this, just be really gentle as you pull the two bits apart. This is another reason to have 3 or 4 leaves on the go!



Then, you have a choice – you can use the stronger or the lesser pattern. Either have their pros and cons – be imaginative! If you've made more than one leaf cast then you can try painting your latex. You can actually wash latex under the tap – just remember to re-talc it because it will regain some stickiness!


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(Holdable) Brains

This was something I saw at the Zombie Walk in London.

INVOLVING:

HOMEMADE FAKE BLOOD (see pullingcandy's tutorial)
CAULIFLOWER
BASIC COOKING



Here I have set up and made the fake blood – I'm using golden syrup because we don't have corn syrup in England. You could use shop bought fake blood too, I just thought I'd be adventurous and try to make my own! Peel the cauliflower, and carefully chop most of the excess root off without splitting it. It already looks rather brain like.

This is where it gets messy. I tried three techniques – you can decide which you prefer the results of. _{(picture is at the end!)}



For the first chunk I tried to dribble fake blood onto it. As it is a waxy vegetable it didn't really keep a lot of the blood, which gave a kind of cool effect but may not be what you're after.



With the second chunk, I took the fake blood and put it in a small pan, and I boiled the cauliflower in the fake blood for about 7 minutes with the lid on. I didn't want to make the cauliflower too soggy because that would be unpleasant to hold, and it needs to be a little robust to keep the brain-like feel to it! Boiling this chunk in the fake blood gave it a deep pinky colour, which I topped up by putting on more fake blood after, giving it a very strong blooded look.



The third chunk I boiled in plain water for 7 minutes, and then I dripped the fake blood on it. This gave it a very gentle pink colour which probably resembles brains a bit more, but wasn't particularly gory!




Here is a comparison of the three methods! The top left is dripped, top right is boiled in blood, and the bottom is boiled and blood dripped :] Each has their own quality and it depends on what you want your brains to be like!


... Can you imagine being served this for dinner!

More to come soon!

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