DragonChick: Body Art Session

Few months ago when I discussed an artistic nude session for one of the clients, an idea came to me to involve a body art painter who recently moved to the US and came across my way during a preparation for another elaborate session. The idea was enthusiastically accepted and soon Olga and I started to prepare, choosing a theme of a little dragon (phonetically, the word “little dragon” in Russian is almost identical to “DragonChick”, hence the name of the series).

Having chosen the theme, we went shopping for some accessories. On a side note, this is when we met two adorable goths, and another intriguing opportunity for an artistic project was born, slated for August. It is remarkable how one thing leads to another… Back on track — for our little dragon, we had an idea of depicting a newborn creature but unfortunately, we ran out of time to prepare a paper mache eggshell. Instead, we thought of having an illuminating glass cube, symbolizing birth of a new life. First considering to custom-build it, we were set back by the costs involved. Not discouraged, we decided on an alternative but just a few days before the session we discovered not one but two clubs where we happened to work in that had glass tables! Our thanks go to the management of Greenhouse for lending these heavy guys to us!

While our partner Anastasia painted the body for eight hours, I set up the lighting. In a nutshell, multiple strobes with light modfiers (beauty dish, snoot, softbox, etc.) were triggered by the radio speedlights placed inside the cube. The cube itself was covered by paper sheets from inside, providing for the desired diffusion.

The session itself was quick but intense, just about two hours, all revolving around the same theme and “outfit”. Plenty of attention-grabbing shots in there… As always, it was a bit heartbreaking to wash something that was meticulously created for many hours down the drain… This is where photography, properly stylized, composed, posed, and lit, infuses the flow and eternity into body art. More images will be added when the entire series is finished. Our next related endeavor – underwater body art, also planned for August before a heavy wedding season kicks in. We are accepting inquiries for quotes from those daring and interested. 🙂