In the making...

[Raiden]

Finally tried this out for the first time a few months ago; I posted it on Facebook but it belongs here.





The paint is Mehron Paradise AQ; the colors are Lagoon Blue (stripes) and Sky Blue (background color). It's a water-based body paint; it's messy but it comes off easily in the shower.

I've found that layering it on more thickly makes the paint more resilient to being physically disturbed (it doesn't rub off easily), but this also uses far more paint. I've only painted part of my upper body and one arm so far, but the results are fairly intoxicating.

I'll see about updating this as I continue to develop how I want to look (garments, etc.), although progress will be slow.

[Dr. Na'vi]

Looks awesome, nice physique
How expensive would a whole body paint be?

Looking forward to more!

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Dr. Na'vi

Looks awesome, nice physique
How expensive would a whole body paint be?

Looking forward to more!

Thanks; the physique part is easily the most challenging.

I used to be pretty heavy (technically within the range of obesity), and Avatar made me realize I was eating garbage being peddled to me by corporations who didn't care about what I was putting into my body or how they were making it. I was 300 lbs. (I'm not that tall, just shy of 6 feet) or so in 2009 and then after I came to this realization, I dropped about 120 pounds over the course of roughly 1.5 years.

Anyway, if I did my entire body at the same thickness, it would probably use up at least two containers of sky blue (maybe three), and one container of lagoon blue.

https://www.mehron.com/paradise-makeup-aq/

That's the size I would buy; it comes with a little plastic dish thing. So I guess if I used a total of four, it would come out to a little over $60 if you include shipping.

I'm not really that experienced with this stuff yet, though. Sarah Noel is the queen of the Avatar cosplays here, and she uses this brand extensively; she probably knows a better cost:performance ratio in terms of the quality and thickness of the paint.

THere is also a glowing body paint, although I don't know which brand is best. If you use a very small paintbrush you can get the photophores (tanhi) done also.

[Ja'k Dawsiin]

Mystique would like to try some of that shade of blue.

[Raiden]

Another round of practice painting, this time with my left leg:



Getting rid of the damn hair was hard. I didn't even manage to get all of it.

Some of the stripes didn't come out great either, because I was in a hurry. It would have been hard to explain to my housemates why there was blue paint smears on the bathroom floor. >.>

[Sight Unseen]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Another round of practice painting, this time with my left leg:

Getting rid of the damn hair was hard. I didn't even manage to get all of it.

Some of the stripes didn't come out great either, because I was in a hurry. It would have been hard to explain to my housemates why there was blue paint smears on the bathroom floor. >.>

I think the stripes came out great; looking good! ^.^ Just wondering, does this paint stain the clothes you wear with it?

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Sight Unseen

I think the stripes came out great; looking good! ^.^ Just wondering, does this paint stain the clothes you wear with it?

No, I don't think so. It's water-soluble.

PAX and the other "advanced" methods are another story.

[Dr. Na'vi]

Originally Posted by Raiden

Thanks; the physique part is easily the most challenging.

Haha right, 90% of the Na'vi transformation happens by spending time at the gym
Becoming more "Na'vi-like" was my initial motivation for training as well before I genuinely started to enjoy this lifestyle (a thing of impossibility for 17yo me!)

$60 doesn't sound that crazy actually, even without clothing included

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by Dr. Na'vi

Haha right, 90% of the Na'vi transformation happens by spending time at the gym
Becoming more "Na'vi-like" was my initial motivation for training as well before I genuinely started to enjoy this lifestyle (a thing of impossibility for 17yo me!)

$60 doesn't sound that crazy actually, even without clothing included

Oh man, you're only 17?

Grab onto the fitness stuff and don't let go. I wish I'd done that when I was your age! When I was 17 life was about eating cheetos and playing video games. :/

Like I said before, Avatar made me realize I was supporting shady business tactics by the likes of Nabisco, Coca-cola, and others, and I was trashing my body.

Getting into healthy eating and fitness at a young age (< 21) makes a really big difference in the results. I'm 27 now, and I'm already noticing a loss of the ability to retain muscle condition.

Also, the eating part is super important. You can work out all you want, but it takes hours of cardio to burn off 1000 Calories, and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (especially the "chunkier" flavors) has more than that, and can be finished in maybe 20 minutes.

Anyway, in the end, this whole thing will actually wind up having been quite an investment.

I'm having a couple of commissions done by people, and the result is probably going to be really cool (and hopefully very authentic), but also expensive. I've seen people pull it off really well (I've been to most of the meetups) without going the route I am, so starting out simple and then slowly investing more money in other parts of it works too.

[Dr. Na'vi]

Ah I forgot to add the year, I was 17 years old when I started in 2010
I'm 24 now
And I agree, the eating part can't be stressed enough.

[Sight Unseen]

Originally Posted by Dr. Na'vi

Haha right, 90% of the Na'vi transformation happens by spending time at the gym

This adequately sums up my relationship with physical fitness. Need to fix that.

[Exoblade]

Originally Posted by Dr. Na'vi

Haha right, 90% of the Na'vi transformation happens by spending time at the gym
Becoming more "Na'vi-like" was my initial motivation for training as well before I genuinely started to enjoy this lifestyle (a thing of impossibility for 17yo me!)

Yeah I feel that, still after two years I've finally succeeded in doing a body weight pullup this week.

Also that Na'vi makeup looks very good. Interested to see the final product.

[ahoragi]

Any chance the pictures will be back up? I'm not seeing any.

[Raiden]

Originally Posted by ahoragi

Any chance the pictures will be back up? I'm not seeing any.

Heh, sorry; I was cleaning out my imgur profile and I forgot that these were linked from there. I'll fix it now.