First, let's talk about the Pax Paint Itself.
Pax Paint is 50/50 Mix of Pro-adhesive or
Pros-aide and standard Acrylic paint found at
most art stores. You can make it yourself or
purchase it premade. We'll be using our own
line of Pax for this demo.

The great thing about Pax paint is that it
binds onto the surface of Foam latex making it
a permanent part of the prosthetic. Theres no
need to touch up your paint job from smearing,
etc. It is also flexible so it stretches with
the foam.

 

So here we have our raw foam latex appliances.
For this demo, we're using the Rip Off Clown.
The rip off concept is perfect for Pax use due
to the constant abrasion from peeling off the
outer layer.

You'll notice a slight discoloration in the
foam. This is where the mini magnets are
embedded.

We've mixed a little more yellow pax into our
base coat to get this pale yellow color. We
use a small art brush to color the teeth for
a rotted look.

Keep in mind that when pax dries, it's
sticky to the touch. Be careful not to get
your fingers or anything else stuck to the
surface. Keep the appliance on the Vacuform
face while painting with pax.

We're now going to accent and define the
teeth. We're using a brown pax for this.

Pax can be thinned with water. Keep a clean
cup of water close by for this step. Using a
very small art brush, put a small amount of
brown pax at the base of the teeth. Before
the pax dries, wash out the excess paint
from your brush and redip it into clean water.
Using the wet brush, blend the pax paint out
onto the surface of the teeth. You don't
want harsh dark brown paint, but a light wash
of the color instead. If you have too much
paint, a moist, clean paper towel can be used
to blot off the excess.

We're now ready to add shading to the
appliance. Makeup brushes can be used here,
but we love the look of airbrushing for this.

Since the surface of the prosthetic is still
sticky, we're going to use straight Black
acrylic paint for this. It will bond onto the
Pax surface.

We thinned down the black acrylic with water
until it was a sprayable consistency. We
then sprayed all the deep areas of the face,
including the eye sockets, under cheekbones
and around the perimeter of the skull.

We're just about finished with the skull
prosthetic, but we wanted to add a final
detail. The bone color is just too clean so
we thinned down some brown acrylic paint
with water until it was just a light wash
color. Using a cheap chip brush, we cut the
bristles down to about 1" in length. Dip
the bristles into the wash and use your
finger to flick the bristles towards the
prosthetic. This sprays little dots of
color onto the surface. It breaks up the
smoothness and gives texture. This technique
can be tricky so practice on a paper towel
first until you get the feeling for it.

You now need to seal the surface of your
pax paint. We recommend Matte and/or Gloss
mediums available at many art stores or on
our online store. Using a large art brush,
apply an even coat over all painted
surfaces. Make sure to get everything so
you don't have any tacky areas. We used
matte medium over the entire face except the
teeth in which we used gloss medium for
a permanent shine. Allow to dry completely.

We're now ready to start the Clown prosthetic.

We're using a White Pax paint base. Using a
large art brush or sponge, apply the pax to
the entire face, including the nose. Although
the nose will be painted another color, the
white base will make the color "pop" and be
more vibrant. We did not color the lips as
they will be painted with a dark color.

To get a stark white color, two thin coats
of pax were required.

 

 

 

We're now ready for shading. Once again, we
opted to use an Airbrush for this. We decided
to use a medium grey acrylic. We thinned it
down with water to make a wash and sprayed
it into all the details, lines and wrinkles.

Remember that the pax surface is tacky and
just about everything will stick to it if
your not careful.

We're now ready to pain the lips. We chose
Black Pax. The black will make the teeth
from the skull really stands out. We
applied two light coats over the lips.
The pax can look like your not getting
good coverage, but once the paint dries,
it will smooth out nicely.

We're now ready for the Nose. Since we're
using a bright blue wig, we wanted to use
the same colors in the makeup. We applied
three light coats of Blue pax over the nose
with a medium art brush.

We're now ready for the Clown's makeup.
Since we're going to have to handle the
prosthetic to work on this, it's time to
seal the pax paint. We used a large art
brush and put on one even coat of matte
medium over the entire face. We wanted
the nose to be shiny so we put 3-4 coats
of gloss medium over the nose. Allow to dry.

It's a good idea to have a quick sketch or
photo reference of your desired clown
makeup before you start. Since our design
has black around the eyes, we're going to
layout the outline using a sharpie marker.
It's easier than using a brush with pax in it.

Rather than having solid black around the
eyes, we opted to bring the blue color from
the nose and wig into the eye makeup.

We used a small art brush to lay in the
color.

We're now ready to finish the eye makeup.
We use black pax paint with a medium brush
to fill in the outlined areas and around the
blue pax. Allow to dry and apply one light
coat of matte medium over the newly painted
areas. Allow to dry completely.

Here's the Finished FX Faces Rip Off Clown!!

The back of the clown prosthetic needs to
be painted as well. Although you really don't
see the back of this appliance much, it's
better to have it painted rather than not.

We put one coat of Deep Red pax over the
back. We flipped the vacuform face over and
layed the prosthetic into the negative shape
to paint it. This will give it a place to sit
while the pax dries. You could paint many
details on the back, if you wish. We chose
the solid red color. Once the Pax is dried
completely, we brushed on two coats of gloss
medium for a wet shiny look. It's very
important to make sure all pax is thoroughly
covered here. If there are any sticky areas
remaining, the two prosthetics may stick
to one another when wearing them. This may
rip the foam or at the very least mess up
your paint job.

...And here's the Nasty Skull underneath!