American Flag

I've always wanted to run in the Bay to Breakers but haven't found the time or the opportunity.. but this year I got to live vicariously through Leah - a beautiful ex-vegas showgirl who wanted to go to the race in body paint.  

She had the vision, the costume, the boots and everything!  We got started at 4:30 am (oh my) and finished up by around 6:00, just in time to take some quick photos and then she headed off to the race to catch her "float" before it left.  

This was a fun painting.. small enough that I was able to put in some really nice detail without painting all day long.  I used Wolfe Brother's paints - in my experience they hold up the best to lots of motion - and bare escentuals black eyeshadow for the shading.  

The stars are a combination - some are painted, some are glitter tattoos and some are stickers with glitter tattoo glue on the back.  I really liked the effect.  The different sizes and shades of stars really added to the ripple effect of the flag.  I couldn't find my fixative spray so we used hairspray (!!!) and by all reports it held up really well.  On her back were a bunch of rhinestone tattoos and I wrote "Support Our Troops" in paint.

Leah called after the race and told me that she couldn't go 2 steps without being photographed or videotaped!  She felt like a complete rockstar.. which makes sense because she looked like a complete rockstar!  

The best part: I was relaxing after a show at a tiki bar that night and a friend was showing me photos he'd taken at the Bay to Breakers on his camera.. and he had a great picture of Leah!  What a small world.