Behind the Scenes Pics: 'Beauty in Ugly Times'

Hello lovely Patrons!

My next video is gonna be filmed entirely in my flat with no crew or producer helping me, because of <gestures vaguely at everything> I'm hard at work on it and just wrapped last night, so here's a peak behind the scenes!

Welcome to my bedroom! 

Yes, the old bookshelf is back, though it's not the haphazard background it used to be! I arranged it much more like a set, and each item has a significance to the video (at least on the top two shelves, the others are just covered in my crap lol)

Here you can see the shelves in focus. Fun fact, that painting behind the flowers was painted by me! And yes, the flowers are supposed to be dying

But oh, did you think I was gonna slack off and do a bookshelf video? Think again! ;) Just cause I'm stuck in my flat doesn't mean I'm not gonna go extra! I waited until the Sun went down and the street outside was quiet and constructed a makeshift studio in my living room! The drama cannot be stopped! 

That backdrop is actually just my duvet cover hung up on a rail, haha!

I call this look 'Mister Kintsugi.' Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold, and since the video is about beauty and ugliness I thought that'd be a good basis for a lewk 👀The other major influence was fashion designer John Galliano's work with Maison Margiela; I talk about it a bit in the video - Galliano uses a lot of asymmetry and ruggedness and contrast stitching, not your typical elegant beauty!

This is an old coat of mine that I slashed up and repaired with gold thread. It's all hand sewn and took me the better part of two days! There are over 70 metres of gold thread in it (gold coloured, not actual gold haha) and it goes over a black and gold waistcoat, a grey collarless shirt, and an old scrap of silk turned into a makeshift tie. I'm pleased with how it came together: it's quite striking and works well with the themes of the video but I was able to make it for less than thirty pounds out of what I had lying about the house!

Originally I was planning on having a gold eyepatch - I even got as far as making it - but I decided it was a bit much and would also make it difficult to operate the camera, so I went for an asymmetrical makeup look instead

Here you can see the makeup in detail. I started with my usual neutral face of primer, foundation, and concealer, but added an extra layer of paler concealer around my left eye as a canvas to paint on. Next I applied some black eyeshadow with a white highlight in the inner corner and thickened both brows with pencil. I realised that the creative impulse behind the eyepatch idea was a desire for asymmetry, so I added one red contact lens to honour that impulse and include a splash of different colour. The final step was the trickiest - I used a fine paintbrush to apply gold body paint in scars across my face. It was very fiddly but the end result looked fantastic! Had I been a braver man I might have shaved trenches into my eyebrow too haha!

It feels great to be creating again! I'm really happy with how this video is coming together and I've got some surprises in store for you, which you'll see when I post screenshots from the editing phase! $15+ Patrons will be able to see the video early, and for everyone else it'll hopefully be out sometime in the next couple of weeks!

Stay Healthy and Happy Everyone!

Olly XXx