Andrea Leanza is a special effects artist located in Treviso, Italy. In addition to creating outstanding silicone makeup and special effects pieces, he is a 'paleoartist', creating replica museum quality dinosaur sculptures.
The following photos outline Andrea's processes for ceating a silicone 'Nightmare' style mask and glove, a 'Zombie' makeup appliance and an on-skin Skin-Tite® silicone buildup.
Ecoflex 00-30® is Andrea's silicone of choice for mask and glove pieces, and he uses Smooth Cast® 320 for both casting and moldmaking. As Smooth-On develops new material, Andrea follows suit, expanding his knowledge and techniques accordingly.
A Dilophosaurus life size head, Teeth cast in Smooth Cast® 320
Modeling non-sulfur clay for a 'nightmare' style glove
Clay sculpture ready for molding with Smooth Cast® 320
Casting process, injecting Ecoflex® 00-30 silicone with an injection gun
The cast glove is extracted from the mold and cleaned before seaming and painting
The finished glove after painting with Psycho Paint®
The silicone glove follows every movement of the hand due to the extreme flexibility of Ecoflex® 00-30
Non-sulfur clay sculpt ready for molding using Rebound® 25
The Rebound® 25 mask mold, inside a plaster support shell.
Ecoflex® 00-30 silicone is pigmented and degassed in a vacuum chamber.
Pouring Ecoflex 00-30 into the Rebound® 25 mold. NOTE: Ease Release 200 was applied to the Rebound mold before casting.
The demolded mask is cleaned with solvent, seamed and refined
Masks and hand ready for painting with Psycho-Paint®
the masks are painted using airbrush and standard brush techniques.
A close up of the finished Ecoflex® 00-30 mask
The finished 'nightmare' style mask
The model before 'Zombie' make-up pieces are applied
A one-piece Ecoflex® 00-30 prosthetic appliance is applied
Edges are blended using thickened Skin-Tite® silicone
The piece is painted using translucent makeup
Finished 'Zombie' makeup
Applying a Skin Tite® silicone build up for a make-up demonstration
Finished Skin Tite® creation