Carnival despite Corona: Body painting made easy – Ebersberg

You can’t miss this goal, even if the navigation system has a bit of trouble with the address “Steinkirchen 1 1/3”. Eva-Maria Schulz’s directions are far too clear for that: “We have a boat in the garden and everything is colourful,” she said on the phone with a smile in her warm voice. And indeed, a garage door gleaming in bright red and yellow, a cheerfully painted rain barrel and the sun surrounding a porthole window tell from afar that creativity of all kinds is alive and well in this place. And what the landlady is passionate about the most is easy to see from the two oversized brushes that are attached to the garden gate instead of conventional handles – even without knowing that she has been a member of the Grafinger Painters’ Association for ten years.

But although the trained bank clerk, who turned her “hobby into a vocation” in 1998, also works with acrylics and watercolors and has painted a wide variety of things such as walls, drainpipes, shoes and moving vans, there is one surface she loves best: the skin. The human one, mind you – although Schulz is not afraid of animal fur either, as the photo of Mowgli the ox shows, which she patiently spent two hours embellishing with liquid paint.

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The artist has already had around 20,000 people under her brush

So who better to talk to about tips and tricks about colorful face painting art than with this expert for body painting, baby belly painting and children’s face painting? Schulz has already had around 20,000 people under one of her 500 to 600 brushes in the past 22 years. “It’s fascinating what emerges and how you can transform someone,” she says. “Children in particular really live it out – a hesitant little mouse suddenly turns into a tiger,” says the 50-year-old with infectious enthusiasm, while skilfully and lightning-fast she paints the face of her daughter Katharina, a prospective teacher, with green shimmering theater make-up primed – and don’t forget your ears. professional stop.

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Just three quarters of an hour later, the young woman will present a sight that would not only excite her students: The expressive dark eyes are now framed by artfully branched leaves and ornaments, while a truly magical nightscape has emerged on the neck and décolleté , with birds, trees and cheeky toadstools bathed in bright moonlight. And without any color accident on the dusky pink lace top. “If necessary, you could also wash out these high-quality colors by hand,” Schulz assures.

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For the “Body Worlds” Schulz focused on muscles and vision

Sitting still is not difficult for the graceful 25-year-old; like her two siblings, she patiently served her mother as a model from an early age. “The shape of the body is always included,” explains Eva-Maria Schulz, as she makes a branch out of a sternum bone in the preliminary drawing with a steady hand. And yes, you have to have some knowledge of anatomy for that. The fact that the mother of three and grandmother has such was proven at the “Body Worlds” exhibition, where she concentrated on muscles and tendons as a body painter. It’s not exactly trivial, but: “With a good model, you just have to draw.” The lymph channels, on the other hand, which she recently gave a two-meter-high plastic bear before it went to the Berlin Charité, “I can do it blindly”. No wonder, since she has had this subject in her repertoire for quite some time.

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Her workshops in schools or at the relevant industry meetings are not without templates, which Schulz often develops together with her models. This also applies to the painting of pregnant bellies, or when someone privately fulfills the wish of becoming a professional’s human canvas. On the other hand, face painting, as Schulz practices at trade fairs, street festivals or private events, often works freehand. And can, after appropriate practice, also be carried out by laymen (see box) – even without, like Schulz, having around 80 colors available.

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The preparation time for competitions: up to six months

However, Schulz urgently needs this large selection of colors – in addition to a preparation time of up to six months – for competitions such as the “World Bodypainting Festival”, where the full body painting is supplemented with special effects such as latex parts. Since 2011 every year with one exception, the painter from Aßling even won third place there in 2018. Taking part is anything but child’s play: “On a competition day like this, you’re busy non-stop from eight in the morning until eleven or twelve at night,” says Schulz. A painting action lasting up to six hours – which should in any case be practiced two or three times in advance – is followed by a visit to the jury, in order to explain in English what the motif was intended for. The works are then documented in the “photo area” before the models in some categories have to present themselves on stage for three minutes with music. This also applies to Schulz and her team. “Maybe my husband will sing live again,” hopes the woman with her heartfelt manner – which at the same time answers the question of how her husband finds her job. “He was my very first bodypainting model.”

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Schulz herself calls what she does “vocation” and explains: “I consider it an honor to be able to paint someone’s skin. Especially since immersing myself in the colorful world of colors and imagination doesn’t just do something with the model , but also with me.” This is one of the reasons why the artist hopes that make-up and body painting will soon be possible again. Although Schulz is currently working on a children’s book illustration, she has lost most of her regular orders in the past two years due to the pandemic. Before Corona, body painting was not uncommon for 30 hours a week, she says. “It would be all the more important in times like this to be snatched away from reality for a moment.”

After two hours that have flown by in the cozy living room with a beagle snoring in the background, only one question remains: Why on earth does someone in Aßling put a water vehicle in their garden? The boat came from a very good friend, explains Eva-Maria Schulz, and unfortunately it would have taken a lot of work to restore it. “But since we love water and boats, we built it in the garden. It’s illuminated at night. And should Aßling go under – we’re prepared!”

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