Ashe project backstage story and small tips!

Hello my Sweethearts!
August officially became the busiest month of 2020. There are still several months left, and many things can happen, but so far it holds the first place. I've been outdoors more than two previous summers in total, because we need locations for photosets. We are working on final preparations for 3 projects, and can say that for two of them we finished our search and Tao is working on logistics and many other small organization details.  
At the moment, besides last location (to be precise this project will have 3-4 different versions, so we need more sets), me and Tao are in search of one specific animal, and where to shoot it perfectly. ) If we'll have it on our set, it'll look perfect. Only thing that disturbs me is: we'll be able to shoot it good, because we don't have much experience in working with animals. Tao had experience back than, but acording to him: "What's was long time ago, can't be considered legitimate experience. Especially if it was once. Because today you'll study it from scratch."

We are working hard on post-production, but hardly have time to sit properly. In my next post I'll share on first look of our Ashe Noir!

To make your wait a bit more entertaining, today I want to share with few back stories from our previous and current Ashe photoshoot.
Story about artistic bravery and stupidity.
As one of my Friend here noticed, we shot our first version of Ashe on actively working railway. It means, that every half an hour or hour we needed to grab everything and run away from train.
That's why we needed assistant on set ( our close friend, who you might saw on backstage photos) and was named by same patron Friend as "Discount Chris Pratt", hahaha )
At one point we were so busy making shot on railway bridge, that we completely missed upcoming train. What I remember is Tao shouting "Ruuuuuuun" and " Ashe grab the flashlight!". When we cleared the rail, we found out that our model didn't took the flashlight and it was left on the way of the train. Luckily and stupidly our friend was near, quickly grabed it and managed to hide in small niche.
Once again luckily, niche was big enough to hide without any harm, but! It was still dangerous and stupid situation.
Dedication to art is great, but let's be careful while doing our work. We put in danger ourselves and could harm other people. At least at that moment. After that we were on constant Overwatch (hehehe )).
We knew that it was active railroad and it was another reason to shoot there. We wanted to have shots featuring train as part of background. Whenever we heard train noises, we ran to the side and prepared to shoot as fast as we can. As the result we managed to pull out few shots, which is the great success! )

Small tips on how to make tattoos.
When we shot our Widowmaker project we ordered special washable tattoos. Still we needed to redraw certain parts, because tattoos tend to wash away.
But for Ashe we forgot to order them. What did we do?
Here is the tip on how to make tattos, but you'll still need to draw.
Prints the pattern you want (usual A4 office paper will be enough. But you can experiment with other materials). I recommend as simple as possible. Circle with PEN chosen pattern. Attach it to body part (inled side to skin)) and moisten slightly with spirit (alcohol). For example we tried parfume, nail polisher and lastly vodka. When it'll dry out you'll have tattoo pattern on skin. All you need is to draw and color. ) Here is example.

Use it only, if you don't have any other opportunities. Don't, if you are good at drawing yourself or work as tattoo master, hehehe ) Because this method feels like cutting tree with a knive.
How to make your skin look good and make your retouch lesser or easier.
Making skin look good, healthy and natural isn't easy feat. We are all human beings and certainly have some skin differences and sometimes issues. For example once we had model on my Patreon, who had vitiligo. If you didn't noticed it, than we did a great job. )
Of course you can't easily fix uneven skin tone rather than retouching it. But you still can improve on set it's texture. Partially, but it'll improve.
Use body oil. Body oil can be different ( consistency, sickness etc.), so you should choose for yourself what's best for you or your model.
Oil will evetually dry out, so don't forget to remoisture time to time.
Only what's will left is good light scheme and your photography skill. )
It is not panacea and really depends on what you are creating. Just small tip on how to improve look of your model at least a bit (in skin department).
I, myself, rarely use it on set, but if project demands it, why not? Oh, in my opinion it works good only in close-ups and portraits.
Here is another example:

This are all stries and tips for today. If you curious to know more, write the question in comments and I'll answer them in my next "Stories and tips post".

Have a great day! Always remeber to stay healthy and happy. )