As a form of art, body painting has a long history in many cultures and yet it’s not something you generally associate with Disney, unless you’re talking about face painting, in which case you can find it in every park. In western society there’s been a bit of a revival since the cultural liberation of the 60s. There are body and face painting conventions and the famous “pageant of the masters” where models are painted to look like they actually are another work of art.
I encountered Rebecca Bentley’s unique Disney spin on body painting online and had to learn more about what motivated her art. Art was something she enjoyed in school and when she took theatrical make up in college, she had to draw on a person’s back. The result is this fantastical body painting of Pinocchio looking down over Cinderella Castle.
From there she started doing fingernail paintings and eventually evolved this idea of drawing characters specifically on her hand.
“I do it because I love to draw and that if I can get noticed enough to do my dream job of working in/for Disney,” said Bentley.
To the see her process of how she does it she’s put a few videos up on YouTube:
Here’s the final result from that video:
See more of her art on her Facebook page and leave a comment with which character you’d like her to draw next