How this makeup artist creates a Cruella look with airbrush and paint

• Nelly Recchia is a body painter, makeup artist, and instructor at Cinema Makeup School.
• Recchia uses brushwork and an airbrush spray to create a Cruella de Vil character.
• She draws dalmatian spots with a medium-sized brush, custom stencils, and an airbrush.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Caroline Aghajanian: Today, we're here with Nelly Recchia, who's going to transform me into Cruella with some airbrush and some brushwork.

Nelly Recchia: I always like to have a sketch before actually painting on my human canvas. And I wanted to keep some classic elements of Cruella as we know her in the Disney movie and also mix with what we have today, with the contemporary Cruella. So, right now we are going to turn down your eyebrows. We're not necessarily looking to have them completely disappear, although they may, but we are definitely going to turn them down so they are not the focus point of your makeup. So right now we're just going to smoke your eyes, add more drama. So, right now we're going to use water-based paint and I'm going to start to position the mask and give it fur, hair effect. And because I don't want it to be too feathery, I'm going to load my airbrush with a little bit of white and just mist over so there is a texture, but it's not over the top. I am also adding right here at the edge of this side in your hair. So it's water-based, no worries. It will go away. Because we have the white hair on the other side. So I think this will help to blend.

Caroline: I have to get into the Cruella mode. Like, I'm too nice. I need to just, like, [demon voice] where's the viciousness?

Nelly: I like to use the brush here versus the airbrush. And because some of the dots are so small, certain areas, such as the corner of the nose, it's hard to go with a stencil.

Caroline: Nelly then traces the 3D corset with eye shadow before filling it in with white paint. She uses a foam brush because it helps create precise lines.

Nelly: So, I'm just going to block a little bit here to sharpen this edge. The airbrush paint is different from the one that we are using to paint with brushes. It has to have sort of a milky consistency and very liquid so that you can go through the airbrush without clogging it, but enough pigment so it's not watered down too much and actually can be seen. Right now I'm just quickly putting the indication of where the lace are going to be, so I don't paint a spot over it.

Caroline: To add to dalmatian spots around the corset, Nelly uses a thin brush to create more realistic scattered spots in various sizes.

Nelly: You can always add more. So if you have too much paint or too much water, in case of using water-based product, it can run all over the place, which, right here, using all black and white, that's the last thing you want, is the paint to run.

Caroline: Nelly then enhances the corset lace with a deeper red. She adds black eye shadow and some white highlights to give the lace more dimension.

Nelly: So, right now we're doing the contour of your face. I'm just going to deepen a little bit more here. Contour the jawline. So, it looks quite dramatic here, but once it's photographed it actually looks pretty cool. So, I'm going to add now a shadow underneath the ribbon in order to create more of a dimension, more of a 3D effect.

Caroline: Nelly painted the part of my arm that was going to be exposed in the costume.

Nelly: Using an airbrush is great when one wants to achieve a very smooth gradient effect. I wanted to combine both airbrush and brushwork, especially for the spots, because I think painting them give more organic and also more control of where you want those spots to be. And the airbrush is faster. There are stencils available to purchase online. However, I like to make my own stencils. It allows me to have enough edge all around the design and prevent overspray. The closer you are, the more defined it will be. The more you back up, the more diffused everything will look, and softer. My favorite part of makeups in general is, and particularly with body art, is to be able to go at the end with the shading. I really think that's when it brings everything together and adds even more dimension to whatever was done previously.

Caroline: To complete the look, Nelly added a fur-like coat, a fake cigarette, and, of course, the Cruella wig. And this is the final look. It's definitely easier to channel Cruella's character with the hair and accessories. The body paint felt like second skin, no itching or discomfort all throughout, so it's something I would love to do again.