Wound assessment evaluation

I found the first few weeks of this unit really useful as we learnt how to use clay to sculpt in order to be able to make a basic mould for any prosthetic piece that we needed to create, this is unlike anything I have ever done before. I didn't realise how scientific prosthetic make-up could be! I have only ever used wax and liquid latex when creating special effects make-up before so this is a very specific skill that I would never have learnt otherwise. It was also very challenging as it was so intricate and important to mak sure we used the most accurate amount of all ingredients in order for the pieces to set properly. I enjoyed researching about my specific wound as I wanted it to be as accurate for my character and story as it could be, I really had to look into guns and gunshot wounds to find out how the bullet would damage and puncture the victims skin in order  to make it believable.
When I removed my bullet wound from the mould I was very worried as the baldies layer was beginning to tear very closely to the silicone piece which was going to make it harder to blend onto the skin, I realised this was because my actual wound was quite thick so I should have made sure to apply an extra layer of baldies in order to make it more sturdy and resilient, from now on I am always going to make sure I pay extra attention when I reach the stage of applying layers of baldies and take into consideration the size and thickness my actual prosthetic piece will be.
When I first applied it to the skin I was a little disappointed with the application as I feel like it didn't blend very well onto the skin, I think the weak baldies layer was a big reason why this didn't blend, but also as it was my first time applying a prosthetic piece to the skin so my technique of dissolving the edges with alcohol wasn't as successful as it will be next time.

Once I began colouring the wound, immitating soot, gunpowder tattooing, bruising etc. it disguised the fact that the edges were not as seamless as they could have been and really gave the wound some depth and pulled it together. I was really pleased with the way I recreated the appearance of powder tattooing and soot as thought it looked really similar to some of the wounds I saw in the book I used for my research.

In the final images I was also really pleased with the final look, I think the pale make-up and darkened eyes made my model look really lifeless and as if she was really dead. I asked my model to close her eyes in the image as well to make her appear as if these images were taken hours after her death.

Overall I really enjoyed this assessment and found the whole process from research, learning to create the moulds and prosthetic pieces to the actual creating really interesting and enjoyable and was pleased with the end result, especially as it was my first attempt at anything like this before.