Every year, there are body painting competitions in the UK, which are organised by magazines such as Professional Beauty, and Health and Beauty Salon. They are held at trade shows for the beauty industry, at venues such as Olympia (London), NEC (Birmingham) and GMEX (Manchester). The competitions are primarily open to college students studying subjects such as Beauty Therapy, and Theatrical and Media Make-up.

I found out about the Birmingham competition whilst helping Melle Stripp with some body art for her nail art entry at a competition in Olympia, and decided to give it a go. Luckily, I was able to enter the competition as an independent artist. The theme for the competition was "Out of Africa".

I had arranged to stay in Kent for the weekend, and travel to the competition with Jackie Brisley in a minibus from South Kent College in Folkestone. The day before the competition, I modelled for Jackie so that she could practice her design, "Mother Africa".

Later that day, I travelled up to Ramsgate, to meet up with some friends, and practice my design for the competition. I had come up with an idea where I used the body to suggest parts of several animals, such as using an arm as an elephant's trunk, and the other arm as a giraffe's neck.

Practice session where I modelled for Jackie Brisley's body painting, "Mother Africa".

Practice session for my design,
"Animal Alchemy". Model - Chris Moverly.

My model for the practice session was Chris Moverly, who had already modelled for me at a previous session where I painted a Celtic design on his back. Chris would be joining me the next day as my photographer, as he had already decided not to model at the competition.

The next morning, Chris and I droved back to Folkestone to meet up with the rest of our group at South Kent College. We were joined by Jackie and her model Libby, Sarah Boyce and her model Lisa, college lecturer Malcolm Terry, and photographer Don Linkin.

When we got to Birmingham, I met up with my model for the competition, Peter, who had arranged to meet me at the NEC. Peter had e-mailed me a few weeks previously, asking if he could be a model, so the competition seemed the ideal choice of venue for me to paint him.

We made our way to the hall at the NEC where the Health and Beauty Birmingham exhibition was taking place. We were led to a sectioned-off area of the hall, where the body painting was to take place. Although the general public were not allowed in, they were able to watch the progress of the body painting through a video link-up.

The competitors busy at work.

Luckily, Chris had worked at an exhibition centre before, and was able to get permission to take photographs within our working area.

During the competition, we were watched by the judges, who were carefully noting our technique and hygiene. Sometimes, they would stop and ask questions about the design and how it was progressing.

This was my first competition, and although I was nervous, I was on a high from the atmosphere. I had already tried the design the night before, so I knew that I could do it in the three hours allocated. Peter was probably even more nervous than me, as he had not been painted before, and was going to have to go up on stage at the end!

The time passed quickly, and I was so engrossed with working that I didn't have much chance to see how the other competitors were getting on. There were about a dozen competitors in all, and the standard of some of the work was amazing.

I had paced myself well, and was just putting the finishing touches to my design when I heard the "Five minutes left" warning on the tannoy. Time to call it a day, and not worry too much if I'd missed a bit - hopefully the judges wouldn't notice!

Sarah Boyce painting her creation,
"Safari Symbiosis". Model - Lisa.

My model, Peter, showing off my design,
"Animal Alchemy".

We were all called forward to come on stage - both artists and models. The artists went first; when it was my turn to walk out on stage, the compere said, "Nice to see a man involved" - all the other artists were women, although Peter was not the only male model.

Next, the models got to do a catwalk presentation. After all that hard work, it was wonderful to see Peter on stage wearing my body painting. The atmosphere was electric, and I was buzzing with euphoria.

There was then an agonisingly long wait, while the judges re-convened to decide on who the winners would be. Finally, they came to a decision. They had been so impressed with the quality of work that they decided to award a fourth prize in addition to the normal three.

Fourth prize was awarded to Vanessa Jones for her painting "Zulu" on model Snez.

There was a cheer from our group when third prize was announced - it was Jackie! I was really pleased that someone from our group had won a prize, and especially that it was Jackie.

The prize winners on stage.

Second prize went to Jean Woodcock for her design "Two Sides of Africa - Beast and Man" which she had painted on her model Jon Cockburn. I was really impressed by Jean's work in particular - I could hardly believe that she had done such an incredible body painting in only three hours. The level of detail was truly amazing. I now knew that I had no chance of winning.

Finally, the winner was revealed - Maria Taylor for her creation "Prowler in the Morning Dew".

Well, I hadn't won anything, but I wasn't disappointed, as it was only my first competition, and I wasn't on a college course, so I may have missed out on learning some techniques that the judges were looking for. Still, there's always next time.

I was now completely exhausted, but still on a total high - it was a wonderful experience, and well worth the effort.

I'd definitely like to try my hand at modelling at a competition as well, so if anyone out there is in need of a model, please get in touch!

1st Prize - "Prowler in the Morning Dew".
Artist - Maria Taylor, Model - Mara Roberts.

2nd Prize - "Two Sides of Africa -
Beast and Man". Artist - Jean Woodcock,
Model - Jon Cockburn.

3rd Prize - "Mother Africa".
Artist - Jackie Brisley, Model - Libby Bennett.

4th Prize - "Zulu".
Artist - Vanessa Jones, Model - Snez.